THEY GET THE CALL

The final tests were at hand. Erin went to her fertility clinic for the ultrasound that would determine whether or not she could transfer my donated embryo and try to get pregnant. Her clinic would send the results to my fertility clinic, where the embryos were stored. The fertility nurses there would call her and partner Jenny later that night to tell them if the cycle was on or off.

And they finally got word that everything looked good! Jenny and Erin could plan to come to our area to transfer the embryo that would hopefully become their child. "Your uterus looks just as we would like" the IVF nurse told them. "You can start taking the new medication tomorrow."

New medication? Jenny and Erin had received only one prescription, for the hormones Erin was currently taking. Because their intake had been done over the phone someone at the clinic neglected to phone all of the prescriptions to their pharmacy. The clinic had sent Jenny and Erin a protocol describing what medication Erin would take and when it was needed. But the long, dense protocol was hard for new fertility patients to follow.

The fertility medication Erin needed was not commonly available. Special fertility pharmacies exist which fill and ship such prescriptions to patients all over the country. Getting such a pharmacy the prescription and getting the medication out in time was impossible at this point. The cycle looked doomed. What would Jenny and Erin do?

GETTING THE GO-AHEAD?

Preparing to transfer the embryos I had donated to her meant Erin was taking hormones. The purpose of the medication was to stop her natural cycle and prepare her womb to nurture the embryo.

There are many instances where assisted fertility requires patients to take medications to prepare for a cycle. That cycle may or may not end up happening. Before giving Erin the go-ahead for her cycle the clinic needed to make sure her body was responding the right way.

Each ultrasound and blood test panel Erin completed indicated that things were progressing just as they should. Jenny and Erin began making concrete plans for their trip to our clinic for the transfer.

One more hurdle remained. The final ultrasound would determine if the cycle was a "go". Jenny and Erin thoughtfully kept us posted and we waited to find out if they would be heading North to follow their dreams.