Looking forward to fussy weekend and very important Monday scan

It’s all the fuss about Halloween. Frankly speaking, I’m not a great fan of big holidays. Really. Some of my friends think I’m kind of weird in this thing. Everyone gets crazy about any single reason to celebrate and gather together with friends. I also like family and friends reunions, though. For me, they are not necessarily associated with any particular holidays. Do I need a reason to visit a friend of mine? No. Does she need a reason to call on me? No. Despite of having very positive intention, holidays still get this all stressed out. In any case, Halloween is approaching and we were invited to our best friends place to celebrate. She has three children: 10, 8 and 3 years old. Actually, her younger son is the best friend to my Den. My friend whose name is Astrid likes to cook and she cooks a lot. My role in this “universe chaos” celebration is in decorating the house and entertaining kids. Some of the games are known to us from the previous celebrations, some will be new. In any case, I think all that matters for a kid on this fussy day is his most scary costume in the world. Last year Den was in this skeleton costume which this year is too short and too tight for him. So we ordered a new one. This time it’s Batman. Ha! He looks rather cute in it, I must admit. We chose it together. Yeah, my kid is growing older and I no longer can take decisions on my own (a bitter sweet feeling).

Another stressful thing about this terrific holiday is “treat”. Yes, the essence of all this carnival. I know everyone will give them candies and I’m a crazy mom up to this point. You see, my son in his 3 years old already has cavities in 4(!) teeth and had one of the cavities stuffed just a month ago. I think his teeth are very bad genetically (from his father) and he is very apt to cavities. I’m crazy about oral hygiene that’s why candies are a forbidden fruit for my little one. On holidays, the situation always gets out of control (another reason why I’m very biased regarding holidays).

Ok, there are times when you just have to yield and let it go. Children love this holiday immensely so let them just enjoy. As for me, I know that I will have quite different thoughts running through my head when everyone will be freaking it out. My ultrasound is scheduled on Monday and it will determine the day of stimulation trigger. And one more thing to tell you: I’m not afraid anymore! I’m so resolute to start like I was never before. I still have no idea of how I will be feeling but I’ve also heard from more experienced ladies in all this assisted reproduction that the medicines on my protocol are safe and usually show great results. I also know that much depends on my attitude to the whole thing happening. That’s why I decided to take emotions under control and send my positive vibes to the universe to attract success to my surrogacy treatment.

Happy Halloween everyone! 

Signing up contracts: costs, guarantees, number of attempts, payments and service included.

It’s 12^th day of my period and I’m starting stimulation this month. Hurray! Yeap, we’ve been matched with a surrogate mother (I still know absolutely nothing of who she is) and they synchronize our cycles. I have to do ultrasound in 6 days to ensure everything’s fine and I can start stimulation. It’s a long protocol starting from Dipherelin 3.75, one shot.  

Now I know it’s a high doze and I’m a bit afraid of side effects and how I will be feeling. From the other hand, I know that our doctor Elena is one of the leading specialists there in Biotexcom so I hope she knows what she is doing.

Surely, I’ll keep you updated on how we proceed, and now as I promised I’d like to tell you of how we finally made a choice, probably one of the most important choices in our whole life. These two days in Kiev were very busy but in the meantime very informative. It was not easy for us to make a choice, I must admit. All clinics we visited seemed quite good, modern and providing high level of service. Now the most crucial question was price and guarantees. Yes, guarantees. For newbies like me the category of “guarantee” sounded quite strange for a start. What guarantees do they mean? Ok, let me explain. It seemed that we were the only couple there who was opting surrogacy and knows nothing of what IVF is. Couple/women contacting fertility center for surrogacy usually have a background of a row of unsuccessful treatments: IUI (intra-uterine insemination), IVFs, donor egg IVFs, and even surrogacy attempts. With all those failures, they wasted time and money. That’s why guarantee of having a baby is so important to them. You know, we met a very kind couple from Denmark there in the clinic. They had 6 unsuccessful attempts of ivfs (both donor and own eggs) and trying to conceive for almost 10 years. I felt really sorry for them. I can’t even imagine how painful it might be. Now they switched to surrogacy. They told me that they had signed with this clinic mainly because they provide unlimited number of attempts for fixed price. In this particular case – donor eggs surrogacy. The same is provided by our contract. The only difference is that I give my own eggs. I go through hormonal stimulation. They can’t stimulate me endlessly. Thus, in case it won’t work from the first two attempts, they will have to shift for donor eggs. They told us that if we desperately want it to be our eggs with no shift to donor eggs, we’d better choose single attempt surrogacy program. It costs less but no guarantees, as you understand. Just one shot. Like a Russian roulette. Of course, I desperately want my future baby to be genetically connected to me. But losing money and flying away with big fat negative was also not a great prospective for us. We signed up for unlimited number of attempts: two attempts on my own with further transfer to donor eggs. Still hope so-so-so MUCH that our two attempts will work. I will do everything possible and impossible for this.

