For the 10 to 20% of pregnancies that end in miscarriage, the loss is compounded when there are more people involved in the journey toward becoming parents. And when assisted reproductive technology is part of that journey, there may be an increased risk of early miscarriage. When a gestational carrier experiences pregnancy loss, it’s a devastating period of time for both the surrogate and the intended parents. This can make the web of grief and coping with the loss even more complex for all parties.  Lynetta Cuomo, a surrogate with the agency SurrogateFirst, had three of...

There are so many different ways to have a family, and it is totally worth it, but it is definitely an endeavor that requires budgeting. Giving birth in a hospital is covered by health insurance, if you have it, but it still may require close to $3,000 out of pocket. Working with a surrogate or assisted reproductive technology, such as IVF, averages about $12,400 per cycle without financial assistance (and multiple cycles are often necessary for pregnancy).  Another family-building option is adoption—and there are multiple routes you can take within adoption, including a public adoption, a...

A fertility journey can involve many steps between you and your future baby. Some are in your control, some aren’t, but all usually provide a certain amount of information. PGT-A testing is one way to gain valuable knowledge to help you move forward on your path to parenthood. It can be especially helpful for couples trying to build their families who have experienced prior losses, want to decrease the time to pregnancy, increase chances of success, or are over age 35.  The team at Genomic Prediction, who created the LifeView testing platform, has studied and continues...

If you’ve been trying to get pregnant for a while, or if you’re a single parent or same-sex couple who wishes to conceive, you may be starting to think about alternative options to help you grow your family. While IUI and IVF are both very promising avenues, fertility treatments can be time-consuming and expensive. Before going down that path, you may want to try a more affordable, less-invasive option at home, such as intravaginal insemination (IVI).  What is intravaginal insemination, exactly?  Intravaginal Insemination (IVI) is the process of transferring semen or ejaculate directly into the female...

Sponsored by Organon. Visit FertilityJourney.com for infertility resources and information. LGBTQ+ couples navigating family planning and fertility options may face unique questions and circumstances like, “How do we start our family planning journey?” “Are there restrictions against LGBTQ+ partners that may impede our access to care and options?” “Will my doctor understand our specific needs or have a personal bias?” Through our conversations with those in the (in)fertility community, every couple’s family planning journey and needs are different. For LGBTQ+ couples, additional considerations may be at play. Taking the first step to explore the options available...

In addition to starring in Daisy Jones and the Six, Riley Keough quietly welcomed her first child in 2022. The news of Keough’s daughter’s birth surprised most people, as Keough and her husband have been private about their path to parenthood. But in a recent interview Keough shared details including her daughter’s name, the fact that she welcomed her via surrogacy, and the factors that led her to make this decision. “I think it’s a very cool, selfless, and incredible act that these women do to help other people. I can carry children, but it felt...

Possibly now, more than ever, surrogacy seems to be in the spotlight thanks to some high-profile celebrities. With this increased focus comes a lot of conversation about what surrogacy is, what it isn’t, who has access to it, and what it means for you and your family.  To state it plainly, surrogacy is a method of assisted reproduction during which intended parents work with a gestational surrogate who carries their baby until birth. Intended parents who may consider surrogacy include heterosexual couples who have struggled with infertility, independent parents unable to carry a child, intended parents...

Assisted reproductive technologies like intrauterine insemination (IUI), in vitro fertilization (IVF), donor conception (sperm, egg, or embryos), surrogacy, or any combination of building a family can feel like a tricky balance between science and hope. Prospective parents must navigate through realms of medical terminologies, technologies, and possibilities they probably have never considered before while balancing their desire (and, likely, processing emotions like shock, grief, and more) to have children.  In recent years, the genetic testing of embryos has been quickly evolving, providing insights into embryo health that empower prospective parents with knowledge, understanding, and the ability...

Non-traditional paths to parenthood are frequently misunderstood, and surrogacy is arguably the path that is most in need of cultural demystification. Surrogacy involves so many moving pieces, and both the medical and legal processes are complicated. On top of that, there’s this persistent misconception that surrogacy is just for the uber-privileged when in reality, people turn to surrogacy for a range of reasons.  In order to help others better understand what surrogacy really entails, we spoke with Dean Hutchison, Vice President of Legal Services at Circle Surrogacy, who broke down some of the important facts about...

Using a donor gamete (egg, sperm, or embryo) can be overwhelming. Four years after my husband and I decided to adopt two embryos, one of which is now our three-year-old son, I still have questions. Maybe some would have been answerable. Perhaps they were, and still are, unknown to the genetic donors. I don’t know. The path to parenthood has many possible roads, and, for many of us, a lot of them are not clearly marked. We often go into this process confused, scared, uneducated, and with far more questions than answers. For me, the biggest...