Like so many people these days, we decided to have children later in life. And, like most people, we thought it would be easy. It wasn't.
First, we had to decide which of us would try first. One doctor told us my partner should since she, "had older eggs." Next, we had to decide how long we would try and how much we would spend.
We ended up trying for longer and spending a lot more money than we ever intended, but California Cryobank was with us every step of the way.
When our fertility specialist told us that the first donor we had chosen was possibly incompatible, CCB allowed us to return our vials and purchase a different donor.
They were great about helping us through the process from our earliest days of insemination in our local doctor's office, to our transition to a fertility clinic and a failed in vitro attempt.
After an early pregnancy loss, my partner decided she was done trying. However, we still had a few of her embryos left which I decided to carry. Only one successfully implanted, but one was enough.
After a very long journey, we have a beautiful, healthy daughter, who truly would not be here without either of us, and our family is complete.
As our daughter has grown, we have especially appreciated the donor sibling registry program offered by CCB as we have been able to establish friendships with six of our daughter's half-siblings' families.