They offered us to choose between three contracts. The cheapest one is Economy package, cost 29 900 euro. Then comes Standard package – 39 900, and VIP package 49 900. All three are “all-inclusive” and provide guaranteed success. All legal and medical expenses are covered in each package, as well surrogate mother and egg donor fees (in case of egg donation). In economy package, you will have to cover all expenses in case of premature birth. Also, if pregnancy due to certain conditions stops after the 12^th week (very unlikely, still may happen), you pay compensation to a surrogate mother – 6 k euro. With Standard package, the clinic covers all these expenses (premature birth and pregnancy loss after 12 week). It may sound a bit too complicated to figure this all out, I know. We read all those contacts several times and asked dozens of questions before we could finally digest information and take a certain decision. With VIP contract, it’s easier – your contact is ultimately all inclusive: no extra charges, luxurious separate accommodation, business car transfers and personal driver, Ukrainian mobile phone, baby sitter, pediatrician and even all baby stuff you need. I think this package enables you with much more privilege, however we didn’t consider this package as an option for us mainly because of the price. So obviously I can’t be a very good counselor as to this particular package. I’m sure it’s more than great, but still we were choosing between economy and standard. We finally signed up for the last one. For us, it seemed to be a perfect combination of price and quality. Also, with this contact they provide better and more spacious accommodation which was a very important criteria for us because next times we will be travelling with our 3 (almost 4) year old son and he needs a separate bedroom.

It seems that I forgot to mention that no matter what package you choose, they provide airport pickup, transfers, interpreter service and even meals. I find it rather comfortable. We spoke with those who are already parenting babies there in biotex (waiting for all their papers to be ready for leaving back home which may take a month or two, so be ready). They said that it’s so comfortable: they have a maid who cleans the house and cooks fresh meals so that you can concentrate on your baby with no extra fuss.

Having made the first payment of 8 k euro, we we’ve been waiting for a match with gestational carrier for around 10 weeks. Our next payment (7 900 euro) is scheduled on the day of eggs retrieval. I’m still very overwhelmed, a bit worried about hormonal stimulation (mainly because I’m afraid to do anything wrong) and afraid of eggs retrieval surgery in general. But still I have this very warm feeling deep in my heart that it will work for us. 

PS: the photo attached is our hotel room provided by the clinic we’ve been staying at in Kiev

First trip to Kiev

Our first flight to Kiev was hectic. First of all, we hardly were on time for flight check in. Martin was to set off just after his business meeting. It took him longer than he expected so I thought we’d be late. We were the last ones to check in. My nervousness doubled. This time I was afraid the representative of clinic won’t meet us at the airport because we landed almost at midnight. Still they did. We made appointments with three clinics in Kiev. Biotexcom clinic, the first one we visited, offered us free airport pickup and accommodation. It made our journey less stressful as everything was planned for us. They took care about everything. The next day, their driver waited us at the set time near our hotel to take us to the clinic. So, Biotexcom was the first one on our itinerary. First impression: located not far from the city center, small separate building that looks like a fairy take castle, not a hint of hi-tech style. 

It’s located on a picturesque hill with beautiful views on the city. Interiors are very simple and plain. The clinic’s hall was crowded and some people even had no place to have a seat. We were met by our English speaking manager Anastasia. She was very busy, though, since we were not the only one couple with her that day. She invited us to a separate room with comfy upholstered chairs. She answered all our questions and we had a lot. She explained the peculiarities of each surrogacy package. They have three major packages. I’ll get it in more details the next time, if you don’t mind. Today I would like to share my general impression on the city and reproductive clinics we visited.

