Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from May, 2025

Honoring Your Entire Infertility Journey as You Decide About Your Embryos

Hey there Friend! It’s so good to have you here with us at the GrowingMyFamily blog, a space where we delve into the heart of the family-building journey with openness and compassion. As we continue to navigate the complex and deeply personal decisions surrounding your frozen embryos, there’s a perspective we believe is absolutely vital, yet one that sometimes gets overshadowed in the intensity and focus of the immediate choice before you: the profound importance of honoring your entire infertility journey. This decision you’re facing now – what path to choose for your precious embryos – doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s not an isolated event, a standalone choice detached from everything that came before. It is profoundly, inextricably, and beautifully linked to every single step you’ve taken, every powerful emotion you’ve felt, every significant challenge you’ve overcome on your unique path to try and build or grow your family. It is, in essence, a pivotal chapter in a much larger, rich...

More Than Just Cells: Understanding Your Deep Emotional Connection to Your Embryos

Hey there Friend! If you’re joining us again, or if this is your first time here at the GrowingMyFamily blog, a warm, heartfelt welcome to you. We’re so glad you found your way to this space, a place where we talk openly and honestly about the feelings that come with the often-complex journey of building a family. Today, we’re going to gently explore something that sits right at the very core of one of the most significant decisions many of us face: that deep, sometimes surprisingly intense, and profoundly personal emotional connection we can feel towards our frozen embryos. In the world of fertility treatments, the language can often become very clinical, very scientific. We hear terms like "blastocysts," "cryopreservation," "assisted reproductive technology," "genetic material." And while these terms are, of course, factually accurate and necessary for medical professionals, they often fall incredibly short of capturing the true, lived experien...

The "What Now?" Moment: Navigating the First Wave of Emotions with Frozen Embryos

Hey there Friend!  If you’re reading this, chances are you’re standing at a crossroads, one that feels both monumental and deeply, deeply personal. You might be looking at a future you hadn’t quite pictured, or perhaps one you’ve been cautiously anticipating, where a significant decision about your frozen embryos is now front and center. It’s that "What Now?" moment, isn't it? That quiet (or sometimes deafeningly loud) question that echoes in your mind after the intense journey of creating those precious potential lives. First, let’s just pause. Together. Take a slow, deep breath with us. In through your nose… and out through your mouth. You’ve arrived here, at this point of contemplation, and that in itself is a journey. Regardless of how you got here, we see you. We understand that this isn't just another item on your to-do list. Far from it. This isn’t like deciding what to have for dinner. Oh, if only! The decision about what path to choose for your frozen embryos...

"Just Relax!" and Other Unhelpful Advice: Navigating Conversations About Your Fertility

Hey there, Friend!  If you’re on the path of trying to conceive, especially if things aren't happening as quickly or easily as you’d hoped, you’ve likely encountered it: The Advice. Oh, the unsolicited, often well-meaning, yet sometimes profoundly unhelpful (and even hurtful) advice about your fertility. It seems like the moment the topic of babies or family planning comes up, or if people know you're hoping to start or grow your family, suddenly everyone around you transforms into a seasoned fertility expert. From your sweet Aunt Carol to that chatty coworker to a random stranger in the grocery store line, the "helpful hints" can come from all directions. And while we know, deep down, that most of this advice is probably offered with love or good intentions, it doesn’t always land that way, does it? If you've ever gritted your teeth through a "Just relax, it'll happen when you stop trying!" or felt a surge of frustration at yet another "Have yo...

Finding Your Voice: How to Talk to Loved Ones (and Set Boundaries) About Your Embryos

Hey there, Friend!  Welcome back to the GrowingMyFamily blog, or a warm hello if this is your first time joining our community. We’re so glad you’re here, because today we’re diving into a topic that so many of us find incredibly challenging, yet profoundly important: how to talk to our loved ones – our partners, family, and friends – about the deeply personal and often emotionally charged decisions surrounding our frozen embryos. And, just as crucially, how to set healthy, loving boundaries in these conversations to protect our hearts and our peace. The journey through infertility, and the subsequent decisions about what path to choose for your embryos, is complex enough on its own. When you add in the dynamic of sharing this with the people in your life, it can feel like navigating a delicate dance. You want to feel understood, supported, and loved, but you might also fear judgment, unsolicited advice, or questions that feel intrusive or painful. Finding your voice in these situa...

Hey there, Friend!

Welcome to the GrowingMyFamily Blog. Find warm, empathetic peer support for every step: from initial infertility worries, exploring alternative family building paths, to decisions about frozen embryos & all feelings in between. This is a safe space to explore emotions, find understanding, connect with those who get it, & embrace hope. We honor your path, offering community support focused on your heart, not medical advice. You're not alone on this journey to grow your family.