#Ivf abroad

[ivftreatreatment0389]

Surrogacy Europe

Explore safe and reliable Surrogacy Europe options with expert guidance throughout your journey. Our Surrogacy Europe services provide legal expertise, personalized care, and access to top clinics, ensuring a smooth and ethical process. Choose Surrogacy Europe for a supportive and successful path to parenthood. Visit us:  https://ivftreatmentabroad.com/surrogacy/

[ivftreatmentabroad]

Fertility clinics abroad

Every fertility treatments are delicate, thus any information you provide us during the IVF Process is treated with the highest respect and confidentiality, with all details transmitted via a secure server. We will need you to sign our Fertility Care Registration paperwork to cover this as well.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Five Fics Friday: August 16/24

Happy Friday Everyone!! Check out these fics to start off your weekend!!! Hope you enjoy!!!

RECENT MFLs

John's Wedding Speech by jawnscoffee (G, 790 w., 1 Ch. || Wedding Fluff) – Maybe I shouldn’t have let my husband hold his speech first because it’s way harder to leave a good impression when there’s already a winner.

Show Me Your Flaws by holmesian_love (NR, 8,271+ w., 2/14 Ch. || Coffee Shop AU || WIP || Angst with Happy Ending, Alternate First Meeting, Developing Relationship, Musician Sherlock, Friendship) – John Watson is lost in the world. Back from Afghanistan as an invalided soldier, with no purpose in life, he takes up a suggestion from an old friend and tries a bit of a life change. Only now, he finds himself stuck in a new, tedious situation with no money or friends. That is, until a dark, talented stranger crosses his path and suddenly life doesn’t seem quite so boring anymore. But how can John begin to win over someone like that, when he feels so flawed? And how can he capture the attention of the dashing man who keeps disappearing…

John's Legacy by BakerTumblings (M, 19,035 w., 3 Ch. || Inspired by Fanfic, IVF, Parenting, Surrogacy, Fluff) – Inspired by Nature and Nurture. This fanfic tackles life at Baker Street set after the British Government "accidentally" cloned Sherlock Holmes. Oliver Watson-Holmes lives with his two fathers and it about to embark on a whole new way of life. This story is less about Oliver (although he is a wonderful child) and deals with Sherlock's endeavor to gift John with a biologic child. Oh, and he never said anything about it to John.

Always a Soldier by Lock_John_Silver (E, 21,252+ w., 6/8 Ch. || WiP || POV Alternating, Developing Relationship, Nightmares, Sherlock's Violin, Caring Sherlock, Case Fic, Minor Character Death, Letters, Sherlock's Military Kink, Travel, Language Kink, Paris, Jealous John, BAMF Sherlock, Sherlock Speaks French, Twins, Dinner / Wine/ Food, Crime Scenes, Voice Kink, Hugging, Sightseeing, Idiots in Love, First Kiss, Childhood Memories, Military Uniforms, Captain Watson, First Time, Fluff and Smut, Blow Jobs, Friends to Lovers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Love Confessions, John's a Mess, Endearments, Sherlock's a Mess, Past Unhealthy Relationship, Sherlock's Mind Palace, Swimming, Topping from the Bottom, Anal Fingering, Excursions) – Mycroft arrives at Baker Street with disturbing news which even Sherlock can’t ignore. Going abroad, even when the circumstances are horrible, might be just what both he and John need to avoid stagnation.

Kinesis by StellaCartography (E, 35,641+ w., 13/28 Ch. || WiP || Johnlock and Mystrade || Post S4, Dissociation, Workaholic, Canon Compliant, Job Loss, Alternating POV, Vacation, Road Trips, Fishing, Card Games, Camping, Coffee Shops, Massage, Homophobia, Getting Caught in the Rain) – After the events at Sherrinford, Mycroft experiences intense scrutiny at work. As his position becomes increasingly precarious, he tries to investigate the source of the threat, but is thwarted at every turn. With his career and his mental health in shambles, can Mycroft open himself to a personal life he's been neglecting for decades?

[heresiae]

fuck my government.

by the way, this impacts every couple, not just LGBT ones.

[zot3-flopped]

https://web.archive.org/web/20140312071926/http://www.bohomoth.com/2014/02/21/harry-styles-and-his-man-bun-celebrate-a-milestone/

Here's the blog post that the Jamaica "proof" originated from, some obscure gossip blog run by a larrie. How convenient that a random anon commenter just happened to be on vacation at the same spot as Harry and found this blog to share their story on 🙄🙄 larries aren't very smart and don't know how to identify fact from fiction, so of course this is totes believable for them.

