Families are made up of many different sizes and types. There are parents and children, grandchildren, grandparents, sometimes great-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, far-removed cousins, even pets. In my grandchildren’s case, there are stuffed lovies. Don’t even try to suggest to them that they are not part of the family.
I get similar types of families through our doors. Naturally, all of them are people who wish to become parents one day or to grow their existing families. They come from all walks of life and backgrounds. Some are heterosexual couples. Some are same-sex couples. Some are married, others not. Some are single or widowed. Some are disabled. Some are cancer patients, hoping to plan for a future family. Some are financially well-off, others are less so.
Despite the wide range of people who come visit our offices, the overarching sentiment is the same: Love. Love for their partner and for the future child they hope to have. Love for their own parents, who they want to make into grandparents.
Of course, there is another unifying theme: struggle.
Infertility is hard. It’s a difficult realization to grasp, and the journey of fertilization can be emotionally taxing, not to mention physically. It’s a huge waiting game, one that requires a lot of patience. We try hard not to add to the struggle but just to be the scientific voice in the whole messy equation. All of our patients persevere bravely through the process.
Infertility selects at random. It doesn’t matter what your background is or where you are in your life. It doesn’t discriminate, and neither should anyone else.
Lastly, there’s one unifying trait. Desire. To be a parent. To be able to one day hold a baby in their arms, care for it, raise it, watch it grow up. The people who walk through our doors have thought this thoroughly, done the research, made the decision to go forward with the process. And it doesn’t matter what their background is – they are prepared, they are knowledgeable, and they are willing to do whatever it takes to dedicate their lives to a little human being.
These people will be good parents.
For all these reasons, I know that every one of my patients deserves to be a parent and to have that chance to give themselves fully to another human being. We support every one of our patients’ decisions to give fertility a chance, and we believe that no one, even their own bodies, should tell them otherwise.