*This is a collaborative post.

I’ve blogged about our journey of conceiving T many times on the blog – often writing about how bloody hard it is, not to mention time consuming. But one thing we’ve never really written about is what would have happened if our choice of conception didn’t work out and we were forced to choose another route.

Of the many nights Sharon and I were sat awake wondering whether this time would be the one, we also often discussed what we would do after the umpteenth time of a yet another failed insemination. That number never really surfaced as we eventually conceived T after two years of trying, but I imagine that that number was slowly dawning on us.

One option would have been to go down the IVF route – which is a popular and usually viable option for couples, although not always guaranteed for others and is often costly. But when you’re faced with the thought that you may never conceive; you think about all the options!

egg donation

For me, the thought of egg donation sounded most appealing as I still really wanted to carry my own child; even if my eggs weren’t up to the job (I later found out that I had good eggs, just not enough progesterone to get things growing).

When we were looking through the options, I probably could have done with some simple information similar to an infographic that I recently received from Growing Generations, a fertility clinic in Los Angeles that specialises in egg donation and surrogacy. As well as simple facts and information, it also tells stories of families who have gone through this process.

When I was looking at the infographic, there were even some bits that surprised me. For example, couples who are choosing an egg donor will have access to information such as the donor’s physical characteristics, family and genetic information, even education history*.

Growing Generations is a Los Angeles-based organisation committed to supporting couples and helping them grow their families through egg donation, gestational surrogacy, and parental education. They strive to offer ethical, safe, successful, and cost-effective assisted reproductive services to their patients, regardless of sexual orientation, marital status, or HIV status.

*With anything like this; however, please always carry out your own health and legal checks!

*This is a collaborative post with Growing Generations where I have been compensated for sharing their infographic, however all thoughts and opinions surrounding this are my own.