For the record, I think Harry vacationed in Jamaica in 2014 with friends and larries used this as a way to insert Louis into the story through anon comments (what they call "receipts"), they love lying like this on anon to this day. It's very stupid to think celebrities are above the law in foreign countries. The first thing you do as a gay couple traveling abroad is see if a country is safe to visit, and you certainly wouldn't be acting like a couple out in public in a homophobic country. Larries are so so painfully stupid.

I can't get that link to work but agree with everything you say.

Eleanor and Louis vacationed in Jamaica at least twice and fans met them.

Larries prove time and time again that they know very little about the world beyond their own country. Remember that recent fake receipt about Larry moving to Italy to have IVF, when it isn't even offered to same sex couples there?

Harry seems to prefer the BVIs and Anguilla to Jamaica these days and has probably travelled to multiple other tropical destinations that we just don't know about. He loves the ocean so much that I'm sure he's tried scuba diving, for instance.

[cardiac-agreste]

Tell me, why do you bring up real life issues whenever people talk about sentibeing stuff?

Based on your username, I assume that you are a writer (and tall, but that's not relevant here). So I'll answer your question with a question:

Do you use real-life issues to write your stories?

If you do, why do you disapprove of a reader doing the same thing?

Art is made to move people emotionally. You can't be moved emotionally without connecting yourself to the story. I'm not even sure something can be art when its beholders separate the work from real-life issues.

I'm not saying the work has to be overtly political, but it still needs to relate to the real world. Joanie is sad because Chachi was late for their date. "Oh, that reminds me of a time my wife was late for our plans!"

The sentibeing stuff is so transparently a metaphor for alternative conception methods. I'm old enough to remember that "test-tube baby" was used as an insult, and religious groups tried to get the practice banned. Before my time, federal research funding was denied. The practice left the US to be developed abroad for a while because of this. I think the first IVF birth was in the US, but after that it shifted to the UK and Australia.

And even decades before that, the term "test-tube baby" was used pejoratively against births conceived via artificial insemination. (I also remember this term being used pejoratively in media in the 80s and early 90s.)

Gabriel and Emilie couldn't conceive. Eventually, they used a technology that enabled it.

Because she was an actress and a member of the English nobility, we can assume she carried a baby for approximately nine months and delivered him. We can assume this because there's no way she could have magically had a baby one day without having been pregnant; British tabloids would've had a field day about the "fake kid" "staining" the BRF or whatever.)

I don't understand why people have a problem with that, but it smells too much like religious bigotry of the 70s. Actually, it smells like 2024. Did you know the largest religious group in the USA, the Southern Baptist Convention, just voted to oppose IVF in June?

[mariacallous]

In a fighting State of the Union address, much of which could have been delivered at a campaign rally, President Joe Biden directly criticized his predecessor more than a dozen times and drew lines that he hopes will define the 2024 presidential election. He was an unabashed liberal on social policy, a populist nationalist on economic policy, and a traditional postwar internationalist on foreign policy.

Biden’s forceful delivery was meant to signal that he is not too old to serve out a second term, which most Americans currently think he is. Indeed, projecting vigor and strength was one of the main objectives of the evening. Gone was his tendency to speak in a near whisper; through much of the speech he practically shouted. He ended his speech with an argument that his age is an advantage—that through extended experience, he has learned what he needs to lead the country in challenging times.

“The state of the union is strong and getting stronger,” President Biden declared. He may well have had no choice. The fact remains that the American people don’t agree with him. In a new CBS poll, 61% of Americans described the state of the country as “divided,” 45% as “declining,” 37% as “weak,” and just 15% as “strong.” Tellingly, only 25% of Democrats saw the state of the country as strong. Biden clearly hopes that he began to change their minds and that subsequent events will vindicate his optimism in time for the election. It remains to be seen whether his decision to lean against public sentiment will reduce his credibility and make him look out of touch.

To the surprise of few, the defense of democracy against autocracy at home and abroad was a central theme of the speech, which depicted Donald Trump as a threat to both. To the surprise of many, Biden led off the speech with an impassioned defense of the need to aid Ukraine and stop Vladimir Putin from conquering Ukraine and threatening all of Europe. Quoting Trump’s own words, he accused him of bowing down to Putin and moved on to accuse his predecessor of trying to “bury the truth of January 6th.”

Biden’s defense of his economic record was lengthy and detailed, with references to massive job creation, sustained low unemployment, small business creation, a manufacturing revival, and a shrinking racial wealth gap. He appealed directly to workers without college degrees, touting his enforcement of long-neglected “Buy American” laws and massive investment in infrastructure projects. He noted the recent surge in consumer confidence and must hope that a continued shift in the public mood about the economy will help him move from defense to offense on this critical issue. It remains to be seen whether his attack on drug companies and other corporations for alleged price-gouging will help him defuse the issue of high prices, the public’s main complaint about his economic record. And while the lengthy list was impressive, it fell short of being the sort of concise narrative that could be easily understood on the campaign trail.