Ok, we thanked Anastasia for taking time and explaining everything to us. We told her that we were going to visit two other clinics. She didn’t mind and even helped us to get a cab. Our next destination was Ilaya clinic. It took us around 20 minutes to get there by car. As far as I understood, it’s located in the suburbs of Kiev. First impression was very good. Interiors are luxurious, hi-tech and seem to be very expensive. Equipment and furniture is brand new. There’re a lot of places where you can have a seat, watch TV or read a magazine (as I’ve told you already, in the first clinic having a seat was a problem as they have only one sofa for all the clients).

Unlike Biotexcom and despite of all its glory, Ilaya seemed to be deserted. The only patients I saw there were locals, no Europeans or other foreigners met. We saw a local lady (obviously patient) who was definitely not happy with something so they had rows with some lady from admiration. The reception girl we were talking to was not very good in English so it took them time to understand what we want. However, they invited us to a small room in white-green colors and offered some tea with biscuits. That was nice because we were already very hungry (they took our blood samples in the first clinic). Our manager came in around 10 minutes. It was a young and very beautiful lady. She told about all advantages of the clinic however the information on the fees was quite obscure. I don’t like it actually. To sum up, Ilaya also provides foreign patients with accommodation and translator. The minimum cost of surrogacy there is around 40k euro and is not final. All meds and possible risks like premature birth are not covered by your contract. We had to figure this out, but still there was one more clinic on our agenda. We took all those brochures and papers from Ilaya and asked them where we can have a lunch. They advised us Ukrainian food restaurant and even booked a table for us. Oh, I love this country for it. They all seem very responsive.

The restaurant was very cozy and service was quick. However, as to the food actually - Ukrainian food seemed too greasy for me. IMO. Coffee was great, though. The prices are minor if compared to our Norwegian ones. The same with taxi and public transport. 10-15 minutes taxi ride costs around 3 euro. Our restaurant lunch bill was around 10 euro. Street food is also everywhere, so you can have a bite any time. 

In restaurants, some staff speaks English and they even have their menu in English. It came as a surprise for me.

Ok, now about Victoria clinic, our last destination. It’s located in the historical part of the city. We were astonished by architecture. In the meantime, history is combined with modern streams. The clinic seemed rather small to me. Interiors and equipment seemed to be not brand new like in Ilaya still quite normal.  

We were kindly met and immediately invited to a meeting room with coffee and biscuits again. The manager spoke English very well. She was not very talkative, though. The key thing for me about this clinic was that they take care only of medical part of surrogacy program. No legal service provided, as well as they won’t help you get official papers for the baby when he or she is born. It’s not their business. Should we have run such risk? No. 

How it all started

It’s chilling outside. It gets colder each day. Time to think, take care of yourself and of your home. I decided to reset my consciousness after a row of these very stressful and painful events. I asked my mom to stay with Den and drove to the nearest IKEA store. New kitchen curtains and towels, and also toy boxes for my son – done. Feeling a little bit better now. You know, I can’t understand what’s the magic about it. Shopping really helps me to fight stress. A weird thing.

Apart of all that, I’ve been surfing the net a lot recently, reading doctors’ and other patients stories, blogs and recommendations before starting my first ivf. I still have a lot of questions in my head. I look at this huge pack of medications they gave me. Truly speaking it frightens me a bit.  As I’ve told you before, my son was conceived naturally (the second months we’ve been trying to conceive). I knew that a lot of couples keep trying months and years, so I was surprised when I saw these desired two fat lines on the pregnancy test. Actually, I felt I was pregnant even before the test. Then, when I noticed the period is 1-2 days missing, I realized this is it. Things changed greatly since then. Hopefully, I have a doctor to treat me with a very beautiful name Elena. My future mothering is in her hands.

Ok, it seems that it’s high time to tell you about how our fertility journey started. As I’ve told you already, I’m from Norway. Surrogacy is prohibited by law here, unfortunately. Ethics are ethics, religion is religion, but still… have Norwegian politicians thought of women like me? Nope.  Anyways, this is another story.

