Campaign Story

Please support Amanda and Shara’s journey to parenthood via Reciprocal IVF!

Shara and I have both always wanted to be parents, so when we finally found each other we started discussing our options early on. We looked into every possibility: fostering, adoption, black market “turkey baster” style, buying from a sperm bank, IUI, IVF, RIVF, etc. We also considered how all of these choices would affect our children in the future; knowing where they came from, how they were made, who their family is and who their genetic family is, our ability to make contact with or keep in touch with their genetic family, discovering genetic siblings, how many genetic siblings they might have, etc.

It took us many years of intensive research, deep soul searching, and long hard conversations to arrive on our decision to do reciprocal IVF with a known donor, our awesome friend, Sam.

The procedure is amazing because both moms get to have a biological role in the child’s conception! Our doctors will create embryos with Amanda’s eggs and Sam’s sperm, then transfer to Shara’s uterus for gestation. The actual DNA is made from the eggs and sperm, but science has discovered that the gestational parent is responsible for how the genes are expressed in the individual! This means that both Amanda’s and Shara’s bodies get to influence the biology of the babies conceived in this way.

We feel that having a known donor is ideal for the kids because we think they will want to know him and be able to contact him. We chose Sam because he’s the kind of person we’d want to pick up the phone when they want to call their bio dad. Plus, he just happens to look a little like Shara!

We’ve extended this campaign for 3 years with the intention of using it for multiple pregnancies, but truly, we want to get started ASAP. We’re hopeful that the procedures we engage in now will prepare us to complete our family with 2 or 3 children within the next 5 years.

It’s going to be expensive so we set a lofty goal, but every bit helps! If you were thinking of getting us a “baby shower” gift, please forget that and donate instead. We can finance baby stuff, but we need help making the actual baby. Please consider making a donation to help us achieve this incredible life long dream!