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Life Before, After, and In-Between Embryo Donation
As any family that has gone through
infertility can appreciate, our infertility diagnosis was shocking and
painful. We were at a loss for how to create a family and when we first
learned about embryo donation, it became the answer to our prayers.
Although our infertility journey was hard, once we decided on embryo
donation, we got lucky and found our son’s donors pretty quickly. We
emailed back and forth for a while, talked on the phone, and then
finally agreed to meet. At that time, embryo donation, particularly
through a donor we found via the Internet, was highly unusual. When we
first met with them, we had a good conversation, but it was awkward
given what was at stake. We met at a restaurant near their house, and
if the folks in the next booth were listening, I can only imagine what
they thought.
After our meeting, the donors agreed to give us their embryos. We found
a clinic, shipped the embryos, and did the transfer. We got incredibly
lucky and got pregnant with my son.
My son’s birth changed our family completely. Children became parents,
parents became grandparents, and siblings became aunts and uncles for
the first time. After years of feeling the emptiness during the
holidays, he makes them fun again.
One of the difficulties in confronting infertility is accepting the
loss of a biological child. I used to fantasize about what a biological
child would look like and be like. Now, we can’t imagine another child
in place of our son and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat. He is
the child God chose for us, the child we dreamed about, and the child
we fell in love with.
Our son was born several years ago, but unfortunately, there were no
leftover embryos to try for a sibling. Our subsequent attempts, with
separate donors, have been utter failures (miscarriage in one case,
loss of embryos during thawing in the other case). So we still search,
and we still hope to complete our family via embryo donation. Yet,
although these recent challenges have been painful, we believe that in
the end, when our family is complete, it is the family we were meant to
have. And our children will have quite an amazing birth story, about
not one, but two families, that went to extraordinary lengths to bring
them into the world.
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About embryo donation stories: This story and the other
stories you will find at the Miracles Waiting website are contributed
by the authors, and we do not verify the details or content for
accuracy. They are offered on this
site for informational and entertainment purposes only. They are not a
substitute for medical or legal consultation.
The Miracles Waiting, Inc. Team
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