Despite My Lack of Posts...

Things are progressing. A very busy month of work has kept me from writing, but since I last posted, we decided definitively we will be delivering in Iowa, found a lawyer, I had my STD testing done, I found a potential midwife and met my IPs!

We decided on Iowa because I came to learn that Illinois is not a very midwife friendly state. While homebirth is not illegal there, it is illegal for the midwives to deliver babies and they can be, and frequently are, prosecuted as a result. All of the midwives I spoke with indicated that they were much more comfortable delivering in Iowa if it was an option. Further, since it seemed we would be doing a SPA in either state because I'm a TS and not a GS, there really wasn't any benefit to delivering in Illinois. So Iowa it is.

The lawyer we're working with, Pam Walker, is one of two in the state who are known to be well versed in surrogacy. She delivered the first draft of our contract earlier this week. After a few minor adjustments, we anticipate it to be wrapped up in the next week or so.

As expected, STD testing came back normal; though I keep forgetting to go pick up copies of the results to give to my IPs.

The midwife I initially found and loved, has decided to take a break from delivering babies so the search began again. She gave me a list of other midwifes in eastern Iowa and after contacting them all, only one seemed like a viable option. We've spoken on the phone a couple times, and I love her personality. I had wanted to meet her while my IPs were in town so we could all form our opinions together, but she's having a busy birth month and wasn't able to come this weekend. I'm hoping to get to meet her face-to-face in the next few weeks.

Lastly, and most importantly, my IPs are here! Right now. As I write this. They arrived yesterday afternoon and will be here through Sunday evening. We had dinner last night, and (I think!) things went well. Though we're still getting to know one another, C and I feel very comfortable with them and I couldn't be more sure that we made the right choice. If things go according to plan, we still anticipate TTC in early March.