Catherine's Story

Today during an ultrasound, my baby had the hiccups; I've never seen such a beautiful sight. I am 13 weeks pregnant with my first child- now all is going well, but it wasn't easy getting here. I endured a year and a half of constant infertility efforts, characterized by my body underperforming, injections, cancelled cycles, decisions about untested treatments, and massive anxiety and irritability- alternating with a relentless hope that only ensured a deeper disappointment as all treatments failed. Finally my doctor recommended the use of an egg donor. I couldn't bear the thought of trying to coordinate my cycle with an unknown donor, imagining now two bodies that would fail, not just one. Then he suggested using a frozen egg. All I would have to do is prepare a nice nest for my embryo. It could happen on my timeline.

I looked into DEB USA and that's when things started going right. I found several lovely bright young women who had had successful IVF cycles and had batches of frozen eggs. Of the seven eggs I received, six fertilized and five grew beautifully. My doctor was so pleased with the quality that we only transferred one embryo. I could not believe it when the home pregnancy test came up positive, days before my blood test was scheduled. And my baby has met every milestone since. I also couldn't believe how easy it all was. No bad news. No tears. Well, maybe a few tears of gratitude.

I know my baby may not look just like me, or have my particular talents and skills. But he or she will have different ones, strengths I don't necessarily have. And having any child is an adventure in not knowing quite what you will get! I can't wait to see what he or she is like.