One

I understand that many women in the throes of infertility are deeply irritated by the phrase "it only takes one." For me, "it only takes one" is a mantra that allows me to consider the possibility that I will win the baby lottery. The reality is that while one egg and one sperm do a baby make, it may never do so for me, and I have no control over whether it does. At 39 1/2 I am fully aware that my window for conception narrows every day. Honestly, I never thought I'd be in this position (who does, right?) but I happen to have good insurance and a top-notch clinic right down the street and when I realized how important it was to my husband to do everything possible to try to have a child that shared our genes, I shrugged and said I would try. Somehow in just six months we seem to have become deeply entrenched in a process that I know is more likely to fail than to succeed. And while I won't say that I'm ok with it, I do understand that the outcome is as out of my control as it is for any woman. Money and medical treatment can only increase my odds of getting pregnant by a small percentage, and in the end it will come down to a random collision of two cells that triggers a cascade of biological events that has the potential of resulting in a baby. Right now, it's enough hope to get me by.