Update On Friend. . .Invitro :-(

The last week of May, I updated my past year of posts. One thing I didn't mention:

In my April post, Cystic Fibrosis Gene Preventing Pregnancy, I wrote that my friend was going to be tested to see if she had the gene like her husband (because it would mean having a baby with a 25% chance of Cystic Fibrosis). The good news is that she does not have the gene. The bad news is that she and her husband were told insemination is not a possibility after all. Meaning, the only option is in vitro fertilization.

My friend is devastated.

One round of in vitro costs approximately ten thousand dollars. Their insurance won't give them a penny. My friend (who knew from the time she was a little girl that she wanted to work with children, so she went to a community college to receive her degree in early childhood education and has been working with babies for the past ten years) makes barely above minimum wage. One round of in vitro has a 25% chance of being successful. If they can't afford one round, how can they afford to do more if the first try doesn't take? Not only that, but it is an invasive procedure.

The process begins by giving hormones to the woman to increase the ovaries ability to produce eggs. The woman is asked to take her temperature and do urine tests at home. She also receives blood tests and is watched closely by the medical team. This is done to try to determine, within hours, the time of ovulation. Her partner's specimen can be frozen for the procedure.

When ovulation is expected, the couple returns to the clinic or outpatient area. An IV is started and the woman receives mild sedation. General anesthesia is usually only used if other procedures are needed. A long needle is guided through the vagina and cervix, into the uterus. Its progress is watched on an ultrasound. The eggs are removed and immediately placed in an incubator in the lab. The procedure takes 30 to 60 minutes. The eggs are mixed with the sperm and allowed to fertilize and incubate 30 to 60 hours.

Putting the fertilized eggs into the uterus is a simple procedure that takes 10 to 15 minutes. A thin plastic catheter is inserted through the vagina and cervix, into the uterus. The eggs, usually 3 or 4, are implanted in the uterus. Because of this, there is a greater chance for having a multiple pregnancy. Some of the eggs can also be frozen in case this procedure is not successful.

The woman is given hormones and has blood testing for the next 2 weeks to make sure the lining of the uterus is prepared to accept the egg. She returns in 2 weeks for a pregnancy test. There is no evidence of increased birth defects or premature births from in vitro fertilization pregnancies. If the woman is not pregnant, counseling is recommended. Another procedure can be done after waiting one month.

My friend's husband (who was ready to be a father the moment he met my friend and wanted to begin trying the day they walked down the aisle, but she was on the pill their first year), has said that the past three years of trying for a baby have been long enough - he is open to a sperm donor (cost is approximately $180 - $250). My friend, however, is not at that place yet. She still hopes for a child that is a combination of the both of them.

Since learning that the CF gene is to blame for her husband's infertility, his brother (who is a couple of years younger than him and was married earlier this year) decided to get tested as well, even though he and his wife weren't planning to try for children for awhile. He tested positive, too.

I said it in a post before, but I don't know a more deserving couple to have children and yet it does not look promising that they will be able to have a child that is biologically the both of theirs. Also, adoption costs anywhere from $5,000 to $40,000 and can take a few months or a few years. It's so easy to take having a baby for granted. . .but there is just no way it's going to be simple for my friend and her husband. However, I believe they will some day be parents to a child/children - and they will be one of the happiest families on earth!