The case was very different when it came to freedom of choice, where there were no such ambiguities. He condemned Donald Trump and his supporters for overturning Roe v. Wade and called for national legislation to restore Roe as the law of the land. In a similar vein, he criticized the move, which started in Alabama, to interfere with access to in vitro fertilization, many couples’ only chance to have biological children, and he called for national legislation to secure access to IVF nationwide. In this context and others, he invoked the political power of women and urged them to use this power to defend their freedom.

Turning to plans for a second term, Biden presented a lengthy laundry list of liberal proposals on health care, education, housing, and taxes. Most were aimed at the high prices middle-class Americans face that prevent them from giving Biden credit on the economy. While these measures may help fire up the base, they may not appeal to undecided swing voters, let alone the Haley voters whom the president invited to join his coalition just days ago.

Still, the president did better on offense than with the issues that have put him on the defensive. On immigration, he ignored advice from some Democrats to shut the border immediately and contented himself with calling on Congress to pass the bipartisan border bill that Senate Republicans abandoned under pressure from former president Trump. Similarly, he did not go beyond traditional Democratic proposals for fighting violent crime and missed an opportunity to break new ground on the fight against the epidemic of fentanyl and other deadly opioids.

He was more innovative about Hamas’ murderous attack on Israel and the situation in Gaza, which have already cost many thousands of civilian lives. He insisted that Israel has a responsibility to minimize civilian casualties, even as they pursue a ruthless enemy that uses human shields as a cornerstone of its military strategy. He also cited an urgent need to get food and other humanitarian aid to desperate Gazans and ordered the construction of a temporary port in the sea that would permit American vessels to get this aid where it is needed without, the president promised, putting American boots on the ground. He reiterated his support for a temporary ceasefire and an eventual two-state solution, which he characterized as the only path to durable peace between Israel and its neighbors in the region. Not until November will we find out whether these initiatives will be enough to soothe the anger of Arab and Muslim Americans whose defection threatens the president’s hold on the vital swing state of Michigan.

During his speech, President Biden referred with approval to two past presidents, Franklin Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. But it was the spirit of Harry Truman’s 1948 campaign that suffused everything he said and how he said it. Biden and his advisors have signaled that they regard blunt, no-holds-barred partisanship as the best path to victory against Donald Trump, whom he trails in most polls. In a time of intense polarization, they believe, mobilizing the base is Job One. The president talked optimistically about America’s comeback, but the speech was intended to promote his own comeback as well.

[mugiwara-lucy]

Okay after hearing this, I just need to comment…

So Trump will be “our daddy”?? 😂 I’m pretty sure we’d all get emancipated rather than Nathan Scott! 🤣

Yeah….with 11 days until the election, it’s imperative I remind people like always that while I am VERY happy with our voter turnout that the fight is NOT over yet!! ALL GAS NO BRAKES until November 6th!!!!! THEN we can celebrate!!

Here is the link to register to vote along with the deadlines varying by state! Also, your own vote isn’t enough! Get as many people as you can to vote for Kamala be it your friends, cousins, parents, grandparents, old friends from high school and college, coworkers, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, stepchildren (if they’re 18 and over) and the list goes on and on but every vote counts! ALSO PLEASE check your registration DAILY because MAGA WILL purge your voter registration!!

And early voting has started! And if you don’t wanna vote on November 5th, Early Voting is another option! Like I said get as many people as you know and try early voting that way you can avoid MAGA fuckery on November 5th! Here’s the link down below listing the dates by state:

Mail in Ballots are ANOTHER option I highly recommend!! And like I said get as many people as you can to take advantage of this option! BUT if you decide to go with Mail In/Absentee Ballots; PLEASE mail your ballots at the ACTUAL USPS office!! That way MAGAts won't fuck with it.

And lastly voting abroad is something I’ve seen people take advantage of and i HIGHLY recommend it!! Here’s the link!!

And I’ll end with this. Do you guys like the lives you have now?

Do you guys like your video games? No matter how violent they are? Because Trump has talked about BANNING VIDEO GAMES.

Do you guys enjoy Recreational Sex? Well a part of Trump’s project 2025 is to basically get rid of sex until marriage because apparently they think we wanna go back to some Ronald Reagan conservative bullshit. Like who waits until marriage anymore??

Do you guys like having IVF, Contraception and Birth Control? Yeah Trump and his camp want to get rid of all that. Why?? I don’t freaking know.

Do you guys want your abortion rights back? Because Trump’s dog Vance WILL pass a nationwide abortion ban with NO exceptions. Thankfully blue states still have that right but given Trump? I wouldn’t trust him.

