Ruby's Story
Posted June 14, 2005
Note: Some details have been changed to preserve privacy

I am 27 yrs. old. My husband and I have been married for 7 yrs and we have been ttc (trying to conceive) for most of this time.

After extensive testing, we discovered that my husband has a type of rare gene mutation in which part of his y-chromosome is missing -- unfortunately this causes him not to produce any sperm. When we first found out, he was so devastated... He felt intensely guilty and was sure I was going to leave him. I tried to reassure him that my love for him is unconditional and not based on his ability to father children.

For several weeks, we barely communicated. He told me he would talk to me about it when he was ready. One day... he was ready. We were driving down the road and he began to talk about it. He told me that he still wanted to try to have a baby, but that he would feel more comfortable knowing who the biological father was. We were both able to agree on someone who we felt would be right.

My husband approached him and he was surprised, but said he would be more than happy to help us. We are finally starting our 1st IUI this month.