I Paid $42K to Become a Mom—and It Costs $180K to Treat My Child's Pain

My dreams for my future have changed a thousand times since I was a kid. I wanted to be a dolphin trainer, a pediatric oncologist, a writer, an actress. I hoped for a big family, or an amazing partner, or maybe no partner at all—living free and single as I tend to do best. The only thing that has ever remained consistent about what I’ve wanted out of life? It was my desire to be a mother. So of course it was devastating to be told at the age of 25 that I might never be able to have kids.

I was diagnosed with stage IV endometriosis shortly after donating my eggs to two different infertile couples. Doctors familiar with my case believe it was the hormones involved in my donations that caused my condition to become as aggressive as it did. But the cause never really mattered as much as the result; by the time I was 27, my ability to conceive on my own had become an impossibility, and my doctors were telling me that if I ever hoped to get pregnant at all, I would need to take drastic measures right away.

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