This post is part of the “Ask Me Anything” series. I answer reader-submitted questions about our experience with infertility and IVF. This post also contains affiliate links. You can see my full disclosure here.
A reader asks, “Were you and your husband always open to the idea of IVF? Or did you have to come to terms with the decision?”
My husband never really had an issue with IVF. However, I definitely had to come to terms with it on several levels:
I was hesitant to do IVF at first because I’d heard a lot of misinformation about the procedure. I consider myself to be pro-life and I was very concerned about the moral and ethical implications of IVF. I didn’t completely understand how IVF worked, and I was under the impression that you had to destroy embryos in order to do it. Once I realized that was not true, I became more open to the idea.
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Leftover Embryos: A Family Member’s Concern
Moral and Ethical Issues of IVF and Infertility: My In-Depth Book Review
I still had a lot of concerns about whether or not IVF was “playing God.” However, after a lot of prayer and counsel, I decided that God is the ultimate author of life. We can inject a sperm into an egg, but we can’t actually force it to fertilize. And even once it does, we can’t force it to implant and grow. Only God creates life. As my RE later told me, “Science can only bring us so far. In the end, it’s up to God.”
Once I got past the spiritual issues, I had to wrap my head around the emotional issues. I was scared to inject myself. I was scared to spend the money without a guarantee. I was scared of the side-effects. I was scared of the emotional work I’d have to do if IVF didn’t work. Basically, I was scared. But despite that fear, we had a sense of peace about pursuing IVF and God provided the funds, so it came down to just taking a leap of faith.
Want more tips on surviving IVF? Check out my new Kindle eBook, “Preparing for IVF: Approach Your IVF With Confidence and Courage.”
Image courtesy of Boss Fight.
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