One Shot at a Time

Recently, I committed to being more open about the struggles my wife, Emily, and I have had in trying to have a child.

Our stats:

• 2 rare genetic conditions
• 3 rounds of IVF
• 4 lost pregnancies
• 5 lost unborn children

And as we now add a fourth round of IVF to this list, Emily and I have decided to become even more open:

We’re going to document our story as it unfolds.

In the past, our protocol was to keep quiet about anything pregnancy-related until Emily made it through the first trimester, when it would finally be “safe” to share the good news. (If only quotes were enough to convey that word’s absurdity.)

While that worked for a time, what it did in the long run was close us off from the rest of the world, leaving us to silently suffer through the heartbreak of infertility and pregnancy loss alone.

It also didn’t make the bad times any easier to endure. If anything, it made them that much tougher.

Which is why we’re pulling this 180. We want — we need — outside support. We want to let people in. And maybe most importantly, we want to help anyone else out there who’s struggling to have a child to feel a little less alone.

And so we begin here, with Emily taking her first shot in preparation for her fourth egg retrieval, as our favorite artist, Joshua Radin, provides the soundtrack:

(Keep scrolling for more pictures from the first couple days of the process.)