When Megan Patterson and her wife Andi decided to have a child, they were at a loss for how to fund their dreams of being parents. It wasn’t until they found the Reproductive Fertility Center that they finally found a way. “Dr. Lin casually mentioned that there are amazing companies out there that offered great fertility benefits and, as the saying goes, always follow your doctor’s orders. So, we did. The next thing we did was for my wife and me to apply to a company known to offer fertility benefits,” recalled Patterson. Although it may have seemed unorthodox for the couple to take this route to have a family, many are now flocking to companies such as Starbucks, Walmart, and Adobe to aid with funding fertility treatments.
Patterson shares that the insight that was provided by reproductive specialist Dr. James P. Lin allowed for a major portion of their fertility treatments to be covered. “The fertility benefits covered 70% of our treatments, making a massive difference as we had to pay out of pocket”, stated Patterson. With the technicalities now taken care of, Megan and Andi were ready to embark on their journey toward parenthood.
From IUI to IVF
The Pattersons were no strangers to fertility treatments before taking the leap into in vitro fertilization. The first reproductive procedure that the couple took was intrauterine insemination, otherwise known as IUI which involved injecting sperm (in this case from a donor) directly into the uterus. After five failed IUI treatments the Pattersons made the decision to try IVF, and luckily for the couple, they were successful within their first round.
“We did get pregnant on our first round of IVF! They retrieved 10 eggs, 8 fertilized and then frozen in cryopreservation. We were shocked so many eggs had made it to fertilization; after so many treatments, I was convinced my body didn’t know what it was doing” claimed Megan.
In same-sex female couples, if both partners would like to be a part of the creation of a child, they usually opt for reciprocal IVF. Reciprocal IVF is a process that involves one partner donating her egg to the other partner to carry out the pregnancy. Despite this treatment being an option for the couple they decided to take a traditional IVF route. “We did not opt for reciprocal IVF since we decided early on that I (Megan) would use my eggs and carry our baby. So, I would do all the hard work while my wife was my supportive rock.”, said Megan.
The RFC Experience
Megan and her partner discovered Reproductive Fertility Center with the help of Megan’s mother and were excited to get started after seeing the company’s presence on the web. “So, I was chatting with my mom about wanting to have a baby, and she googled fertility clinics. This was the first one, and my wife liked the website and the information they had on same-sex couples, so we went!”
The Pattersons described their fertility journey with RFC to be one of strong support and over time “the entire staff felt like family.”
Megan stated “My fertility journey at RFC was amazing! We didn’t want to leave. We even asked Dr. Lin if he could deliver the baby because we loved our experience at RFC so much! Lori was our coordinator, and Nettie was our second coordinator. They know what they are doing. Dr. Lin is excellent. Don’t worry about reaching out to them. They are always a phone call away.”
Words of Encouragement
The University of California Los Angeles reported that there are over 114,000 same-sex couples in the United States. Now, at 20 weeks pregnant, Megan expressed the desire not to hide the challenges of trying to become a parent as an LGBTQIA+ couple. She explained by sharing her story that she actually had the chance to help others.
“Some people deal with it independently, but we wanted to be open from the start to raise awareness. Doing so made me realize that so many of my friends did surrogacy. In fact, I learned that I had friends who were gestational surrogates!”
For LGBTQIA+ couples who are in the midst of their fertility woes, Megan says that it is important to stay strong and keep moving forward with a clinic like RFC you can trust.
“The advice I would give future patients is to trust the process and trust the doctors. They know what they are doing. Dr. Lin is excellent. Thank you, RFC, for allowing these two moms to grow our little family.”
Learn About Treatments for the LGBTQIA+ Community
We strongly believe that LGBTQIA+ individuals and couples have the right to access inclusive fertility treatments that affirm their identities and help them fulfill their dreams of starting a family. If you’re interested in learning more about fertility options specifically designed for same-sex and transgender couples, we invite you to visit our dedicated page for the community. We look forward to having the opportunity in helping you navigate this journey towards parenthood with support and understanding.
