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Surrogate Parenting

How Sperm Donation for Artificial Insemination Works

If you’re thinking about sperm donation and artificial information, you should learn what a sperm donor does!

This info is from a terrific book called A Baby at Last! The Couple’s Complete Guide to Getting Pregnant – From Cutting-Edge Treatments to Commonsense Wisdom.

“The frequency of artificial insemination of donor sperm has changed dramatically, thanks to the introduction of ICSI (intrauterine insemination),” write the authors of A Baby at Last! “Even when a man has a very low sperm count or low motility, or no sperm at all in the ejaculate, doctors can isolate a single sperm from the ejaculate or retrieve sperm from the testicles to inject directly into an egg.”

My husband calls this procedure “cracking a nut.” In medical circles, they call it TESE or testicular sperm extraction. But, if you don’t want to go that far in search of sperm – surgery to extract a single sperm – you might want to look for a sperm donor at a sperm bank instead.

The following info on sperm donors and sperm banks is from A Baby at Last! The Couple’s Complete Guide to Getting Pregnant–from Cutting-Edge Treatments to Commonsense Wisdom – a terrific source of information on getting pregnant, whether or not you’re coping with infertility.Read More »How Sperm Donation for Artificial Insemination Works

Not Getting Pregnant? Understand the Emotional Issues of Infertility

Not getting pregnant brings up different emotional issues of infertility for men and women. Here, a fertility specialist discusses how men and women process infertility issues differently, and offers tips for dealing with the “trying to conceive” process.

First, here are a few emotions that not getting pregnant often triggers:

“When you can’t get pregnant, you swim in a mix of emotions,” write Julie Vargo and Maureen Regan in A Few Good Eggs. “You feel insecure (how the hell did this happen to me?), inferior (if I can’t have a baby, I must not be enough of a woman), scared (how am I going to get out of this mess?), mad (how the hell did this happen to me?), and frustrated (what does that mean?).”

Insecurity, inferiority, fear, anger, and frustration are commonly felt by both men and women who are dealing with the emotional issues of infertility. Reading books like A Few Good Eggs can help couples cope. And, here is embryologist Stacie Hill’s advice on understanding how infertility affects men and women differently….Read More »Not Getting Pregnant? Understand the Emotional Issues of Infertility

Surrogate Mothers and Parents – Tips for Surrogacy Parenthood

Infertile couples may find surrogacy parenthood is the best way to conceive a baby. These tips for surrogate mothers and parents (usually couples coping with infertility) are from a woman with a great deal of experience as a surrogate mom…

Before the tips, a quip about raising kids:

“Biology is the least of what makes someone a mother,” said Oprah Winfrey.

It’s not who gives birth to a child that makes someone a mother! True parenthood is about raising, loving, teaching, and preparing your kids for their own lives. To learn more about surrogacy, read Pathways to Parenthood: The Ultimate Guide to Surrogacy by Stacy Ziegler.

And, here are tips for surrogate parenthood from an experienced surrogate mother…Read More »Surrogate Mothers and Parents – Tips for Surrogacy Parenthood

How to Find a Fertility Specialist or Infertility Doctor

If you can’t get pregnant, you may want to start researching how to find the best fertility specialist or infertility doctor in your area. These tips will help if you’re looking for a new fertility doctor because you’re disappointed with the specialist you’ve already tried, or if you’re brand new to the infertility roller coaster and are wondering if you’ll ever get pregnant.

“You’ve been trying to conceive and it hasn’t happened. Maybe you’ve been aiming for pregnancy for six months, a year, or three years,” writes Pamela Madsen, the executive director of The American Fertility Association, in What to do When You Can’t Get Pregnant. “Maybe you’ve talked about it with your partner, your doctor, your friends. Maybe you haven’t. Maybe you’re gung-ho about getting help and your partner is foot-dragging. Maybe you’re reticent, nervous, or scared. Everyone’s situation is singular. But there is one universal imperative binding all of us…the search for understanding.”

You may not find all your answers here, in a fertility book, or from your infertility doctor…but at least you’re trying new things! For an overview of everything available for couples coping with infertility, click on What to do When You Can’t Get Pregnant. And read on for tips on finding a fertility specialist or infertility doctor…Read More »How to Find a Fertility Specialist or Infertility Doctor

Surrogate Parenting – The Male Perspective

If you’re considering surrogate parenting, knowing the male perspective might help! Most experiences with surrogacy – when one woman gives birth to a child for a woman who can’t have children – focus on the women’s perspective.

Here’s the man’s perspective of surrogate parenting… 

“The male role in surrogacy is often ignored,” says Robin von Halle, president of Alternative Reproductive Resources (ARR), a gestational surrogacy and egg donation agency in Chicago. “Men play the supportive role, which from our perspective, is one of the most important.” 

To learn more about surrogate parenting, read Surrogacy Was the Way: Twenty Intended Mothers Tell Their Stories by Zara Griswold.

And here’s the male’s perspective of perspective of surrogacy… Read More »Surrogate Parenting – The Male Perspective