We're going to take a break from...OK from my break....for a very special message. Someday soon I'll be back with the second half of Bryan's birth story and an update on my 4 month old! (Holy cow is he really that old already!) For now, I'd like to put a plea out there about something that is very dear to my heart.
If you have followed my blog, you know that I had a IVF cycle buddy,
Genevieve. Gen and her husband went through their IVF less than a week after A and I did, and their little boy Phelan was born about 3 weeks before Bryan, after giving his mommy pure hell for 35 weeks. She was such a trooper, but had every bad pregnancy symptom in the book, except preeclampsia which I took care of. Amazingly Phelan didn't have to spend a single minute in the NICU, even at 5 weeks early.
Unfortunately for Gen, the issues didn't stop there. Because she was on bed rest for the majority of her 3rd trimester, she had used up nearly all her leave and only got 6 weeks of maternity leave. That on top of a preemie baby made it difficult for her to establish a good milk supply, and although she hasn't given up (you go girl!) she has had to supplement with formula from the beginning. Then you throw in bum renters who don't pay their rent and trash your house (not to mention your good name when you throw them out), and DH losing his job (that he can't get unemployment benefits from because he was an independent contractor) it's been a rough couple of months for them.
Now Genvieve and her husband were lucky enough to have some extra embryos from their IVF that they were able to freeze. When DH lost his job, they did some research into their baby daddy (they used donor sperm) and discovered that there is no baby daddy juice left. They got the last of it for their IVF. What this boils down to is that in order for Phelan to have a full blood sibling, they have to use the embryos they have frozen. This means paying storage fees now that a year of free storage has passed. This is NOT CHEAP, and with only one income really hard to do.
I am a firm believer that no one should be forced to make a massive decision like what to do with remaining embryos because of money. Most of us who are lucky enough to be part of the ALI community already have, to some extent, had do base whether or not to have kids in the first place on money. Letting it tell you when you can and can't keep your embryos just isn't fair.
Genevieve and her DH want 2 kids. They want a brother or sister for Phelan that will have the same DNA. But they know they're not ready for that second baby now, even if they could afford the frozen cycle. The only way to make their dream come true is to keep those embryos on ice for a while longer, and that's going to cost $500.
I'll tell you. If I had a spare $500 lying around, I'd sent it to Genevieve in a heartbeat. If anyone deserves a second chance at pregnancy and being a mom its her. Unfortunately I don't have that kind of extra cash right now. But I do have $50. And I'd bet that you have $5 or $10. And I have an
etsy store. And for everything in my store that sells before September 1st, I'll add another $10 to the "Save the Frosties" fund.
Can you help? Even $5 will get Genevieve's little Peanut closer to a brother or sister. Click the PayPal button to donate!
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