The Saga of Surrogacy

Ok, I guess I will try to actually update this thing and maybe keep it up! I have to go back a bit, so bear with me :)

October 2007

October 2 - M's egg retrieval was set for today. My IF's and M went in early to the clinic for the scheduled retrieval, never knowing what horrible news lay ahead. After M is taken back for the procedure, my IF's are informed that the clinic will not be creating the embryos as planned. They have decided that because my IF's are gay(obviously) and the sperm donor is over 40, the sample must be quarantined for 6 months and we can proceed from then. Completely unacceptable and totally devastating. Somehow, they managed to convince the clinic to at least grow the embryos. They called me around 11am with the bad news. I tried to stay positive, thinking we could somehow appeal the decision, but everything seemed to be just falling apart. My IF's called their lawyer and got the ball rolling on an appeal. With it being a Thursday and having 3, maybe 5 days max to grow these embryos, we were short on time. There was really little hope, but I was still holding out that this was going to happen.

October 3 - The clinic called me today to tell me to stop my meds. The transfer had been officially cancelled. The clinic where the procedures are done had agreed that if my IF's could get an ok from Health Canada, we could transfer. The mere thought of that was ridiculous. There was no time. Things were looking worse and worse and every one's spirits were low. Again, I stayed positive when talking to anyone, but I was crushed.

October 4 - Back on the meds! The clinic called again, this time telling me there might be a mall chance this could happen, and to go back on my meds. Double time. I had to make up for what I had missed the day before. That was an awful lot of estrogen and progesterone. I was miserable, cranky and feeling terrible.

October 5 - Today would be the earliest we could transfer. But since the embryos were doing well(we had 5 at this point), we would transfer on Tuesday if the clinic would allow it.

October 6 - Still no word. IF's lawyer was working overtime trying to convince the clinic and Health Canada that everyone was healthy and had already passed all the screening tests. I was seriously losing it at this point. But since I had no control over anything, all I could do was wait.

October 7 - Transfer Day? I literally spent the day glued to the phone, ready to drop everything and rush into the city at a moment's notice. My IF's called just before 2pm to tell me that they had a meeting with the lawyer and the clinic's board of directors at 3 and asked if I could still make it in if they gave us the ok then. I assured them I would be there whenever they needed me. About 15 minutes later I get another call. It's A, screaming that we won!! They would do the transfer today. I needed to be at the clinic by 4:30! That was crazy for traffic, but we did it! And at 4:30, we transferred 2 perfect embryos!! Finally, after all the crazy hell we were put through. Now all I had to do was stay off my feet and hope they stuck!


Ok, that was a good enough start. More to come tomorrow!

Time to catch up!

Well, tonight anyway! I promise I will post the most epic of blog posts tonight to fill everyone(me) in on the last 3 months. It has been one hell of a ride!

Wow, I have been LAZY!

So much has happened and it is far enough along that I promise to contribute more regularly now!

Firstly, my IF's are two of the most wonderful people I have ever met! They are both very considerate and gracious and respectful. I enjoy them tremendously! They have a beautiful relationship and I am so excited to be able to *hopefully* help them build their family.

Secondly, we are cycling!! YAY! Our doctor is amazing and is allowing us to try a natural transfer which is fabulous for me, as it means a lot less medication. So, I am really, really happy with that. The tentative transfer date is set for October 1. It is getting so close!

Tomorrow DH and I are headed to the lawyer to firm on the legal side of everything. Then to IKEA for lunch! YAY meatballs! :)

Fresh Start

Well, it's new IF's for me!! I am so very excited and nervous! I am hopeful that this journey will be better than my last, and actually end with a baby. But, I am scared as well. I am scared for getting too close and of being hurt again. I want to be able to give myself fully to this journey, but I don't know if I can after what happened with my last IP's and their horrendous shift in behaviour.

I will be speaking to the IF's this evening on the phone for the first time. I hope to post shortly after about the conversation and maybe, finally, write my story.

Quick Note

Things have been quite nasty here lately, culminating in the end of my relationship with my first set of IP's. I won't go into detail now(because it won't make any sense until I write the rest of the story), but suffice to say, they are not the people I thought they were and I am eternally grateful to Joanne for helping me out of the situation.

I am hopeful that I will be able to move on and finally fulfill my role as a surrogate and help someone complete their family.

Expect a a few entries in the next few days as I recount the last year, living as a surro in waiting.


Surromum

Starting Over

Well, here I am. Back in the land of the blogging. After much consideration, I deleted my former surrogacy journey's blog. It was too painful to look at, and how would I explain to my former IP's that I was going to use it when I moved on to another couple to help?

I will post my entire surrogacy journey thus far later. It will take quite some time to find the proper words to describe how I have gotten to where I am. I suggest checking back later, maybe with a cup of tea, a scone and a few hours. Oh, and tissues. You will definitely need those too!

Surromum