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When my husband and I started trying to have a baby, part of us thought even if it took a while, we'd eventually get pregnant "spontaneously." How naive we were. After trying for six months, we decided to get tested, and my husband was diagnosed with low sperm count. We were told that the odds of conceiving without medical intervention was less than 1% and that IVF was our only option. Okay, we thought, plenty of people have gotten pregnant via IVF. It would be expensive, but we'd end up with a baby. Right?

Well, two and a half years later, all I can say is: maybe. My husband's diagnosis (not covered by insurance, by the way) was just the beginning. Three egg retrievals, two embryo transfers, one polyp removal surgery, and a surgical hysteroscopy to repair a septate uterus — not to mention more ultrasounds, blood tests, and self-administered shots than I care to count — and I still don't have a baby, or even a pregnancy (I did have a chemical pregnancy after my most recent transfer, but...