Cycle Day One.
Penultimate cycle.
I'm really pulling out all the stops this
go-round. This is (very likely) my second-to-last cycle actively TTC. I mentioned this here, but I thought I
would give the dirty details.
My clinic has mentioned that they do 3
cycles TI, 2 cycles IUI and then discuss IVF. We have decided that, at least
for now, IVF is not something we are going to pursue. This means that unless
they are opening to doing additional IUIs if these next two cycles fail- we’re
done.
This isn't because of a moral or ethical
dilemma (though there is some of that), it isn't because I'm afraid of needles,
scans, time out of work or all the joys of IF treatment (though there is
certainly some of that), it isn't because I don't want another (we all know
that isn't true).
So what IS it? Why am I stopping short of
IVF?
I don't really know. May be it is a
combination of the first two: the easier one- I don't know that I am ready to
sacrifice so much for the hope of a baby. Injections, drugs, appointments, oh
my. My termination really threw my body off, as did 4 medicated cycles. I'd
like to feel normal again. I'd like to not see a doctor once a week and get
things shoved inside me (unless I'm 36+ weeks pregnant). I would LOVE to lose
these 7 new pounds.
The deeper issue is a component of an
ethical dilemma for me. We would do PGS if we did IVF. I wouldn’t transfer an
embryo with the fatal issues, obviously. I think I'd like to donate them to
science, is that is a thing? I don't know. But what about a condition which I
wouldn't terminate for, would I transfer that embryo? Defacto choosing that
condition for my child? Hard, hard question, right? I don't think I would want
to know the sex of those embryos to avoid gender selection, but would I in a
moment of weakness ask to know and choose one over the other? (I don't have a
preference at this point, but if I ever tried for a third and had two boys- I
would like the chance to parent a girl). Then the big one:
What if there were more embryos than
transfers? What to do with them? Donate? Destroy? Have a bigger family than
anticipated?
I feel like this is a bit of the
termination all over again. I hate the feeling I get thinking about my
(imaginary) embryos waiting for me- never to be chosen. I ultimately make the
decision to carry them or let them go. In that situation though, there is
nothing “wrong” with them. Yet the
decision is the same- to carry or not. I don't want to be in that situation
ever again. I am trying to prevent that.
I could donate them to another person trying to build their
family, but I still need to make the decision of which I will try to carry and
which I won’t. I’m not sure hub would go for the idea of donation (though we
never discussed it).
I should add here, before I get hate mail, these feelings are my
own. I would never expect someone to go through an FET when their feelings are
complete. I don’t actually equate not transferring embryos with a termination.
But the choice for me is teetering on the same type of feelings.
*It's actually day 2.
There is so much to think about if you do decide to g ahead with IVF.
ReplyDeleteA few things to think about: 1. You could request for the embryologist to transfer the healthiest looking embryos without consideration of gender. 2. I looked into doing PGS with IVF if we were going to have to do the IVF route. The ultimate goal is a healthy baby, and the best way to aceive that is to use embryos that have the regular amount of chromosomes. The last thing you want is to have to go through tx again, especially after the expense and emotional journey of IVF. I would personally not choose to have another child with DS, if the choice was mine going forward. This takes nothing away from my family or my love for my daughter.
You can also decide to take a 3 month break (lets your ovaries rest) and do another 3 medicated iui cycles. If hubby has a good sperm count, and you are still ovulating, it will provide a better chance of pregnancy than just trying on your own. Just because the policy of the RE is X, doesn't mean that your plan can't look different based upon your particular situation.