Just A Thought

In vitro fertilization opens a door to avenues you would never consider when getting pregnant on your own. I've been going through my 23 page packet of documents I need to sign and it is amazing to me how much we will be getting involved with the potential creation of our baby. Some things we've had to consider include:

• ICSI (Intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection) - Where they chose a single healthy sperm and inject it right into an egg for fertilization.
•  Assisted hatching - Before an embryo can attach to the womb, it has to break out of its outside layer called the zona pellucida. Assisted hatching helps in this process.
•  Cryopreservation - Freezing remaining embryos. Unfortunately insurance doesn't cover this, but we paid for it anyway for future attempts. We also needed to decide if we will freeze them in groups or individually.
• Custody Consents - We have had to choose options for the custody of our frozen embryos for multiple scenarios, including the death or disability of one or both of us, if we decide to not use any remaining embryos, if I am incapable of carrying a baby to term, and more. 
• Genetic Mutation Screening - A test that scans us for over 100 diseases we could pass onto our children if we are both carriers. If we found out we are, they can do a preimplantation genetic diagnosis and biopsy the embryos to see if it carries a genetic abnormality. This allows the opportunity for selecting to transfer only the most healthy embryos and avoiding the risk of having a child with a genetic disease. I still do not have an opinion on this process, however it is too late to consider it for our fresh transfer. 
• Embryo Transfer - How many we will choose to transfer and if they it will be a clevage stage embryo or a blostocyst, as well as the risks of multiple gestation on both the mother and babies. 

 Of course there is more, but I don't want to bore you with 23 pages of questions you would probably never consider if you could conceive naturally. I was afraid all this was getting too involved with our powers to procreate but a thought ran through my head today of what an amazing opportunity this is for us. We have the chance to experience creating a life in the earliest stages, to make decisions between me, Chris, and our Heavenly Father. We want the very best for our family and we get to start in some of the earliest ways possible. Not knowing exactly when life begins makes it extremely difficult to make some of these decisions, but I feel guided by our Heavenly Father and feel comfort in decisions we are making. Normally I would be overwhelmed with stress through this process, but as I mentioned before, I truly feel that I am being carried through all this.It is such a blessing.