“It hit me: the hardest things in life are the most rewarding. After devoting 15 months of my life to a failed IVF cycle, I knew I was strong enough for another round.”
‘I told myself, ‘If I’m strong enough to make it to the top of Africa’s tallest peak, I’m strong enough to take on another round.’: Woman gives IVF one ‘last shot,’ welcomes miracle baby
‘You’re stuck with me now!’ The dads and I got closer than I thought possible. ‘Soon, this will be your reality.’: Surrogate births baby for same-sex couple, ‘I’m so blessed to provide joy for families’
“I sent the dads an update of what size fruit or vegetable baby was each week. ‘You’re so much stronger than most people.’ I felt those words so deeply.”
‘I simply gave my husband a thumbs up. ‘This has to be a dream!’ We prayed for YEARS. There were no words.’: Couple conceives through IVF, ‘We never take a moment for granted’
“I was paranoid something would go wrong. It didn’t seem real! We both sat and looked at each other in shock.”
‘It was like searching Tinder for a threesome without any of the sex, and I was terrified. We looked for women who closely resembled me most.’: Woman shares insight into infertility, ‘I truly would have stopped at nothing’
“She was my understudy. A woman I would never know. We didn’t want to have to explain why I gave birth to a half Asian baby. By this point, we had spent SO MUCH MONEY, and to walk away without trying one more option seemed like we just blew it all for nothing.”
‘We only want 3 kids so that’s perfect.’ That’s me being naive again. ‘Okay, maybe it won’t happen like we had hoped.’: Couple suffers 4 miscarriages in 4 years, ’You never know how strong you are until you have to be’
“The doctor turned off the lights and we looked at the screen. I immediately saw two sacs. Twins? My husband didn’t know what he was looking at, so he didn’t realize until the doctor said it out loud. We both started crying and saw both little heartbeats flicker on the screen. We joked we were going to get our money’s worth from IVF by getting two babies for the price of one. I never thought a miscarriage would happen again. I was wrong. ‘I’m so sorry, I only see one heartbeat.’ I just had this gut feeling that we would lose the other baby.”
‘The magnitude of your child being born. No words. She did this for us, TWICE.’: Mother overcome with emotion watching surrogate deliver second daughter, ‘I gained a bond I never even knew existed’
“It was 6 months post my 4th open heart surgery. I was celebrating turning 26, a milestone my mother and doctors never thought I’d reach. That night, I met Ryan. ‘You don’t want to be interested in me. I have a lot of baggage.’ He replied, ‘What do you mean?’ ‘I’m probably going to die soon.’ Within 8 months, we were engaged. Not everyone approved of us looking for a surrogate, you know, because ‘I might die soon.’”
‘I got with my boyfriend in July. By November, I was pregnant. We had been ‘irresponsible.’ We dealt with it. I convinced myself I’d killed my baby. I couldn’t look at my daughter without crying.’
“The thing is, I also got pregnant many years before at age 24. It was the first time I’d had unprotected sex, and I had split up with the father. Having a termination was my only option. This has hugely troubled me the past 3 years, but I’m not ashamed to talk about it.”
‘Things look good, TOO good.’ For the first time ever, I was pregnant! We tried to hide our excitement.’: After adoption, woman discovers she is pregnant with triplets
“We received word that we would be able to adopt! Finally, my dreams were coming true. The night before my first scan, I started bleeding. My dreams of being pregnant were crushed.”
‘Worth the wait’: Photographer captures her grueling infertility struggle to let others know ‘they are not alone’
“Here’s the thing: infertility struggles are SO common, and yet NO ONE TALKS ABOUT IT.”
‘This little baby was created in a tiny dish. She was a perfect product of us.’: After same-sex couple’s harrowing Reciprocal IVF journey, their advice is to ‘stay strong’
“I heard crying. I was walked over to see her and it was amazing. I can’t explain how it feels to see your daughter laying there. It was overwhelming. This little girl you had once seen as an embryo. Love makes a family. Love is something every person has in common. Love matters most.
