Family Planning

Today, we scheduled an appointment with an Endometriosis specialist in Charlottesville.That initial visit will be January 23rd. I'm having mixed feelings about this. It's been out of our grasp for such a long time (3 years) and there has been so much heartache, anxiety, jealousy, depression, and disappointment involved... I feel like I'm used to it. That's life. That's what we've known for years. But most of all, I'm most afraid we'll get that definitive "no". I know "no" is the answer... it would have happened by now if it was going to happen naturally. But there's always that minuscule, minute, one-billionth of a chance that gives us some hope. And I'm afraid a doctor is going to take away what little hope we have left. On the contrary, I can look at the optimistic side: we've been very blessed to have amazing health insurance in 2012 (through my employer) that will finally cover this. There might be a simple solution to our "problem" after all. I don't want to get my hopes up though. The higher they go, the harder I'll fall if we get bad news. So anyway, the next few months might hold loads of trips to Charlottesville, surgery, harsh medications, etc. It would all be well worth it though if we can have a family. And, best of all, even if we are still unable to have kids, I'll finally get some relief from my condition.

Some people have also asked me where we stand on IVF. The answer to that question is simply that IVF is not the right choice for Aaron and me. We have our reasons for it (moral, medical, ethical, financial). One of the reasons is financial. IVF costs $20,000/cycle. It also has a very low success rate, especially on the first try. So, essentially, in 4 months time, a couple could spend $80,000 and still not get pregnant. Unless I have a millionaire uncle I don't know about pass away and leave me his money, there's absolutely no way we could afford even one round. We would rather spend what money we do have on adoption (if we are unable to have kids of our own). I certainly didn't mean for any of that to insult anyone who has different views on the topic. This is my blog and my opinion.