Age is everything

In 1999, we weren't even trying.
Today, we have a bright, loving and funny 8-year-old daughter.

Since then, things just haven't worked out. For a long time, I was sure it was our opposite schedules. Or our infrequent, though scheduled, sex life.

Then I found out it might have been that polyp creating a hostile environment in my uterus. Removing it was surgery No. 1. After that was gone, it still looked like it would just be the three of us.

I am very grateful for what I have. My daughter is a joy. She's bright and funny and loving. But I'd love to give her a sibling -- even if there is almost a decade difference in age. When we're gone, I want her to have immediate family.

When I turned 40, my doctor suggested I see an infertility specialist because I was coming to what she called, "the end of the road."

Still, I never thought of myself as struggling with infertility. I just thought they'd do an insemination and everything would be fine.

That was 18 months ago. Today, I'm almost 42.

And it's still just the three of us.

Now we're enlisting the help of someone we know only as No. 948, a 24-year-old college student with similar ancestry and proven fertility. She has a great smile, musical ability, speaks another language and would like to someday join the Peace Corps.

And for just $13,000, we're getting her gametes.