First, I will preface this post by saying that these are my thoughts on In Vitro Fertilization. These are my opinions. This post is not intended to start any arguments. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and beliefs.
This is a bit personal, so if you don’t care to read it, by all means, don’t. 🙂 I personally enjoy blogs more that offer personal insight to the author….
I’ve gone back and forth with whether or not to share this on my blog, but this has slowly gotten around and I’ve decided for two main reasons to share. Randy and I chose to do in vitro so that I could become pregnant. There! The news is out. Not that it’s really anything to hide, but some might think this should be private. However, I’m grateful for modern medicine (it really is amazing), and I believe God gives the knowledge to scientists and doctors. That said, in vitro was pretty much our only option for more than one reason that I won’t share here, but I will share the reasons that I decided to make it known.
NO 1 – Several people have asked if the babies are ours biologically. YES, they are. Not that it would be a horrible thing if they weren’t, but we are thankful that they could be.
NO 2 – I knew this was getting around and it just so happens that lots of “in vitro talk” has been in the news lately. Some view it as morally wrong. We don’t. It is just a method that helps thousands of people become parents with a little bit of help, who couldn’t get there naturally. The only part I can understand people having a problem with is what’s done with the left over embryo’s that aren’t used. I did have questions in my mind about this before we decided to go through with it. I looked up the definition of “embryo”. Here’s what Webster’s has to say:
- An unborn or unhatched offspring in the process of development.
- An unborn human baby, esp. in the first eight weeks from conception, after implantation but before all the organs are developed.
Embryo’s naturally begin in the mother, not in a dish or tube….so to me, this makes them a baby already. If gotten rid of after the embryo’s were in me, it would be labeled abortion. So, in MY eyes, it’s no different even if they’re still in a dish or tube. Our embryo’s were already “hatching” as they call it before they were implanted. SO, I’ve said all this to say that for us, believing that only Jesus has the right to take a life, we’ve decided that we will donate any frozen embryo’s that we don’t implant to a couple(s) who needs them. I do have a problem with just discarding them, and there are so many couples who need help in this area. Why not help give the gift of life to another family? If everything goes well and I deliver two babies in September/October, we will not be needing those frozen embryo’s.
If you are unsure just what in vitro (or IVF) is, you can read about it here.This is the OUTSTANDING clinic we used in Dallas. I can’t say enough good about Sher Institutes. The staff and our doctor was amazing. The doctor we chose specialized in autoimmune diseases and fertility issues. I believe God led us to him and it was through a search engine! Dr Saleh and the various Sher Institutes have won numerous awards and been featured in national news. We couldn’t have found a better place. It was not an easy process (in fact, I’m still on some of my meds that I started in December!). It is costly and takes a physical and emotional toll on the parents-to-be. I got very sick at first with severe OHSS (read about that here), and was put on bed rest for two weeks. But in the end, I can truly say it has paid off! We had a 60% chance of it being successful and it was! If you’d like to see TONS of pictures of adorable babies born with Sher Institutes help, go here.
And because no post is complete without a picture, here’s a picture of what my stash of meds looked like when I received it in December. This is not MY picture. I “borrowed” it from a girl who actually remembered to shoot a pic of her supply when she got it. You can read her story here.
And here’s a cute cartoon:
So, there you have my thoughts on In Vitro Fertilization. We can’t wait to meet our babies!!
Til the next time,
Kassie
What a brave post, Kass! I have a friend going through IVF at the moment, so I've got a small idea of the enormity of what you and Randy have done. Wishing and praying for a healthy, happy pregnancy and 2 wonderful bundles of joy at the end of all this! Very, very excited for you both – the love you feel as a parent is almost indescribable and I'm so, so thrilled that you will get to experience that special gift. Lots of love, Jodie G
Loved hearing your thoughts on IVF Kassie! I've watched a lot of TTC videos on youtube (one of my favorite ttc bloggers, who is now a mom, is carla the bublelush), so I've been interested in this topic for a while. I'm so very happy for you that God has blessed you with those babies:) I think that only those who are unable to have children can really understand what you went through previously and are going through currently, so thanks for trying to explain it to the rest of us. Your family is in our prayers.