The basics of IVF

The other night I realized that it may not be obvious to everyone the details of what we are trying to do. Heck if you would have asked me 2 years ago I myself wouldn't have been able to tell you.

IVF stands for In vetro Fertilization. Basically eggs are retrieved from a woman's ovaries and fertilized in a laboratory dish with sperm. After fertilization on day 3 or day 5, the embryo/s are placed back into the uterus. Then wait two weeks and see if it was successful or not.

Brittany and I differ on this process just slightly. Our plan, as long as everything is okay with both us is as follows. Brittany and I will both be patients of the RE's office (reproductive endocrinologist, the doctor that performs the procedure). We will both do a work up of blood work to test our hormone levels and to be sure we are both clear of STD's. Then we will have an evaluation done by a Psychologist to make sure we are both mentally stable and prepared for the procedure. If giving the green light on everything she and I will both begin to take birth control pills to sync up our cycles. From this point on is when things start to get different. I don't know the exact specifics since I have never done the procedure before, but I think it goes something like this.. at some point Brittany will start taking injectibles to stimulate her ovaries. She will go in every day or every other day to be monitored to see how many follicles are growing. Once the doctor says there is enough to retrieve, she will use a trigger shot to have her ovaries release her follicles. The next morning she will be put under anesthesia to have the follicles retrieved. From here her eggs will be fertilized with donor sperm. Hopefully all of the cells develop appropriately and one or two great looking embryos will be placed into my uterus.

This process allows she and I to be as connected as possible to a pregnancy. She will be the biological mother and I will be the gestational mother. Also, since she has zero desire to ever carry a child of her own, this provides her with a biological roots.

The only reason why we would not go this route is if for some reason there was a unknown medical problem with either of us. If she was unable to donate her eggs to me for some reason then we would try to get me pregnant with my own eggs. Hopefully it doesn't get to that point, but idk what the next step would be after that.

Obviously, there is more to the process and as to why people choose it, but in a nutshell that is how ours should look.