Our Blog
Is Egg Freezing the Best Way to Preserve Your Fertility?
Egg freezing has become all the rage in the fertility world as of late. You’ve heard about it. You may even have considered doing it yourself. But is egg freezing really the best solution for preserving fertility? Although sperm and embryos have proven easy to freeze,...
Facing Five Open Adoption Fears
October is a month of scary stories, trick-or-treating little ones, and terrifying costumes. What is better time to address one of the “spookier” aspects of adoption? We are talking about open adoption. Even though open adoption is extremely common in the United...
Five Little Snowflakes
I remember how frightened, yet excited I was when we first embarked upon the journey of in vitro fertilization. We ended up with seven embryos total and transferred two of our precious babies. When both actually took and implanted, my journey began as a mother of...
Your Child is Not Forgotten
“When a child loses his parent, they are called an orphan. When a spouse loses her or his partner, they are called a widow or widower. When parents lose their child, there isn’t a word to describe them.” Ronald Reagan. October is recognized as the National...
What is a Molar Pregnancy?
Pregnancy occurs after an embryo burrows into the lining of the uterus. Then the placenta forms, the baby grows and develops, and is born nine months later. Simple, right? Sometimes, though, these simple beginning stages can get muddled and mixed up. When this...
Breaking Down a Donor Family’s Health History
Last week, we talked about PGD and PGT-A testing, how it can produce inaccurate results, and that it has not been shown to improve pregnancy success. Because of this, most embryo adoption agencies have policies against disclosing results of previously tested embryos...
The Myth of Risk Elimination through Embryo Adoption
Last week, we discussed the realities of medical history and embryo adoption. It may have left some of you wondering, “Why would I need to be more flexible with my preferences concerning medical history when embryologists now have the ability to test embryos for...
The Reality of Donor Embryos’ Medical Backgrounds
When considering embryo adoption or donation, one of the first things recipient families will be asked to consider is their openness regarding the medical and health history of the embryo donors. All of the sudden, something you may not have given much thought to in...
The Sorrow of a Failed Transfer
Everyone loves hearing success stories of embryo donation and adoption. You know the story: The family who faced years of infertility and failed treatments, decides to take one last shot and pursue embryo adoption. And it works! They get pregnant on the first...
The Fallacy of Secrecy through Donor Conception
Do you believe that not telling your children how they were conceived is in your child’s best interest? Think again. Many people who are interested in donating their remaining embryos to another family have not yet told their children how they were conceived. What...
Grieving Family Building Expectations
Building a family is wrought with strange and unforeseen obstacles. Perhaps the oddest barrier we bump into is our own expectations of ourselves, our spouse, and how we thought our lives were going to unfold. Since our early childhoods, we were encouraged to plan and...
Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now!
September 2016—Day One of our honeymoon. My wife and I decide to drive the Maui coast, along the Road to Hana. A multi-hour journey, hairpin turns, and a day of reflection as we start our new lives and journey together. As we drive, we have our theme song...
Getting Schooled in Embryo Adoption
Since school is starting back up again, we thought it would be a great time to do a refresher course on the basics of embryo adoption! Got your #2 pencil and college ruled paper ready to go? Let's begin! 1. Embryo donation and embryo adoption are two different...
Childbirth Success for Older Women
It has become the societal norm for women in the United States to delay motherhood. This may be due to advancing careers, economic reasons, or simply it is their choice. However, are there consequences for doing so? The biological fact is the quality of the remaining...
Not Biologically Ours, But Completely Our Son
We tried to expand our family for 10 years. It started with fertility drugs, then several IUIs, then graduating to two failed IVFs. Shortly after the IVF cycles, I got pregnant naturally—twice within a year! Both ended in early miscarriages, with one testing to have...