Do you guys like Planned Parenthood? Vance wants to defend that? So cancer screenings and women’s health at cheaper prices than regular doctors? Kiss it goodbye and in return Trump plans to place RFK JR in charge of women’s health 🤢

Do you guys Hurricane Relief and Weather broadcasts? Trump’s camp will get rid of ALL of that so people in hurricanes will really be left on their own and without weather broadcasts? No words needed.

Do you guys like porn? Because Project 2025 wants to BAN porn. Ironic because one of Trump’s cheerleaders is that Amber Rose lady.

Do you guys like the military handling civilian affairs? Because Trump has said he will use the military against people who oppose him.

Do you guys like your rights being in the hands of state legislatures? They’re doing it with abortions (and failing MISERABLY). I GUARANTEE you if that old fool Trump gets back into office; say goodbye to interracial marriages, gay and trans rights.

Do you guys like having the freedom to worship whatever religion you want to or not? Trump and his camp LITERALLY want to force Christianity on everyone. Go look at Oklahoma and Louisiana.

Do you guys like having fresh food and clean water? Trump and his camp want to gut what we have now and put RFK JR in charge of that?? Gross much?? Especially with his history of killing animals.

If you want to enjoy your lives that you have now or make them better, PLEASE DO NOT GET COMPLACENT!!!

Yes we’re doing well but UNTIL we have news that Kamala won, there is STILL WORK that needs to be gone!

Knock on doors, send emails/post cards and texts, make phone calls and most of all V-O-T-E!! And get as many people as you can to vote too!!

In 11 days, we can be DONE with Trump and his bullshit ONCE AND FOR ALL!!!

[coochiequeens]

Gay men and the wealthy are no longer content to exploit one woman now exploiting two at the same is becoming trendy

Why have one baby when you can have 2? People are paying $500,000 to hire 2 surrogates at once and have 'twiblings'

By Kelsey Vlamis  Jul 16, 2024, 3:04 PM EDT

Some people are hiring two surrogates at the same time to carry their babies.

Concurrent surrogacy can be complicated and costly, with prices reaching up to $500,000 or more.

Many people who do it are in their 40s and trying to build out their family quickly.

Bill Houghton still vividly remembers the moment he met his son.

He was sitting in the hospital waiting room, right outside the birthing room, when a nurse appeared carrying a little green bundle.

"I just held him in my arms and just started crying. It was so overwhelming. My husband was like, 'Oh my God, I can't believe that this is it. We're a family,'" Houghton told Business Insider. "This is my son."

Just one week later, Houghton and his husband would have the same experience all over again when their second child, another son, was delivered.

"And it has been like that ever since," he said. "To this day, I still look at them and I think, 'Oh my God, these are my sons.' My father had sons. I never thought that I would have a son."

Houghton and his husband opted to become parents via concurrent surrogacy — a process in which two surrogates are hired to carry two babies at the same, or overlapping, time.

The resulting children can be born anywhere from one week apart, like Houghton's, to nine months apart, and have been referred to by some people in the industry as "tandem siblings" or "twiblings."

Surrogacy agencies told BI that concurrent surrogacy journeys are not uncommon, with some saying it's a rising trend in a growing industry that was valued at $14 billion in 2022 by Global Market Insights and has attracted the investments of private equity firms.

All kinds of people — couples or singles, straight or gay, young or old — have opted to build out their family two at a time via concurrent surrogacy. But there is one thing that most parents of twiblings have in common: the ability to afford them.

While Houghton hired surrogates abroad, couples who choose to go through US-based agencies can easily spend $300,000 to half a million dollars or more on concurrent surrogates, according to five surrogacy agencies that spoke to BI.

"It is a luxury, absolutely," Brooke Kimbrough, cofounder and CEO of Roots Surrogacy, told BI. "Most American families don't have $200,000 in cash to go through surrogacy generally, and then $400,000-plus in cash to be able to go through that twice at the same time."

Still, the use of concurrent surrogates could grow as surrogacy generally grows in the US, in part because celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Chrissy Teigen have started opening up about using surrogates, as well as depictions in film and TV that have made the practice more mainstream. Teigen was even pregnant at the same time as her surrogate.

Surrogacy is also becoming increasingly relevant as more and more people are opting to have kids and start building their families later in life.

Chrissy Teigen and John Legend have opened up about using a surrogate. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

Concurrent surrogacy can help build a family quickly

Concurrent journeys typically look like regular surrogacy journeys, just times two. Gestational surrogacy, when IVF is used to place a fertilized embryo into a surrogate, is the most common form of surrogacy in the US today. Parents can use their own egg and sperm or that of donors.

Like many gay couples, Houghton and his husband each used their sperm for one of the babies, as well as the same egg donor, so their sons are technically half brothers.

While there has been increased awareness around what some call "social surrogacy" — using a surrogate when it's not medically or biologically necessary — the majority of people who conceive via surrogacy do so because they have to.

