Not very easily, that's for sure, but I'll give it a shot.
We met in October 09. We were fast friends and from the beginning of the friendship we realized that we both wanted kids. Neither of us had been at a point where we felt it was right to bring a child into the world, though Sheri had fostered children before, but soon after becoming a couple and moving in together, things started to fall into place. We had the means, the love, the room...now we just needed to work on having the child. We started trying in August 2010. We each had three insurance covered intrauterine insemination attempts, and then, if infertility was proven, three invitro attempts. The process of finding a donor was an arduous one, but eventually we managed, though we did end up switching donors several times for various reasons. We went through all the various tests to ensure we were both healthy and sound to attempt pregnancy, and we both had scares. Sheri had what is called a hydrosalpinx, which required surgery and ultimately, the removal of one fallopian tube. I had two big scares, the first due to an abnormality in the shape of my uterus, the second being a suspected genetic disorder. The first scare was put at ease after several tests to ensure the shape wouldn't prevent pregnancy or cause spontaneous abortion. The second was put to ease after a blood test and a LONG wait. Both of our issues repaired and put to rest, we were free to proceed. Our first attempt was a miasma of emotions, and went awkwardly, as first times tend to do. We waited our two weeks and a bit more, but unfortunately it ended in what was suspected to be a chemical pregnancy. The second attempt went a bit better, I was allowed to push the plunger and inseminate Sheri myself. Again, we waited, tried not to get too hopeful and were disappointed again roughly two weeks later. Time went past with more attempts and disappointments, and then came the time that we were out of insurance covered attempts. We applied for IVF, but the insurance turned us down because we were not using our husband's sperm. Disheartened but still determined, we searched for alternate routes to continue our attempts. While web searching one day, I ran across what was known at the time, as the freespermdonorregistry.com. It is a site set up by people like us, who are on a mission to achieve pregnancy by alternative methods. Through it we met our donor, a kind and altruistic man who lives nearby. We will be on our third attempt with him this month, and aside from the disappointment of failed attempts, things have gone much more smoothly than they ever did while using the fertility clinic.
