An in Vitro Story
by Becky Strunk

After six years of marriage, my husband and I decided a new little Strunk was what we needed to make our family complete. I already had 2 boys from a previous marriage, but I always secretly longed for a little girl. My husband had been involved in a car accident when he was teenager, which had affected the motility of his sperm, so we knew we would have to see a fertility specialist for a little help. I had heard of a group practice in Cincinnati who worked with my husband's type of problem utilizing in vitro fertilization. Hence, the journey begins!

In vitro is great...if you are patient, somewhat stable and RICH! The cost of in vitro with a special procedure called ICSI (inject sperm into the egg) was $10,000 ... no problem at the time, I was working and we could afford it. By the way, that didn't include the drugs you take ... everything from the drug to stop you from ovulating, drugs to mature numerous eggs, and a drug to stimulate ovulation. Internal ultrasound was used to detect the maturation of the eggs, so they could be harvested from my ovaries before they were released. The eggs were injected with my husbands' sperm and after 48 hours were implanted into my uterus, and the waiting began.
April 1,1997: we found out I was pregnant, and because my HCG levels were so high, it probably was multiples. No problem!!
May 1,1997: we found out I was carrying triplets. Nothing could have prepared me for what the next one and a half years would bring...