Well, 2010 is coming to a close and it has been interesting to see how far we have come! When we ended 2009 and started 2010 we had hopes of adopting, and even had a birth mother that we had talked to a little bit. When that didn’t work out we decided that adoption still wasn’t the right path for us and we again refocused ourselves on saving for IVF.
The beginning of 2010 we felt like IVF was still years away, considering how much we would have to save....until last month I was sitting at work and I got an email from Mark’s sister Melinda. She gave me the name of a doctor in Utah, some of her coworkers had gone to see him for IVF and she thought I might want to look into the same clinic. I didn’t know it at the time, but that email would be the BEST email I have ever received.
Dr. Richards and Dr. Marrs are world renowned doctors in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Dr. Marrs is primarily located in California- working at the Cedars Sinai medical center (the clinic we will be going to is in American Fork, Utah), and he made medical history in 1986 by initiating the world’s first IVF baby from a frozen embryo....he also wrote the book Dr. Marrs’ Fertility Book. He is one of the world’s leading fertility experts, and we are very privileged to have the opportunity to have him (and Dr. Richards) perform our IVF.
After looking over their website I submitted a request to have them contact me. Literally 3 minutes later I received a call from Dr. Richards who spent an hour right then doing a phone consultation with me. Let me tell you- that is completely unheard of! In our experience with other IVF clinics it usually takes days just to have the receptionist email you something generic where you are required to schedule an appointment and pay to have a consultation with the doctor. Dr. Richards was so warm and friendly, immediately taking a personal interest in me and Mark. I got off the phone with such energy...this is going to be possible!!
Dr. Richards and Dr. Marrs have dedicated their work to making IVF affordable for anyone. Because of that, they have built an office where they are able to complete every procedure associated with IVF (meaning no visits to the hospital) right there- this saves the patient thousands of dollars. With the cost of IVF suddenly cut in half we realized that we were suddenly VERY CLOSE to our dream!
By then end of December 2010 we will have every penny saved. OH. MY. GOSH. We are there!!! We will be doing our IVF sometime between April and June 2011...we would do it sooner, like February 2011, but we are celebrating our 5th anniversary in March (going on a cruise!!!) and we don’t want to have to worry about me possibly being pregnant.
So anywho, here we are 4 years from the time that we started trying and our goal is finally within our reach. We are really excited, and so grateful for all of the love and support (both moral and financial support...thank you again to all those who came to my party! :) from our friends and family. We cannot wait until the day we can share our happy news with all of you! Here’s to 2011 being the BEST New Year! <3