Three Years

To be honest after our last let down I was convinced that adoption was going to the direction we were next heading. I got excited and started doing more and more research.

I thought that the best bet for Chris and I would be private adoption as we are hoping to get a baby or very young child. One of the things I was most shocked about was the wait time. It is typically taking couples 3 years to be able to adopt a child.

Three years!

Unfortunately, every year this wait time is getting longer and longer. I think a lot of the reason for this is better availability of birth control, many young girls are now deciding to raise their children as there is less of a stigma as there was in the past, and of course more may be having abortions.

The lady that I was talking to did mention that if we were open to taking in a child whose mother drank alcohol or did drugs while pregnant we would have a better chance of getting a child earlier.

Another thing that I was surprised about was the cost. It costs around $15 000 by the time all is said and done. $5000 is on counseling alone.

To be honest, it was these two things time and cost that made Chris and I decide not to go with this option... at least not now.

Update: I also talked to someone who adopted through the public system and found out it took them FOUR years to be able to adopt their children!

Have You Ever Thought About Adoption?

While going through this process Chris and I have had several friends 

and family members ask us if we have considered adoption.

And the truth is yes we have considered adoption, but we are just not ready to give up the hope of having our own biological child.

I remember when I was younger thinking that if I wasn't able to have a child of my own I would just adopt. As if it would be an easy decision with no emotional baggage. 

How neive I was.

So for now we are planning to try at least another couple of attempts of IVF or IUI depending on how my body reacts.

If it doesn't work out for us then we have a few different options:

* Using the donated embryo of another couple 
* Adoption
* Live without children

At this moment we are thinking that we would like to try using the donated embryo of another couple. Although, the child would not be biologically ours, I would carry the child and there seems like there would be a lot less legal issues. 

As with everything in life this is a journey and we don't know what tomorrow will bring so we just keep taking it one step at a time.