Surrogacy is a game of hurry up and wait. First, you research the process. Then, you find IPs to work with. Then, you go through legal contracts. Then, you go through medical and psychological screenings. Then, you wait. And you wait. And then you wait some more. It is like a child waiting 364 days for Christmas to finally arrive. And then, when you are so used to waiting you forget to complain about waiting, you go to check your email and there is a message from the IVF nurse coordinator with the subject line: Calendar. And then your breath catches in your throat, your eyes open up wide, a smile spreads across your face, and you shout out, "YES!" The Calendar. It is a sacred word in the surrogacy world. The calendar. It tells you what meds to take, when to take them, when to go to appointments, and- most importantly- it gives you tentative transfer dates. Now, it is more common than not that these transfer dates will change, but it at least gives you a time frame and something to actively do.
Then, when the joy of putting appointment dates into your calendar and talking with your IM to share the excitement of who takes what drugs when and who has to have the most injections (my IM wins this time with three injections a day for several weeks), you receive a big FedEx box in the mail filled up with goodies. Now, these aren't tasty, yummy goodies or new clothes, these are the pills, liquids, containers, alcohol wipes, and syringes you will use to medicate yourself with for the next several weeks (usually about 6).
Finally, it is Go time. We are in our cycle. My IM is filling herself with all things necessary to grow as many healthy, viable eggs as she possibly can as fast as she can, and I am working on growing a nice, "fluffy" lining to make a safe and inviting home for the embryos that will soon be created.
It is a beautiful thing to be able to create babies the "old-fashioned" way, but don't discount the beauty of the IVF/surrogacy way. When I look at the love, the struggle, and the commitment it takes to make babies this, I am so hopeful for these babies who will be born into a family that is willing to move mountains to get them here.
I couldn't belong to a more wonderful community.
We have been waiting,
and waiting,
and it is time to
GO!
It is a beautiful thing to be able to create babies the "old-fashioned" way, but don't discount the beauty of the IVF/surrogacy way. When I look at the love, the struggle, and the commitment it takes to make babies this, I am so hopeful for these babies who will be born into a family that is willing to move mountains to get them here. 
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDelete