Dear Alabama Supreme Court
Dear Alabama Supreme Court,
I wouldn't know the magic of my son without IVF. And....
That embryo in the petri dish didn’t become a person until he took his first breath.
With Outrage,
Jessica
Dear Alabama,
While the outrage is setting in, the shock shouldn't be. You've been behind on the times since the civil rights movement, and clearly haven't learned from your history. We will not be oppressed, or controlled, or ruled by ignorance or lack of humanity. The healthcare team and women (and men) of your state deserve better.
Leave it to us to fight for them.
Abbe
Dear Alabama Supreme Court,
I struggled to get pregnant for many years. I finally got pregnant with my daughter Hadley in 2020 through ivf (after 6 egg retrievals and many transfers). We had to make the heartbreaking decision to go through a TFMR with Hadley as she had severe brain malformations. I then went through several more ivf cycles and just brought home our living son 2 weeks ago. I wouldn’t have any children without ivf. I wouldn’t have been to able to do what was best for our daughter if I didn’t live in Massachusetts. I have several embryos left. When my son was born, I had to have an emergency cesarean hysterectomy. I have several embryos left (which we know do not equate to living children) and I have no uterus to transfer the embryos into. Would I have to pay tens of THOUSANDS of dollars to transfer my remaining embryos to a surrogate if I lived in Alabama (or any other state that may change their laws)? Should I make a decision on what to do w/these embryos before a federal law passes?
Please advise,
Jill
Dear Alabama Supreme Court,
I donated 2 unhealthy embryos to science. Just want to clarify, I’m now a murderer?
-M
Dear Alabama Supreme Court and the GOP members who agree with them,
This picture is that of my three previously frozen embroys conceived out of hope with the help of science. In it, I don’t see the piercing blue eyes of my twins, the curly hair they wear, the big toothy smiles they have. I don’t see Twin A’s love of reading or Twin B’s penchant for BBQ. I don’t see the witty humor of Twin B or the organizational skills of Twin A. I don’t see their excellent math skills or their love for football. In this picture, I don’t see how they gravitate to each other no matter where they are and make each other laugh. In this picture, I don’t see the love they have for animals and trying new foods. In this picture, I don’t see Twin A’s rule following and Twin B’s sense of adventure. In the picture, I cannot see Twin A's old soul and Twin B's confidence. If you can identify my twins in the photo, please let me know.
~Angela
Dear Alabama Supreme Court,
My husband and I started fertility treatments in August of 2019. We did 2 rounds of Clomid (August/September and September/October 2019) and then proceeded on to 3 rounds of IUI with Letrozole (December 2019, January and February 2020). Success! We found out we were pregnant in March of 2020, but at my 6 week ultrasound the fetus was only measuring 5 weeks and 1 day. We waited a week to see if it would catch up, but sadly there was no additional growth. I ended up miscarrying at home on April 1, 2020.
After many conversations with my husband and REI, we decided to move forward with IVF. I started medications to prep for egg retrieval June 1, 2020 and successfully retrieved 39 eggs on June 15, 2020. Out of the 39 eggs, only 13 were mature, 12 fertilized, 8 became 5-day blastocysts and 5 were strong enough to biopsy and send for genetic testing.
Out of the 5 that were tested we had 2 chromosomally normal embryos, 1 abnormal, 1 mosaic (but with more abnormal chromosomes than normal) and 1 that didn't have enough cells to get a reading.
July of 2020, we transferred our 5AB female that resulted in the live birth of our daughter, Grace Virginia, in April 2022. We subsequently transfered our 4AB embryo in May of 2023 and had our second daughter, Adeline Claire, in January 2024.
We consider our family now complete, however, we do still have our 3 remaining embryos in storage here in New Jersey and fear that we need to make a decision with what to do with them ahead of this next election.
Although it took us more time (and more tears and heartbreak) to have children than we initially were prepared for, IVF provided my husband and I with the tools we needed to grow our family and we would be totally lost without our beautiful little girls .
-Whitney
Dear Alabama Supreme Court,
We started Letrozole in October 2023. We miscarried in November 2023. We did two more cycles of Letrozole, then did our first IUI in January 2024. Our friends gave us special socks to wear in hopes that these would work.
It failed, and we did our second cycle In February 2024. We wore the socks again. It also failed.
Six days ago, the YOU upheld that frozen embryos are protected under the Wrongful Death of a Minor Act.
Yesterday, UAB - where we get our care, along with thousands of other families.. and the biggest and top ranked hospital in the state - paused their IVF program.
We are now being faced with an impossible decision: do we give up our dreams of becoming parents, or do we seek care out of state - something that is incredibly logistically challenging with a process as complex and sensitive as IVF. We quite literally.. cannot get the care we want and need in our own state.
There aren't words that accurately convey our feelings right now. This is a devastating decision for couples who need IVF to have children. This is a frightening decision for women across the state - as it raises very real questions pertaining to miscarriages.. can women be held criminally liable because their body didn't support the embryo? It's heartbreaking to our physicians, who may not be able to practice safely in this new landscape.
We are scared, sad, overwhelmed, and angry. We didn't ever plan on being this transparent with our own personal journey - but this matters. This community matters. Theyre are so many hopes and dreams at stake here - and there is so much heartbreak happening.
-Kendall