"Typically, when people come to us, they've been through a lot. This is not their plan A, it's often not plan B, maybe it's plan C," Kim Bergman, a psychologist and senior partner at Growing Generations, told BI. "They've had a lot of disappointment, and they've had a lot of trials and tribulations."

Many hopeful parents are in their 40s and are simply eager to build their families, the agencies said. A surrogacy journey can easily take one and a half to two years, so for intended parents who know they want multiple kids, concurrent surrogates can be appealing.

Certainly, some people who opt for concurrent surrogates do not fit the definition of medically necessary, at least according to the standards laid out by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM).

Some people have mental health reasons or a fear of giving birth. Others are actors or brain surgeons who spend 12 hours a day on their feet and who can't get pregnant and continue to do their jobs. All the surrogacy agencies BI spoke with said it's essentially never the case that someone opts for surrogacy simply for vanity reasons.

David Sher, founder and CEO of Elite IVF, told BI they've helped coordinate surrogates for celebrities, politicians, and people in demanding careers like finance or tech. He said he currently has a client who serves on the cabinet of a Western country and is trying to have a baby via surrogate in part due to her demanding schedule.

Sher said he thinks concurrent surrogacy has long been an option for intended parents but that there does seem to be an uptick in people who are opting to do it.

Part of the reason for that could be because fewer and fewer agencies are willing to do double embryo transfers, which were previously more common and could result in a twin pregnancy. The ASRM recommends against them, as twin pregnancies come with heightened risks for both the surrogate and the babies. So concurrent surrogacy is a safer option for intended parents who want to have two kids at the same time or in close succession.

Costly and complicated

Though it's viewed as a safer option, concurrent surrogacy is controversial. The ASRM guidelines actually recommend against concurrent surrogacy, as well as against social, or not medically necessary, surrogacy. But all five surrogacy agencies that BI spoke to will facilitate concurrent surrogacies.

The agencies said they've seen many concurrent surrogacy journeys be successful and that a lot of care and prior planning goes into making them happen.

"It's not taken lightly," Bergman said, adding that concurrent journeys are rarely chosen by 30-year-olds who have plenty of time to build their families, though that does occasionally happen.

Surrogacy, in general, is expensive — commonly ranging from $150,000 to $250,000 for one child. The costs go toward surrogate compensation, agency fees, legal fees for contracts, and clinical bills.

The agencies BI spoke with said a concurrent surrogacy journey would essentially cost twice that. Meaning there's no two-for-one special.

But cost isn't the only factor to consider. Perhaps the primary drawback to pursuing concurrent surrogacy (that is, besides the high price tag) is the logistics of it.

All the agencies emphasized that concurrent surrogacy should only be pursued with full transparency and the fully informed consent of every person involved. That means matching intended parents to surrogates who are fully aware and OK with the fact that they will not be the only surrogate.

Gestational surrogacy, in which a fertilized embryo is implanted in a surrogate, is most common in the US. Jay L. Clendenin/for The Washington Post/Getty Images

There's also tons of planning and talking through hypotheticals. Are the surrogates based in the same area? Can the parents attend both births? Are we staggering expected delivery times enough? What's the plan if one surrogate gets pregnant on the first try but the other doesn't?

There's also a psychological aspect. Will both surrogates feel fully supported? How will one feel if she doesn't get pregnant right away and the other does?

"All of these conversations are front-loaded. Anytime in the conversation, the surrogate can say, 'I'm not comfortable doing this,'" Bergman said, adding that sometimes, after thinking through the logistics, some parents will change their minds and plan to space the deliveries out further than they initially wanted, like to six or nine months.

Most agencies recommended staggering the planned deliveries by at least three months. But at the end of the day, parents need to be ready for the timeline to not go exactly as planned.

Houghton and his husband had actually planned to have their babies six weeks apart, but when one of the babies was born five weeks premature, they ended up with birthdays one week apart.

Concurrent surrogacy may not be for everyone — even if you can afford it

Although the cost of concurrent surrogacy makes it prohibitive for most people, that could change in the future as more and more companies expand their fertility benefits.

There are also more nonprofits popping up that will provide grants or partial funds to people who want to build their families via surrogacy but may not have the means to.

Jarret Zafran, founder and executive director at Brownstone Surrogacy, told BI that it's not necessarily only the ultrawealthy who pursue concurrent surrogacy. He said he currently has clients who are lifelong educators on the older side who are getting ready to start the surrogacy process. They recently asked about what it would look like for them to do a concurrent journey.

"I guess it is still a luxury in the sense that most Americans would not even be in a financial position to afford it the first time," Zafran, who also had a child with his husband through surrogacy, said. "But for them, this is not a frivolous decision, and they're scraping together every single little penny that they have, all of their savings, their retirement funds, and I get it."

