Last week, the state’s Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are legally considered children.
‘Marie Claire’ spoke with affected women who are grappling with an uncertain future.
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This ruling is extremely alarming, saysElisabeth Smith, director of state policy at the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Providers of IVF may stop offering IVF altogether or leave Alabama now that they could face penalties.
This is part of the chaos we knew would ensue ifRoe v. Wadewas overturned.
With politicians at the helm instead of doctors, reproductive health care is in crisis.
In the wake of the ruling, three women share their stories withMarie Claire.
I had my first IVF consultation in October 2022.
I was single at the time but I knew I wanted to freeze my eggs.
I was told it was better to freeze embryos.
Especially being in the LGBTQ+ community, I knew it was something I needed to do.
I did a second round in July at Alabama Center for Reproductive Medicine.
It went very well and I now have six frozen embryos of top grade waiting for me.
I met Kandis, my fiancee, in February of 2023 when I was already on my IVF journey.
It was somewhat humorous.
Like four months into our relationship as a lesbian couple, we were going through IVF together.
We got engaged at the end of November.
Were definitely a team on this.
Shes been my rock.
This week has been hell on earth.
The past couple of days, Ive been glued to my computer and making phone calls.
So even if we were to find somewhere to ship them, we cant do anything yet.
All of the rules are changing so fast here in Alabama.
Im afraid Alabama will say you cant transfer your embryos out of state.
I broke down yesterday, a full-blown meltdown.
I am so tired.
These are my children, according to Alabama, and I have zero access to my six embryos.
Theyre my children but I cant touch them.
I cant see them.
I cant say lets get in the car and go for a ride.
Its not just about gay and lesbian couples.
This affects every couple who has fertility treatment or needs assisted reproductive technology.
Other states could follow suit, which is a scary thing.
We did three rounds of Letrozole, which is an oral medication to help increase the odds of pregnancy.
We were very lucky because it worked the first time.
But then we miscarried in November.
It was absolutely one of the hardest things we have gone through.
Our first round didnt work.
That was a hard day.
We had planned on doing a third IUI in March and then probably going straight to IVF in April.
But thats all on hold now.
We had never planned on telling everybody about our whole story.
But like everyone in Alabama…were overwhelmed, were tired, were sad.
We are absolutely terrified.
Also, we really love our physician here.
You build such a rapport and I dont want to give that up.
This ruling is having a much bigger effect than people realized.
They provide so many of those preventative health things.
They might not want to practice here anymore because of the liability.
I have a condition called endometriosis.
But I conceived my first child naturally at 21.
My daughter is now 12.
Then I was put on birth control to suppress my endometriosis.
Ten years later, my doctor told me my endometriosis wasnotsuppressed.
I started the process withCRMhere in Mobile.
I consider the clinic family.
It was a very hard journey.
I had four miscarriages.
We transferred one frozen embryo each time and I lost four embryos the first four times.
For the second egg retrieval, I got four more embryos.
We transferred two on the fifth transfer to get one baby, and I got twin boys.
The doctors say I got double for my trouble.
But without science, those doctors, and God, I wouldnt have my babies.
I cant do another transfer because the hormones for the egg retrieval overstimulate my body.
A lot of women have hormone issues with endometriosis, so its hard for them to get good embryos.
They dont have a heartbeat.
They dont have anything.
Just because theyre frozen does not mean they can survive.
If I still had frozen embryos or was going through IVF, I would be devastated.
It removes all hope for them to possibly have their own biological child.
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