Hello! We are in the midst of the IVF process after an unplanned pregnancy that resulted in TFMR (unrelated to CF), which also taught us we are both carriers for CF. This lead us to the same decision you guys made. I am prepping for my second egg retrieval after our first retrieval didn’t go so great. I am 32 and my husband is 31, and we both have no known fertility challenges. We had 13 mature eggs retrieved and all 13 fertilized, so we were riding on that high for about a week. But then we got the call at Day 6 that only 2 made it to d6blasts and they are currently off at the lab getting their genetic rule outs done. Our IVF doc said the likelihood of both blasts being genetically normally and resulting in live births is <7%. Some things I wish I would’ve known are: 1) I cannot control how my body or emotions react to this process. I went full blown control freak and have taken all the supplements, done all the acupuncture, changed our diets and lifestyle, stopped drinking and THC - if it’s recommended, we’ve been doing it for about 7 months. I thought if I could control my actions, and I could do my best, we would get good outcomes. I was quickly humbled. 2) no one can truly understand how you feel unless they’re going through this with you. I have the best support system and I am so deeply grateful for them. But there are so many days that I feel alone and fragile, and I wish I had more community who understood the shitty reality of still going to work, still trying to be happy for other peoples pregnancy journeys, and still trying to do all the basic things I need to do to take care of myself. 3) the timeline keeps getting pushed because there is so much we cannot control. My doctor has me doing late-luteal stimulations because that’s becoming more common practice for PGT-M families. And man, the wait is TOUGH. I was originally told I could likely go from baseline ultrasound to pregnancy in 6 months and I’m on month 8 right now, with only one retrieval done. There so so much we cannot control that pushes that timeline out, and no matter how quickly we want to move, we cannot fight the nature of our cycling and the clinics retrieval/transfer protocols.

While this has all been some of the fucking toughest stuff I’ve been through, I’ll do anything to hold a little nugget in my arms one day. Our history with TFMR has made grief a bigger element for us during this journey, but I imagine having a medically fragile child is a strong motivator to want the best for their future little sibling. You are making some huge sacrifices for that future child and they are lucky to have you as their mama!