LGBT Archives - Blog - Empowered IVF

Still Not Pregnant? Time For a Second Opinion!

Posted on March 26, 2021 by Rhonda Levy

Knowing When the Time is Right

If you’ve been a patient at a fertility clinic for some time and have not yet become pregnant, it is likely time for you to get a second opinion. Fertility clinics diverge in their cultures and attitudes, their approaches to treatment, and their ability to help patients achieve their goal of becoming parents. Changing your focus can often mean the difference between whether you will or will not have a baby.

Remember That You Have a Professional Relationship With Your Doctor

That said, if you are feeling reluctant, I can understand why. Many of the fertility doctors I know are kind, compassionate and sincere people who are deeply invested in helping their patients become parents. You may feel a strong sense of gratitude for the care and devotion you have received and not want to seem ungrateful for the efforts that have been made on your behalf. I sympathize completely, but you must not lose sight of the fact that your relationship with your doctor is a professional one. It is important that you not allow a fear of “insulting” your doctor prevent you from owning the process and taking “smart” steps in your quest to form your family. The stakes are high and this must remain at the forefront of your decision-making process at all times. Read More

Empowered IVF™’s Rhonda Levy Featured Blogger at Fertility Authority

Posted on March 16, 2021 by Rhonda Levy

We are pleased to announce Rhonda Levy is a featured blogger at Fertility Authority. Her blog, Own the Process with Empowered IVF™, is now live and the first post “5 Vitally Important Things to Know About Using a U.S. Surrogate” is available here.

“Gay Surrogacy” Helps Gay Men Satisfy Their Desire For a Child With a Genetic Link

Posted on March 6, 2021 by Rhonda Levy

When a gay couple or a single gay man turns to a gestational carrier and egg donor to form a family via a process that has become known as “gay surrogacy“, they are coming from a place that is dramatically different from that of straight couples who might also turn to third parties for help with reproduction. Typically, the straight couple has experienced a long and heartbreaking struggle to conceive, first in the bedroom and then at a fertility clinic where they hoped to be able to use the woman’s own eggs and uterus. They have found themselves in “the land of the infertile”, a place they never wanted to be. Their journey has been long, painful and filled with a series of crushing disappointments. If they have decided to create their baby with the eggs and/or uterus of another women, they have first been through a difficult internal process that generally includes grieving over their need to rely on a third party. The gestational carrier and/or egg donor represent the only way left for them to have a baby and, once they turn the corner to acceptance, they feel grateful for the women whose generous sacrifices ensure that the option exists. Read More

How Not to Choose A Fertility Clinic and Why

Posted on February 10, 2021 by Rhonda Levy

If you need help from a fertility clinic to become a parent, these are several basic facts you must be aware of before you choose one:

There is an overwhelming number of fertility clinics to choose from in North America. In the United States, there are more than 450. In Canada, there are more than 60.
Fertility clinics vary in quality and in their ability to help you have a baby.
Your choice of clinic can impact whether or not you will have a baby at all, and how much you will endure physically, emotionally and financially in the process. Read More

Welcome to Empowered IVF™

Posted on February 10, 2021 by Rhonda Levy

On February 6th, 1996, the embryos that became our beautiful fraternal twin sons, Max and Lorne, were transferred into my uterus. Had you predicted on that life altering day that eighteen years later I would be launching Empowered IVF™, I would have looked at you like you were insane. After four failed IVF cycles, the only thing on my mind that day was hope.

But after eighteen euphoric (and exhausting) months of motherhood, my mind began to fill with new thoughts, thoughts of how I might be able to help other couples facing infertility. At first it was just a spark, but the the spark eventually grew into a fire, and today that fire is best described as a raging passion. In 1998, I began to work as an Infertility Consultant. With each phone call or email from a joyful client expressing thanks for the guidance that helped them achieve a desperately longed for pregnancy, I became increasingly hooked. I had never before felt such fulfillment and gratification, nor had I ever provided a service that made such a profoundly positive difference in the personal lives of others. It was addictive and I was in it for life! Read More