Moving Forward

 This past week a few exciting events have taken place. Our carrier’s medical records have been sent to our fertility clinic and they have approved her to continue moving forward. She now requires blood work and a hysterosalpinogram (HSG). Due to requirements by the FDA, everyone involved in fertility processes must be screened for sexually transmitted infections, although with our process there is no real risk of this impacting each other or the embryo. This is especially true because pregnant patients are already regularly screened for infections that can affect their pregnancies as well as be transferred to the fetus. The HSG is done to ensure that there is no scarring, fibroids, or other abnormalities that could affect the embryos ability to implant correctly. Since our carrier has had vaginal births in the past without complications, the HSG is unlikely to reveal any useful information, however it is still a requirement that our fertility clinic sets forward. Our carrier is scheduled to have this procedure done on April 14th, 2021! 

Once the bloodwork and HSG come back and no concerning abnormalities are found, our carrier can start the medications that will create a hospitable environment for the embryo. This involves mostly progesterone to thicken the lining of the uterus, although I’m sure some element of estrogen is involved as well. 

One sad thing is that our carrier’s OB has actually retired/changed locations so she will be establishing care with a new OB. This is a downside because she will have to create that trusting relationship that she had already fostered during her prior pregnancies. Thankfully, our carrier has a great attitude and doesn’t really let anything get in her way. 

We had an initial meeting with an attorney on Friday and he seemed like a great fit to add to the growing team of people working to make our baby a reality. He will draft the parentage agreement and then finalize our parental rights after the birth. He said that this is fairly easy in Wisconsin, where our baby will be born. He said we shouldn’t have to do any form of adoption and typically they recognize you as the legal parents. We will see how it all shakes out, but it seems like it will be fairly straight forward. 

I write these updates to keep a record, sort of a like a diary, for myself and to share with our future child. I am so excited that so many people continue to follow along! 

Clinton