Hello Friends,
Happiest (belated) Easter! We spent the day with our girlies brunching it up with our sweetest friends, and their family members. While being away from our own familiy for most every holiday can be discouraging, we have always been blessed with friends who take us in and share their homes with us (you all know who you are <3 )! Below is a picture overload - I just could not help myself - of the girls and I at a local Easter Egg hunt the day before!
Okay, whew, sharing all that cuteness is now out of my system, and we can get down to some surrogacy bidness!
Surrogacy is like a slow moving train...and at times it can even move backwards! And this is definitely not a complaint, I would like to enjoy this surrogacy process like a fine wine (preferably a Chianti), and not have it all rush past in a blur...but at times it can feel snail pace. The light shining in the distance is Transfer Day; the day I get to snazzy up in all my Pineapple related gear and go have a tiny embryo implanted into my uterus, but there are A LOT of steps before you get there.
Legal Contracts: Thank the Lord above for surrogacy lawyers and all that they do!
Okay, so lets back up a bit, because I don't want the idea of a contract to make surrogacy sound cold or like a straight-forward business transaction with no heart. Ask any surrogate why they wanted to become one and you will hear answers ranging from their love of pregnancy, to stories of seeing their friends and family members suffer through infertility and wanting to help. For me, hearing through my teen and college years that I would probably never have children without the help of infertility doctors, and then finding that getting pregnant, TWICE, was as easy as breathing air, I knew I wanted to do it for others who would not have success stories like my own. So, in come legal contracts, these long 32 page, 5 point font, painful to read contracts, that I am SO thankful to have. Contracts come into play after you have been matched, after you have met the intended parents and happen to fall in love with them, and after you have had conversations to make sure that you are in agreement together about what is okay, and what is not.
Our contract came via email a few weeks ago, and was followed-up by a phone call with our lovely Texan lawyer, who walked Jonathan and I through the contract step-by-step, and made sure that we understood and agreed upon the language and our respective responsibilities. Guys, these contracts are not fun to read, they talk about abortion, selective reduction, what would happen if I died and had to be on life-support. I share the nitty gritty not to scare possible surrogates away, but to be honest about what they contain; which is everything. In the end, I am actually so grateful to have this contract, because it binds myself and the intended parents to this set of morales, values and parameters, and protects us all. Thankfully, I am so unbelievably lucky to have intended parents who share Jonathan and I's position on abortion, selective reduction, etc. To quote my intended parents "We don't want the perfect child, we just want a child." Do no they not just sound amazing! So thankful to be matched with them for this journey! So, at this time, we are just waiting for their lawyer to approve of the changes in language made, and then we will sign contracts and be done with legal!
The Blood: the draws never end!
Thank goodness I am not afraid of needles, I actually think they are kind of cool (which I know sounds fairly creepy)! If I had known the amount of blood I would have to give over before stepping into this process...well, I still would have done it, but it is a lot! On one of my blood draws they noticed that my TSH level was at a 3.3, and to be medically cleared to become a surrogate they want you at a 2.5. TSH is an indicator that your Thyroid is not functioning picture perfectly, and can cause infertility and miscarriages if that number gets to high. My IVF doctor has prescribed me Synthroid to see if they can get my TSH levels where they want them before transfer day, so I am off to get those levels checked again today. Which me luck, and if you are the praying type, send me prayers.
Thanks for joining on this adventure, and I will update again soon!