From Two To Three

Saturday, August 6, 2005, was the day we turned a fork in the road. On that day, we decided to pursue fertility treatments. It was not an easy decision.

We had already met with the clinic several times and learned the reasons behind our failure to have children. The doctor had explained all of our options: 1) have IVF (In-Vitro) treatments; 2) have IUI (Intra-Uterine) treatments; or 3) let nature take its course. We asked for some time to make up our minds.

I believe life is sacred and that parents have a chance to witness the power of the Divine when they take part in the creation of life. Given these convictions, it was difficult to decide how far we wanted science to take us onto this holy ground. One Saturday in August, we set out to make that decision, by way of Palmyra, NY.

After considerable discussion, we had decided to give nature some more time, before taking any further measures. If, after four more months, we had no success, we would return to the clinic for IUI in January 2006. We decided to promise God that we would do everything in our power during those four months to conceive through natural means, and if that was unsuccessful, we would give the doctors a year to help us out. After that, we would turn to adoption. To solemnize this promise, and to pray about it one last time, we went to the LDS temple in Palmyra, NY (because the one in Montreal was closed).

Traffic was terrible getting down to the Thousand Islands Bridge, which crosses from Ontario to New York State, so we were late getting to the temple and missed our appointed time. We took these pictures from the top of nearby Hill Cumorah, since we had some time to kill before the next time we could go in. That was a stressful afternoon, and a botched schedule did not help to raise spirits. These are the only two pictures I took, because R was not in the mood to pose.

A few hours later, we were sitting together in the temple, praying hand in hand. We looked at each other and resolved that this course of action was the right one. Armed with this new decision, we left some of our tension behind in Palmyra. We had decided how much we would do, and we would leave the rest of it in Divine hands.

The year 2006 arrived, without a new pregnancy. However, on our second IUI treatment (in August 2006), we witnessed as science and the Divine came together to help us create the miracle of life.

Today I sat with my wife again in the temple (this time in Montreal) and contemplated that day in August 2005. We each had one arm around the other's shoulder, and a hand on R's squirming stomach.

For the first time, it felt like our family of two had become a family of three.