Friday, February 1, 2008



So you're probably wondering how this embryo adoption idea came to be... Well, lets go way back to when we started TTC (for all you newbies, that's "trying to conceive"). I started to wonder if I was having early pregnancy symptoms, "EPS", or commonly referred to in the biz as "IPS", "imaginary pregnancy symptoms", so I started searching the WWW in hopes of finding some glimmer of hope. It wasn't long before I was a regular of a site called Babysnark. I paid my $15 smacks and off I went - I could post questions, get feedback and support, as well as contribute to other posts/questions. This was for me. I had found my place! Until the moderator deleted an "inappropriate post" about a technique I described that increased the chances of becoming pregnant. Uuuuuuh...ok. That kinda pissed me off, and made me feel all porny, but whatever - I am not one to make waves. That same day a user emailed me privately to tell me that I had done nothing wrong and that the administrator was a little too... involved. I quickly discovered the Admin was a Scientologist, and that you would be struck from the records and booted out of camp for saying one negative thing about their God Tom. If you recall Mr. Cruise had gone a little nutty when he discovered his beloved Katie and it was all the talk...but not on Babysnark...nope. Don't "go there".

We started to get cranky with JoJo's rules and regulations, which basically robbed us of our right to an opinion, and started posting inappropriate messages in an attempt to rile her up. I know I know - real mature but it was so much fun! Well one by one we all got kicked off, but there was a sense of accomplishment that went along with it...like when you finally got that "access denied" screen, you thought well I'm out, but at least I went down in a blaze of glory. I told her exactly what I thought of her and her site, and we sparred for a while until she finally got fed up and barred me. This was aaaaaall ok though...because we had found "The Peach". The Peach was started by a couple of girls who wanted a similar TTC/Pregnancy forum where we could speak freely (and respectfully) on any number of issues...and we've been there ever since...I think I am going on 2 years now...

I'll tell you those days were exciting. Now it is a bit more calm cool and collected, and rarely is there any drama...although I wish for a bit from time to time...as IF (infertility) boredom gets the better of me...while life goes on for everyone else. I think I am one of a dying breed...everyone eventually gets pregnant.

So on any given day, approx. 50 women report in, share their experiences, stories of their fertility treatments, their successes, their failures, ask questions, and gossip about celebs. "Why does Britney have an English Accent?" Who knows but its funny! It didn't take long for us to be really tight. Peaches throughout the US and Canada meet as well...so there is a sense of it being a very legitimate place. There is no one on the site I have ever questioned as being 100% on the up and up...we are all there because we need the same thing. Support.

So making a short story long here, a poster named "Snit" and I had a very good cyber relationship, and she went through years of IF and eventually used donor eggs/husband's sperm to create their two little miracles. She was 45 when she got pregnant, and is loving every minute of it. It hasn't been easy for her and her husband, Rob. Sean and Nick were born very premature, and have had a bit of an uphill struggle since...but they are working it out, and are the most adorable little boys.

When Snit found out my 3rd IVF had failed, and that the follow up with the doc revealed possibly looking into donor eggs, the first words out of her mouth were "we'd happily donate our remaining embryos to you." I remember staring at the words with my heart pounding and my head racing. I didn't know if she was joking, something made me think she wasn't...and something about it seemed...right! I PM'd (personal messaged) Leslie immediately, who told me that it was actually her husband's idea and that she was 100% on board as well. She told me that they would support us in any way we needed, but they wanted us to have the embryos. I cried my eyes out that night - I could not believe the gift that had been offered to me... I then knew that being part of The Peach, was a very necessary part of this process...without the Peach, I wouldn't be on this path.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

even though I've known about this , just reading it again made me all teary eyed happy for you. Snit rocks!