A Summer or Autumn Baby?

Adan, Ella, and I...All pics are from her Quince BBQ we had at our house :-)

Okay so things are finally cookin' 'round here. Shit's got real, yo! I mean, knock on wood and cross my fingers, because nothing's been easy and fast on this journey. However, things are finally moving and happening. Here we go!

My sister, great niece, and Grandma Ellen

 Not surrogacy related...But my 1st novel The Closeted Life of Claude Hartel is ready to grab on Amazon. All profits will be utilized to assist Adan and I in our surrogacy journey. Get it here:

The Closeted Life of Claude Hartel

 The response has been awesome. It has been a beautiful experience having people read the story that has lived in my mind and heart. It's almost like I had a baby. Bah! Everyone seems to be enjoying Claude and Jim's story. I'll be doing a live Q&A on Facebook Live this Thursday, August 20th at 8:00 PM CST. If you've read the book or are interested in reading the book, join us in this "Closeted Conversation."

Closeted Life of Claude Hartel : Author Q&A

Some of the wonderful women in my life...And Addy

 For a full update on my writing career right now, check out my blog post here:

Writing Blog Update

Selena and her good friend Emma

Back to surrogacy...Our frozen eggs, which we purchased from a woman in California, were flown through the sky to Madison on July 30th. There's eight of them. And hopefully they're worth every cent. LoL. About $20,000-ish! The eggs will then be fertilized with our sperm around the end of August. The doctors will observe the embryos for about a week, giving us almost daily updates on how they're progressing.

This "embryo interpretation" actually begins this Wednesday!  Woot woot! Here's some images of the email they sent me today detailing the schedule...And, yes, our frozen eggs came in straws.  That's how small they are!  Minuscule!  Were y'all picturing like dinosaur eggs this whole time like I was?!  Bah!

 Then the doctors will give each embryo a grade, similar to what teachers do, analyzing the health and viability of each embryo. We will most likely choose the "A" grade option. It's an extraordinary scientific process that truly showcases how mind-bogglingly advanced our world is. It'll be fascinating to experience. Nowadays, if you can fancy it, it can happen!

 After we've chosen "The One," it'll be transferred into our surrogate in an incredibly delicate operation. It's probably the most important few days in this whole surrogacy journey and everything resides on it. Not that I really believe in this but we will need thoughts and prayers that week!

Ultimate Chismosas Hazel and her cousin Bella

 Our lawyers and our surrogate's lawyers are currently working on the Parentage Agreement and it's almost completed. It deals with all of the legal aspects of this situation. Obviously, with many people involved, there's a lot of protections that need to be made. What if our surrogate's life is in danger during labor? She needs to be protected. What if our surrogate decided to smoke and drink while pregnant with our baby? We need to be protected. What if our baby has a disease or deformity of some kind and Adan and I were to change our minds? The surrogate and the baby need to be protected. What if Adan and I died while our surrogate was pregnant? Our baby needs to be protected. In fact, we've made the decision that my great friend Suzy (the real life Angie Stein) would become the parent of our baby if we were to pass away. God forbid that happens! But what a great novel that would make! Haha!

Ella and her dad dancing awkwardly

 Lastly, we're in the beginning stages of finding health insurance for our surrogate. We cannot use our health insurance, and hers is pretty poor for surrogacy procedures. "ObamaCare" is actually really good for surrogacy. We're going to perhaps get her signed up for that. The open enrollment doesn't start until fall...It's a very short period of time for a somewhat knotty application.  This is caused by our splendid current administration. They just love to make my life more difficult, don't they?! Who voted for them/him?!?! Anyways, if we don't get her that insurance, we'll search for another insurance that will cover surrogacy. There's actually a company called ART Risk Solutions that can help us find a smart insurance for her. We have to of course pay them to provide this service. It's something we might do because it'll save us money in the long run.

 One of the tricky apsects of this part of the journey is that I will probably personally have to communicate and work with my surrogate. I mean, I have to sign her up for health insurance...Thus I have to know a lot about her. I haven't had too much contact with her so far. Sure, we've met and connected. But it's been more than a year I think since the last time I really talked with her. The problem is that I don't want either of us to really get attached to each other. I know that sounds mean but I think our surrogate would agree. It'll be interesting to see if we can work closely together but to also keep our boundaries and not become best friends. We'll have to work together more and more over the next year or so, going to doctor's appointments together, making decisions, etc., etc. etc. Will we be able to work together in having a baby and not become lifelong friends? I guess becoming temporary friends is alright. Becoming forever acquaintances would even be alright. I suppose even having her be a part of our child's life a little bit would be...Alright. But yeah...I don't know. We shall see.

My old student and his family

 If all goes planned, we should be having a baby by around the end of June in 2021. If things don't go totally as planned, then we'll be having a baby around October of 2021. Phew! I'm wiping a bead of sweat off my forehead right now. It's gettin' hot in herrree! It's happening! Ahhh!

The price is wrong, bitch! LoL

That's an image of the latest bill we recieved. Adan and I are literally out of money now. LoL. We're trusting that once our surrogate is pregnant, we'll be able to get billed by the hospitals and be able to make payments. So far we've had to give money upfront in order to make anything happen. We are thankful to all that have purchased my book to aid in this crazy dream of ours!

My silly niece Claudia

 Before I leave y'all, a friendly reminder to read my guest writer and friend's blog entry. It's a heartrending and powerful story of a heroic woman and her exemplary husband. Read it now if you haven't already! Share it with friends too! Cait's Story can be found here:

Cait's Blog Entry

 Okay. I think that's it. Joe's out!