By using surrogates abroad over a decade ago, Houghton and his husband, who are based in Spain, spent much less on their concurrent surrogates than they would have in the US. But he's still not totally sure why they chose to do concurrent journeys rather than space the children out a bit more.

"We just liked the idea of having two kids that were about the same age that would sort of grow up together," he said, adding, "I didn't realize at the time the challenges that would come with having two kids."

In reality, he said having the two boys grow up so close together in age, not twins but in the same class in school, ended up leading to a lot of conflict and constant competition as they were growing up. He said it has gotten better now that the boys are facing their teen years and developing their own identities.

Still, if he could do it over again, he thinks he would stagger them more.

"They're unbelievable young men, and I'm so proud of everything about them," he said. "But having the two together has been a challenge."

Have a news tip or a story to share about concurrent surrogacy? Contact this reporter at kvlamis@businessinsider.com.

If a brain surgeon or politician can't do their job while pregnant have they thought about how kids in general will impact their job? What if their kid wakes them up the night before surgery because they got of had a nightmare? Are they counting on a reliable spouse or a nanny to take care to the unpleasant parts of parenting.

Finally at the very end of the article they address how being born so close together impacts kids. We're they really surprised that there was a lot of competition? And they article just touched on how one of the twins was born 5 weeks premature. That means at one week old the dudes in charge of its care were focused on its twibling. Considering that surrogacy pregnancies are more likely to have complications do the parents consider how they will care for one baby while another baby is in the hospital longer than expected?

[softpine]

Hi! I’ve been following you for probably 3 years? I never read your story in full because I felt like I was already so far behind when I tried reading it the first time. I know the very beginning is very gameplay-esque I was wondering where I should start so I understand the lore and story properly? I don’t want to miss anything! I am always so amazed at the way you edit your story posts and the writing! So I really want to deep dive and finally read everything 😭 sorry it took me this long!! Writing this on anon cus I’m shy and a little embarrassed tbh ><

hey!! don't be embarrassed, i'm not judging in the slightest. i'm more aware than anyone else how crazyy long my story is. but sadly there's not a great place to start reading without missing things :( but here's a summary of the main plot points that become relevant later on:

rosie camellia (right) is a college student from brindleton bay, studying archaeology abroad in selvadorada. she meets isa delavina (left), an author and the great-granddaughter of madre cosecha, the scientist who founded selvadorada. she ends up showing rosie the hidden temple, they fall in love, start dating, move in together, etc.

now stick with me. rosie has 4 younger brothers, both are pairs of twins. michael and jack were teenagers at the time, but owen and isaac were very young toddlers. anyway, so michael shows up in selvadorada and breaks the news that their moms, genevieve (left) and reece (right), were in a car accident and both of them are dying. rosie rushes back home, leaving isa behind.

gen and reece die. [you'll see them as ghosts much later on.] rosie gets custody of all 4 brothers. isa moves to brindleton bay to support rosie and they eventually get married. michael & jack go away to college. owen (right) & isaac (left) were so young that they consider rosie and isa their moms, which is how they will always view them going forward. [the only brother who is really important is owen, because he will be stevie's dad.]

using IVF, isa becomes pregnant with caroline. while she's pregnant, her old friend from selvadorada, eva vasquez, shows up with a baby of her own, beth!!! 💖

as it turns out, eva had to escape an abusive relationship with beth's father, so she turned to isa and rosie for help. she eventually moves in next door. beth (right) loves to play with owen and isaac, and when caroline (left) is born, they become the best of friends immediately.

the last thing you need to know is about caroline. she'll become the main character so she's super important. the day she's born, we get our first bit of true plot in the form of a letter from isa. it's a recounting of caroline's birth written in the future. she talks about why they named her caroline (after the song sweet caroline started playing on the radio), about how the huge storm subsided as soon as she was born, and finally, she writes: "We miss you, we love you, and we need you to come home. Please, please come home, Caroline." so caroline's entire childhood and teen years are clouded by the knowledge that at some point in the future, she will lose contact with her family, though we don't know how or why or when.

now you can start reading from around this point, although there's still plenty of cringe left before i really hit my stride 😭 i'm sorry, it's just the nature of working on the same story since 2018 and learning as i go. i hope if you decide to give it a shot, you'll be able to find some value in it :')

[sag-dab-sar]

Labrys Religious Community

This was originally supposed to have a book review with it; but there were cognitive difficulties. I have decided to upload this without the book review. To put it in the simplest terms I’d give it a 4/5 for helpfulness if you want to practice, but its not a scholarly work and has very few citations.

Labrys Religious Community is an organization in Greece dedicated to the revival of the Hellenic Polytheist Tradition.