Obviously, from the time we both decided on trying surrogacy, we knew we would go internationally. We google searched a lot, registered on fertility forums and asked other couple’s opinion. Our research brought us to two options: Georgia and Ukraine. These countries have the best surrogacy conditions and guarantees for intended parents. At first we thought to contact an intermediary agency. We thought we would be more protected if we proceed with the agency. We contacted a few ones. What we found is that they take big fees for their service. I asked my forum friends how safe it is to deal directly with fertility clinic, omitting all mediators. Those who dealt with clinic directly told us that it saves a lot of money and even time, as you can speak directly with clinic’s manager and make appointments when it’s comfy for you. Also, even before you travel for the first time, you can ask manager all questions you have. (I had dozens of questions). And the money aspect – you pay initial price established by the clinic, no overcharging.

The next step was studying local surrogacy legislation. Surrogacy legislation in both countries we were opting is quite favourable for intended parents. They have specific set of laws to protect IPs’ rights and the rights of SM (surrogate mother).  Intended mother shall provide medical certificate proving her disability to carry pregnancy on her own. Restrictions for SMs are also set by law: age 18-39, being absolutely healthy and having at least one healthy child. What we liked and what was obviously one of the most crucial points in legislation aspect is that SM has no right to change her mind and keep the baby after delivery. IPs are considered biological parents of the child. Birth certificate is issued with the name of IPs as parents, no name of SM mentioned. It was very important for me.

The second serious thing to consider was contract conditions and fees. I found reproductive clinics’ directory on the web with their contact info and websites. Some websites provided service and price info, some didn’t, so I had to email them. The prices are different. Conditions are different, too. My advice on it: when considering surrogacy fees, ask your consultant if the price is final and what extra fees are, if any? Also, consider the number of attempts they provide. It may be only one attempt (no matter own or donor eggs), several attempts or endless number of attempts. Also ask if medications are covered by your contract. What I’ve noticed, is that some clinics assign lower price, but then it will be doubled with costs of all medications needed. So please mind this.

Finally, we decided to proceed with Ukrainian clinics, firstly based on lots of positive reviews and surrogacy experience in this country, secondly on its geographical location. It’s cheaper and quicker for us to travel to Ukraine than to Georgia.

To sum up, we chose three clinics we would like to visit in Kiev, the capital city of Ukraine. We booked our air tickets. We asked my parents to stay with Den during our travel. We had just two days to stay there and take decision, so I knew it’d be an exhausting time. Ok, we made appointment with three clinics. Initial consultations were for free. Thus, we got our bags packed and we were impatiently waiting for our first trip. 

Don't count the days, make days count!

It was a very tough week. A row of good and bad things happened. The news was a shock and even when it seemed that it couldn’t be worse it was. Ok, I’m not going to upset you because this bad news is just for my family. I hope your week was joyful and happy.

In any case, after frustration for a couple of days it seems that I have strength to move forward. At such moments you realize like you did never before that life is so short. It’s just a blink of eye between the past and future. And you are the only one who can change anything NOW. There is no yesterday or tomorrow. Just today and now. Unfortunately, we leave so many things “for tomorrow”, “next week”, “next year”. This is probably one of the biggest mistakes we make.

As I get older, I discover so many things that were obviously hiding somewhere behind our daily routine and all the joys of the 20s+ ages. Is this natural? Am I just getting older? Getting wiser or just older? Having new wrinkles on my forehead means that I’m smarter than before? Or I’m just burning my days for nothing? And those who seemed to live this life to the fullest degree, those who are in their 70s and 80s, did they have enough time for fulfilling all their dreams? Were they brave enough to dream and make their dreams come true? Looking back on their lives, are they happy? If they could, what would they change? I was always afraid to ask these questions. As for me, asking such questions means summarizing life thus saying goodbye on default. That’s why I never asked them.

And what comes next? Or this is it? I know a very wise person who told me once: “Our immortality is in our future generations”. He knows better. Obviously, the essence of our lives is raising dignified new people who will raise new people and so on.

I still keep thinking of it.

Even if it’s true, I’m limited in this due to my infertility. Limited but not deprived. Now I’m even more convinced that I’m on the right way. I hope that my family will welcome its new member soon.

I know that many people stay childless all life long and still are happy. This is the right formula for them. For me, my happiness is in mothering and in bringing new smart, beautiful and dignified people to this world. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong. Maybe my thoughts out loud are just groundless conclusions of a young mother who has some fertility limitations and just feels guilty about that?

A question for everyone reading this: what is the sense of life for you? Please help me figure this out.