Undergoing IVF is no vacation, but that's the reason a growing number of couples are heading to California. Because California permits many procedures that are regulated or prohibited in other countries, such as egg donation and surrogacy, couples from around the world flock to California in hopes of bringing home a baby as a souvenir.
Medical gender selection is banned in nearly every country in the world except the US. Huntington Reproductive Center in Los Angeles is one of the largest IVF centers on the West coast, and is a destination for couples around the US and around the world who hope to use MicroSort sperm separation to choose their baby's sex.
But while California may be attractive from a legal perspective, how does the US compare to other countries in terms of cost for IVF? The July issue of Wired magazine compared the cost of IVF worldwide; it turns out, you'll pay a premium to get pregnant in the US.
About Maureen
Click to play the Fountains of Wayne song about Maureen!
"Maureen, you're givin' me too much information!"
My Kiddies
My DH
(And never had a fight!)
About Me
In 1999, my two sons were 4 and 2 years old, and we were ready to have another baby. I hoped to have a daughter, and I turned to the Internet to search for ways of increasing the odds of conceiving a girl. I discovered the iVillage Gender Determination Board. On the board, I found information about at-home and high-tech sex selection methods, but more importantly, I discovered I wasn't alone. I was one among a legion of mothers who longed desperately for a daughter, keeping it a secret so others wouldn't think, wrongly, that we loved our sons less, and feeling guilty becuse we're not supposed to care if a baby's a boy or a girl, "as long as it's healthy". There were, of course, also mothers hoping just as much to add a son to their all-girl family.
After a lot of research and soul-searching, my husband I decided to try MicroSort. In the fall of 2000, I became pregnant on our first MicroSort attempt, by IUI. At 20 weeks of pregnancy, we discovered we were having twins, a boy and a girl! We were thrilled to have a daughter at last, and a new son to cherish too.
During my journey to conceive a daughter, I was so grateful for the support and information volunteered by others on the boards; mothers who didn't even know me, but were willing to help me, hope for me, and cry along with me, when there was no one I could turn to "in real life". I know that without being able to talk personally with women who had tried MicroSort, I would have never gone through with this daunting, complex procedure; and that we would have never had a daughter as part of our family.
Now that my journey's finished, this Web site is just my way of giving some of that help back, to you.