Their website in English

Their website in Greek

Their Youtube so you may see some of what they do

Labrys Household Worship is their book

🔹

1. The household worship practiced by Labrys revolves around Birth- Marriage-Death. Thus there book about the topic reflects that. However, you do not have to accept Labrys tenants to the letter, they aren’t the sole voice. You can use their book and their articles as resources without having to 100% accept all of their beliefs. Especially since they don't give sources that prove is historical aka "recon" in the strictest sense. So that is what I do.  They say in their book:

“Individual household devotional practices may vary depending on environment, individual needs, and personal experience.” page 17 of their book

2.  “Organikotis (kinship): in our relationships within the Community.” is a core tenant of Labrys. They are located in Greece with other Hellenic Polytheists in a physical community. I am solitary, if I marry it is unlikely she would be a Hellenic recon/revive polytheist. If she was and we had kids it is unlikely that we could raise them in Hellenic Polytheism with a religious community organization and other families that share our religion in close proximity. That is rare for the majority of us. It’s just a difference that is important to remember, it seems that some of us forget. They also make this difference clear in their translation notes before the table of contents.

3. Same-sex marriage is not legal in Greece nor is adoption or IVF for same-sex couples. The year this book was published in English was 2014 [edit: AS OF 2024 IT HAS BEEN LEGALIZED IN GREECE] , so probably published even earlier in Greece. Same sex Civil Unions were not legalized until 2015 and same sex marriage remains unrecognized. Joint adoption is still illegal for same sex couples but in 2018 a bill was passed to allow couples to foster children. The book originally being published in Greece prior to this reflected the sad reality at that time by not mentioning it. However, I feel their marriage ritual can very easily be adapted for queer weddings. Nor does anything in their book delegitimize adopted children.

Additional in their coming of age article they acknowledge and accepts that the modern world has different types of families and identities

"the purpose for these milestone events that we may create an adequate foundation to enable the success of our young people in a society that accommodates a wider range of lifestyles, family structures, and personal identities."

🔹

The Organization Itself

If you want to use materials you want to know about the organization’s tenants and integrity.

Labrys has been accused by tumblr as:

Being unwelcoming to LGTBQ individuals

Considering infertile people, single unmarried people, or childless people as inferior. Or unwelcoming to them.

Heteronormative

Racist

In regards to racism claim:

Hellenic religion is still the religion of indigenous Greek people and any detachment from its culture and environment will probably lead to new directions that bear little resemblance to what the name implies. However, as the history from the Hellenistic period onwards has illustrated, Hellenism is neither an exclusive religion nor are our Gods exclusive to the people who worship them. As such, we believe that a bridge should be built between how our religion evolves in modern Greece and how it is perceived and expressed abroad. This bridge will not only offer valuable insights but may also possibly lead to each party gaining what they might currently be lacking, simultaneously offering roots to Greece and the means to freedom of expression. (Beginning of the book in section about translation)

As for the other claims I contacted them:

Question I asked: “Hello! I would like to know your opinion on LGBT individuals and gay marriage if that is alright?”

Labrys Response:

Questions I asked: “Is a gay marriage ritually valid in Hellenic Faith? What is your opinion on transgender individuals? Individuals who are infertile, people who do not marry, or couples who simply do not want children, are they welcomed in the Labrys Community & valid and accepted in Hellenic Faith, in your view?”

Labrys Response:

Conclusion

Labrys Religious Community does not care if you are gay, bi, trans, infertile, single, don’t want kids, or are non-white. They want religion to unite people and see nothing wrong with preforming same-sex marriages. When it comes to gender and rituals I’d assume they mean rituals like Thesmophoria, where men are not allowed— as I’ve stated before and as they state, this would require temporarily taking on a role you feel suits your gender.

Their religion aims to unite and are welcoming to all despite the unfounded criticism thrown at them.

Originally written February 3rd, 2020, Edited to add a few things.

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[alarrytale]

I don't believe that receipt because we know they were in completely separate 'viewing areas' from the photos. Harry behind the Spanish goal and Louis behind the English goal. A closeted couple would not be 'constantly touching each other' in public in front of the world's press and the 'Louis was so loud' is an absolute cliche. Doubt she got close enough to smell him either.

The other receipt going round about Larry settling down in Italy to raise a family is also fake. Surrogacy is illegal in Italy and ivf is only available for heterosexual couples so just how would they go about having a child? They would choose a more lgbt friendly country like England.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jul/26/italian-parliament-approves-bill-criminalise-people-seeking-surrogacy-abroad

Hi, anon!

With all reciepts you have to take the information with a huge grain of salt. Anyone can send a made up story, especially if they're anonymous. It makes it pretty impossible to distinguish fake from real. So some reciepts you choose to believe, or at least consider possible, based on the information you have or other stories you've heard that you believe in. Some reciepts are clearly fake.

