A friend at MLJAdoptions.com in Indianapolis is doing research on embryo donation for an article. If you are interested in speaking to Brooke Randolph as a source to share your story, on either side of embryo donation, please respond to her via email at brooke at mljadoptions DOT COM.
Thanks!
Just yesterday a new book was released to help couples manage the financial strain of infertility. ”Budgeting for Infertility“ was written by Angie Best-Boss and Evelina Sterling, and is a friendly guide to “bring home a baby without breaking the bank.” They walk you through understanding the fertility clinic selection process and understanding its success rate, working ‘with’ your insurance company to get more coverage, how to find affordable fertility drugs, understanding traveling abroad where treatment can be more affordable, and how to steer clear of unnecessary expenses.
And…. BabyOrBust.com is featured on page 191! In the chapter “I’ll Try Anything! Investigate Creative Alternatives,” they include a paragraph about creating a Web site to raise the funds. And that’s what we are, a fund raising site. Our first interview in 2006 was with the Wichita Eagle and they called us cyber-beggars, which went out on the AP wire and that’s what we were coined by everyone. Well, we sure aren’t beggars and unfortunately that’s what this book has called us, too. It’s unfortunate because creating a Web site is a creative way to earn the funds. It’s worked for us and we know others who’ve followed in our footsteps who’ve been able to do the same. The book seems to be positioning creating a fund raising site as a creative way to earn the funds, but calling the act “cyber-begging” has a seriously negative connotation and could possibly deter people who might have otherwise found value in it. Best-Boss also includes a quote from me during our 2006 interview, explaining what BabyOrBust.com is.
I’m not going to ruin it though, I want you to crack the cover and check it out for yourself. While we’re disappointed by that one teensy-weensy item, we’re SUPER EXCITED to have been included in this book and hope that many couples find value in the wealth of information in its roughly 260 pages.
If you’re interested in buying the book, we encourage you to purchase it using the link below, as 4% of your purchase will come back to BabyOrBust.com as a donation!
Thanks to Jennifer P. for sharing the title ”Waiting for Daisy.” It looks like the type of infertility book that’s right up my alley. The full title is: A Tale of Two Continents, Three Religions, Five Infertility Doctors, an Oscar, an Atomic Bomb, a Romantic Night, and One Woman’s Quest to Become a Mother. It’s the story of a 35-year-old woman, Peggy Orenstein, who decides to get pregnant and then becomes “hope’s bitch,” her description of the infertility joyride. I’m going to check it out… and if you do…. drop me a note and let me know what you thought.
An expert from the book at Amazon.com:
”Clomid was my gateway drug; the one you take because, Why not—everyone’s doing it. Just five tiny pills. They’ll give you a boost, maybe get you where you need to go. It’s true, some women can stop there. For others, Clomid becomes infertility’s version of Reefer Madness. First you smoke a little grass, then you’re selling your body on a street corner for crack. First you pop a little Clomid, suddenly you’re taking out a second mortgage for another round of in vitro fertilization (IVF).”
I’d make a legit post here, but the title pretty much sums it up. This new product called Lunesse is doing a survey to learn some important consumer information. Takes maybe 10 minutes to complete, goes fairly quickly, and you get $10. They’ll either PayPal it to you, or you can donate it to the infertility organization RESOLVE.
Lunesse is a gadget that will provide light therapy to improve fertility chances. I’m going to keep my opinion to myself on this so I don’t influence anyone else’s survey answers.
Survey: http://tinyurl.com/9uoeyq
(This will probably expire at some point.)
We did receive our $10 and added it to the donations.
This wasn’t supposed to be a last-minute announcement, but it has turned in to one. Entries are due no later than Mon. Nov. 24 at noon est. (Good thing those Haikus are so short!)
Some good friends of Baby Or Bust, My Fertility Plan, are hosting this first annual International Infertility Haiku Contest. Here are the contest details:
Why haiku? Anyone can do it. A haiku is a three line poem, made up of only 17 syllables. The first line has 5 syllables. The second line has 7 syllables. The third line has 5 syllables. That’s it.
Your haiku must relate in some way to your family-building journey and it must follow the haiku-syllable rules. There are 2 categories – Serious and Light-Hearted. Just make sure you label which category your poem falls in (even if you think it’s obvious). If your entry relates to medication, it will also be considered for the medication-related haiku award.
It is free to enter – and you can enter as many times as you want. Each haiku must be in a separate e-mail. Please include your name and email as well. The contest is open to international entrants, but the entry must include an English translation.
MyFertilityPlan.com just launched last month. They work with infertile couples to build a customized fertility plan, and introduce the best options that optimize their chances of conception. The company is owned by Angie Best-Boss and Evelina Weidman, two advocates for women’s health and infertile couples. They have a couple of books under their belts, and a new-release coming soon that we can’t wait to tell you about!
I found a great site today that features more than 100 blogs, Web sites and news sources all related to infertility.
I’m sharing this with you for a few reasons:
1. That’s what I do.
2. I think it’s a really valuable resource that you should know about.
3. They told me if I told my readers about them, that it would be “particularly persuasive” for them to add Baby Or Bust.
So, the site is called Alltop (meaning “All the Top News”), and they simulate this same feed for dozens of topics like the aforementioned Infertility, and Adoption.
Another resource that I recently found is called Wise About Health, and they also have a dedicated space for featuring sites related to Pregnancy and Infertility.