Panama VS. India....

When researching surrogacy we quickly found out that there were really only two options available for same sex couple that want children, either go through India or Panama.

So why Panama? For us it wasn't an easy decision but we did look into both Countries quite at length.
Yes, India was a bit less expensive and their success rates are higher than other places and even higher than  the national average for IVF success rates, this is due to the fact they transfer fertilised embryos into two separate surrogate at the same time hoping that one of them becomes pregnant and if both become pregnant, well you end up with an instant reality show. India for us is a world away, we don't know anything about it, we wouldn't be able to get their quickly if needed to, and we just weren't comfortable knowing there was another option that could be more convenient for us.

We started to look more closely into Panama as an option, it turned out one of my colleagues I work with has a vacation home in Panama and she was more than happy to share everything about Panama that she knew, she loved it and had nothing but good things to say about it, she actually had been to the hospital we were researching and said it was a state of the art facility. This made us feel safe and relieved. Plus Panama is a 5-ish hour flight from Toronto Canada.

When we went down to Panama in August for our first attempt, and first time fertilising eggs it turned out to be as stressful as we had initially thought, not knowing what to expect, not knowing the environment, as well having a huge language barrier. The week we were there seemed like an eternity, but none the less we managed through.  Because we were not successful we did have to go back down in December for another round of treatments, this time though it seemed less stressful, more at ease, as well we had an overall better feeling about our treatment and had a small inkling in the back of our minds that we would be successful this time.

Shortly after retuning to Canada, I saw a post on Facebook from a dear friend that lived in Vancouver about her being in Panama for work. I thought how crazy this was that someone else I knew was in Panama the same time unknowing. Immediately I sent her a message on face book and after a few hours of messaging back and forth with her found out my good friend Alana not only had been down in Panama the same time as we had been there, but will be living there for an unknown amount of time. Crazy! Alana immediately asked when we would be back and then graciously offered to have us stay with her if we get pregnant and once we go down to pick up the baby. The world works in mysterious ways they say, and I tend to agree. For someone who has never heard much about Panama to now being intimately familiar with it, as well have good friends who are now connections down there is truly amazing.

Everyday Daniel and I say we made the right decision in choosing Panama, and now we will be connected to her for life........