The Other Option

Can you believe it?! This is post 101. I never realized that I had that much to say about any topic and yet, somehow I managed to write one hundred and one posts.

Well, this calls for a celebration, so the topic of this post is not about IVF, but about "the other option." For Doc and I, that is adoption. I'm not sure if a year ago I would have given this another thought, but now that I'm going on IVF #3, this option is a very real reality.

We've attended a couple of sessions hosted by homestudy agencies in our area that specialize in international adoption. During these sessions, we learned a lot about the adoption process and all the details involved. The basic details are that it'll cost anywhere from $20K - $30K and can take anywhere from 12-36 months. There are several parties involved in an international adoption: the homestudy agency, the placing agency, the government, and us. Since we're looking only at Korea, we would also have to pass all the country specific restrictions.

So, how did we get here? I think both Doc and I realized that we needed to have a back-up plan in case this IVF #3 did not work. Although both of us would love to have a biological baby, we both agree that even more than that we want a family and we want to enjoy that family while we're still relatively young.

The other factor is both the emotional and economic tolls that IVF takes on you. I'm not sure if we're willing to go through it again if this IVF cycle doesn't work. We're not ruling out #4, but it's definitely not a given.

So all this being said, knowing that we have a "back up" plan, gives me a partial peace of mind and gives me hope that maybe in 2011, we'll have a +1 one way or another.