Regardless if it's real or fake, it's absolutely harmless to believe in it or wanting it to be true. We know H and L are together already. This isn't evidence of anything. It's just a cute story. So i choose to believe it. It's true in my heart. If nothing else, it's a cute fan fic or headcanon.

The italian reciept is clearly fake, but if people want to believe in it, does it really matter? Does it cause any harm? It doesn’t. So instead of going round and being a debbie downer, just roll your eyes and ignore it. It's very important to not kill other fans joy and fun, if it is harmless fun.

It's more important to debunk larry moments that didn’t happen before if becomes larry lore, and inform people who believe in things like louis being an extra in my policeman or that he said «I’m gay, it’s pretty unfortunate isn’t it Eleanor?», that it didn’t happen like that. So focus on the bigger things and the bigger picture and let fans have their fun. It's a fandom after all and we'll never get any of these stories confirmed either way.

[whentherewerebicycles]

gotta be honest I felt real bad for most of the day yesterday but gosh it’s so nice to be able to swing by my bff’s house after work to eat thai leftovers together and go grocery shopping and cackle a lot. my overall quality of life is about to skyrocket and I just still can’t believe I got so lucky.

I feel a little better today, probably because I’ve switched into planning mode and feel a little more in control of my life again. I think I am going to move forward with IVF abroad (though in the meantime I might go through a couple more IUI cycles to use up the donor sperm I still have in storage). more thinking aloud under the cut… sorry I just have to process everything out loud.

I know many people do IUI or try to conceive naturally for a long time and there might be some wisdom in continuing to try the lower-tech option for a while longer. however, I feel like I need to consider the following things:

I only have one fallopian tube now. it’s still possible for me to get pregnant via IUI, but after reading a bunch of articles I’m not sure that the “having only one tube doesn’t affect your chances!” messaging online is true. I can still get pregnant, but it seems like my time to conception will almost certainly be extended by quite a bit.

I need to weigh the practical costs. if I try IUI for six more months, that’s at least $15k, which is almost twice what an IVF cycle abroad would cost me.

I need to weigh the emotional costs. the IUI failures were tough but I could weather them and I could’ve probably kept going if that last cycle had failed. but the ectopic pregnancy was just devastating and I still feel like I am in a place of lowgrade anguish about it. could I keep going with IUI? yes, if I had to. but I also don’t have to use “could I force myself to endure a very painful emotional experience if I had to” or “have other people endured this painful experience in the past” as my criteria for making this decision. I don’t have to compare myself to other people or make choices based on the level of despair I think I can endure. I can make the ‘selfish’ decision that prioritizes my needs right now, because it’s my money, my time, my life, my heart.

I just really, really, really want to give myself a good shot at being pregnant before my SIL gives birth in March. I would love for our kids to be the same age and I also think that would line me up better with liz & A’s timeline.

obviously I would just be over the moon to have even one baby!!!! but in my ideal world I’d be able to have two kids a couple years apart. and if that is my goal, the time pressure is real. if I got pregnant at 34 I’d give birth at 35 and probably wouldn’t begin the process again until 37, at which point it would be even harder than it is now. if I’m very lucky, IVF might also give me the chance to freeze embryos while my eggs are a little younger.

after a lot of research, I think finding a clinic in Mexico makes the most sense for me. it’s a little more expensive than some of the European clinics, but here are the benefits:

I can book direct flights on points

most flights are under 4 hours (compared to 14-15 hours to europe). so it’ll be easier to get there and back if I have to return for future transfers or egg retrievals—like, I could fly down over a long weekend instead of having to plan around major holiday breaks when I have more time off. I think this will put much less weight on each individual try, as opposed to doing it in Europe where a failed cycle would likely mean having to wait 6+ months until I could accrue enough PTO to go again.

I can arrange to work remotely some or all of the time I have to be in-country since I’ll be in the same timezone

no one is going to make this decision for me or give me permission to do it—I have to be the one to decide to move forward. so I’m deciding. this week I will reach out to 5-6 clinics to schedule initial consultations. I’m not sure how long the waiting period is but man it would be great to be able to schedule something for the fall. I think if I had a date on the calendar, even if it’s a ways out, I could focus my energy on diet/exercise/sleep/overall emotional well-being and just, idk, feel like I was moving towards a goal instead of drifting in time like I am now. if I want this I just gotta get moving. and if it doesn’t pan out I can grieve and shift my focus to other routes to parenthood, but I think I’m far enough down this road that I have to exhaust my options first before I’ll be able to let go of this dream and move on.

[dollhousefemme]

it's so disheartening seeing our PM, an open lesbian, have a child with her partner (through IVF done abroad) while doing nothing to better the situation for lgbt people here. we have no rights, legally, that is not her son and she has nothing do to with that child. but she doesn't care, because she's in a comfortable position of leadership and can afford herself the life the rest of us can only dream of