Cautious First Steps

T and I met today with our fertility doctor to get information about IVF. We're still not certain about taking that next step -- or, rather, I am not certain; T seems to have few qualms.

Even though I consider myself somewhat knowledgeable about the IVF procedure, the hour was a deluge of information, too much to digest.

This is the process, as described to me, and assuming my recollection & notes are accurate:

-Take birth control pills for 3 weeks
-Subcutaneous injections of Lupron for 10 days
-Subcutaneous injections of follicle stimulating hormone, multiple times per day, not sure how long, with monitoring ultrasounds every 2-4 days
-Subcutaneous injection of "trigger shot," timed exactly 36 hours before egg retrieval
-Surgical egg retrieval, requiring anesthesia
-Beginning on the retrieval day, intramuscular shots of progesterone, continuing for up to 12 weeks if pregnancy results
-Fertilization at the lab after retrieval
-Wait 3-5 days after retrieval for embryo development
-Transfer of embryos into uterus
-Wait, hope

After this, a 40-50% chance of a viable birth.

There are also ethical issues to be addressed: How many embryos will we transfer? What should be done with unused frozen embryos -- discarded, donated to science, donated to another couple, preserved? What should be done with those frozen embryos if one of us dies, or we divorce?

It is a lot to take in. My head is spinning. But we won't make the decision just yet.