As a one-time Single Mother by Choice (a community with which I still have strong ties), I am very much aware of the many different ways in which we make our families. So, I was of two minds when I came upon this “Made in a Dish” onesie while browsing online. In one sense, I think it is important to raise awareness of the struggles that many families go through to conceive (just as it is important to raise awareness of the many different kinds of families). I think people should know that there is no shame in seeking technological help to produce a much-wanted baby.

I am always very open about my own experiences if questioned, and I’m willing to discuss it in a largely anonymous way such as this. At the same time, however, I feel in some ways that my child’s story is hers to tell when and if she is ready. Broadcasting her origins to strangers with a t-shirt violates this notion. While my daughter won’t be wearing a shirt like this any time soon, I am glad to see that mainstream stores are catching on to the reality of assisted conception. If you are interested in purchasing one of these onesies, check out evalillian.com. The retail price is $19.99. A t-shirt version is available, too.

Trying to conceive a child can really be an anxiety-ridden experience. Once you become emotionally committed to parenthood, you want it to happen immediately. The Clearblue Easy Fertility Monitor helps to eliminate some of the guesswork. I used one of these when I was trying to conceive my middle daughter. It is very easy to use. The computer tracks your cycles and tells you when to test each month. The more you use it, the more it gets to know your cycle. The only downside is that you can only test once a day. This is fine for most women, but if you need to pinpoint your hormonal surge more exactly (especially if you are undergoing fertility procedures), you might want to use this in addition to an ovulation predictor kit. My method was to start using the kit strips every four hours once the monitor started reading “high” fertility.

Overall, I think this is a great product that was well worth the expense. I passed mine along to a friend when I was done. You can purchase one from most drug stores or online at $169.95 at early-pregnancy-tests.com. There are also generally a large number of these for sale on ebay. You can save a lot on a new one, or even more if you are willing to buy a used one (just follow the directions to reset it so you aren’t using someone else’s information).