Other Fertility Options

This will be a short post, as there is just not much to say about these other options available to carriers.  So far, I've gone over two other options - choosing to have children naturally and also PGD.  Today, I want to go over the final three options.

First - there is the option of having a donor sperm/egg implanted.  I think this is fairly self explanatory.  You choose to have either one or both sperm and egg donated and then implanted and have a normal pregnancy without the risk of Fragile X.  From what I have read, this seems to be a choice of a very small amount of families anymore.  As you are still looking at increased costs, most people go the route of PGD to have natural children.

Second - You can choose to adopt children instead of going through any of this.  As with most other options, there is a significant cost involved, but it seems this option is chosen more often than donor sperm/eggs. 

Finally - there is the option to choose to not have more children.  I think of all of these choices, this one can be the most difficult to a family and a woman in particular.  I personally know someone whose marriage ended when she found out she had a full mutation of Fragile X and decided she would not have children at all.  It's incredibly heartbreaking to go through a diagnosis and then a decision such as this.  

I think no matter what you choose as a carrier, this decision will weigh on your heart always.  It's difficult to come to a decision for yourself, but adding in your spouse's decision to the process can make it infinitely more difficult.  I was very lucky that Mr Awesome and I are on the same page, but I know others that are not.  My only advice is to make sure you know your options and come to peace with your decision.  Us carriers have increased risk for depression and anxiety already, so it's even more important to not allow a large decision like this to overtake our lives and our mental stability.