My husband and I have several frozen embryos in storage somewhere in suburban Rockville, Maryland. Over the past decade, this possibility to expand our family one day has held a place in our hearts. But now, we are rushing to fill out the paperwork to thaw and respectfully dispose of our embryos – before they potentially gain legal personhood status in this country.
In the summer of 2013, my husband and I decided to pursue IVF treatment after suffering repeat miscarriages. I was 36 – the danger zone, according to reproductive experts at the time. I was told that after age 35, if it took a couple more than six months to successfully conceive, they should pursue reproductive assistance.
We were thrilled when we found out that our first round of IVF had worked, and we now have a beautiful 8-year-old daughter. Over the years, the idea of giving her a sibling has crossed our mind routinely but as time went on, we realized that our “pack of three” was the best design for our family.
Nevertheless, we held on to our embryos out of sentimentality as much as anything else, each year paying the storage maintenance fees, knowing that we what we were really storing were faint dreams from a previous iteration of life that no longer existed.
When Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito’s draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade was first made public earlier this year, I immediately knew the urgency of the action our family needed to take. I sensed the changing winds of a patriarchy now more emboldened to tear away rights – especially those belonging to women and minority groups.