- FEATURED ARTICLE -
Heartgrown Adoption CARLY LEVINGSTON
My story begins like so many
But the first round of IUI failed.
others: I married my husband,
And then the second. And the
David, we bought our first place
third. And with each failure, our
(we were actually in an episode
hopes faded and our frustration
of "My First Place" on HGTV, but
grew. Still, we decided to try one
that’s another story for another
more round of IUI. This time, to
day!). We doted on our three
our surprise, we conceived, but
beloved dogs and traveled a
sadly, it was an ectopic
bit. Both of us had always known
pregnancy, which led to an
that we wanted children, so it
emergency surgery and a
wasn’t too long before we felt
whirlwind of emotions.
ready to start a family. As a young, healthy couple, we figured
Eventually, we moved forward
that starting a family would
with IVF (in vitro fertilization). Not
happen quickly and naturally,
once, but twice. Our first IVF
just like it had for our family
failed badly — we had no
and friends.
surviving embryos to transfer or freeze.
However, it was neither quick nor natural as it turned out. The
We reluctantly decided to give
simple and casual trying became
IVF one more shot. But, toward
struggling, and months
the end of this round, I felt my
eventually became years.
heart start to slowly open to the idea of adoption. I began to
After the first year of trying to
quietly research agencies and
conceive with no luck, we found
follow different families created
out I had stage 4 endometriosis,
by adoption on Instagram. It
which was likely causing our
was so beautiful and eye
fertility issues, so I had surgery to
opening. I simply needed to
CARLY LEVINGSTON
both help our chances and
know more, but I didn’t want
alleviate some of my symptoms.
to discuss this with my husband
But alas, still no pregnancy.
yet for fear that he would not be
We decided that IUI (intrauterine
ready to switch gears. In fact, I
Carly is a wife, mother, adoption advocate, infertility warrior, and entrepreneur in San Marcos, Texas. You can find Carly at HeartgrownBox.com.
insemination) was the logical
wasn’t sure I was ready to give up
next step for year two.
on my body and our ability to conceive.
LOVE OF DIXIE MAGAZINE
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Top photo by Cheyenne Bell Photography
WINTER 2018-2019
