At last check, I was a single, professional woman with a great career in process. In my early 30s, I found myself a single, professional marketing executive with a great dog but no husband or children. I had not imagined this as my future. I had always thought that I’d have my prince charming at my side as I began to think about having a baby not that I would be debating egg freezing, IVF or the number of embryos to transfer. The timing was off for potential princes and my biological timing was beginning to become an issue.
I was diagnosed with PCOS in my late 20s and had some understanding that this endocrine disorder would make it more difficult for me to get pregnant in any situation. Armed with a little information and a real desire to take control of my future potential to have a baby I took off on a multi-year adventure of egg retrievals and egg freezing. I flew home to meet with an amazing fertility doctor, Laurel A. Stadtmauer with the Jones Institute, who listened to me and helped me create a path forward starting with a round of egg freezing and providing me some hope for my future.
I was fortunate enough to retrieve and freeze eggs multiple times in the following years. I felt certain that I would have a husband in the future so was only willing to pursue egg freezing initially. It had never occurred to me that I would still be single contemplating having children in my late 30s. Fast forward about ten years and several questionable dates with potential princes and I decided to jump in solo. I called my original doctor and asked how quickly I could begin the medications to transfer embryos. And so, it began with a range of agonizing decisions about my next steps. My path was not without loss or heartache but after several years, I was thrilled to transfer two embryos and get bloodwork back 12 days later that showed something big was happening! It was and I welcomed twins into the world at the age of 46 to the surprise of everyone, including my old self!