My daughters look nothing alike and are obviously fraternal twins. I am frequently asked if we did IVF and I am never ashamed nor shy about admitting we did. However, the story usually stops there and I never tell them about their three embryonic brothers and sisters. The IVF process created five grade A embryos, Liv and Mia are just two of the five, three were frozen.
Rick and I were faced with the difficult decision to determine the fate of the remaining three. We knew we couldn't keep them frozen forever, we also knew we couldn't afford five children. The easiest solution would have been to destroy them, but that option didn't sit well with us. We couldn't imagine destroying them simply because our family was complete.
I went through four years of tears, medication, pain, and frustration to get these embryos to this point. I just knew there was another female out there that wanted them – a loving woman fighting for the opportunity to become a birth mother.
Last year we made the right decision for us. We gave all three embryos up for adoption to a couple in Kansas City who had been trying to get pregnant for 10 years. We realize it’s not the right choice for everyone, but we knew we had to do what’s best for them while they were in our care and if given the opportunity to speak, I bet they would have told us to give them a chance…somewhere, anywhere at life. I also couldn't help but look at Liv and Mia playing with their toys and think to myself, they could have easily been two of the remaining embryos and are only here by chance.