A little about me

Hello!

If you have come across this page, it is most likely because you received an invitation from me to participate in my dissertation research. So thanks for checking me out- I hope this will answer some questions about who I am and why I am doing this work!

If you read through this blog, you can follow my story. I used this space to chronicle the experiences and memories of a painful journey of infertility and loss. I survived countless Clomid cycles, a septum resection, three fresh IVFs, a FET, an early miscarriage, a heterotopic pregnancy, a loss of twins at 20 weeks due to an incompetent cervix, the placement of a transabdominal cerclage, and lots of bedrest before finally giving birth to my wonderful children, Isabelle and Julien.

I also became an example of that cliche - people who get pregnant spontaneously after struggling for years with IF- and 22 months after the birth of my twins had a singleton, Alec. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would get pregnant without the use of doctors, needles, and artificial hormones. Such is the craziness of the world of infertility, I suppose.

So here I am on the other side, and I find myself equally committed to the "cause". I have devoted my dissertation research to understanding the impact of an IF diagnosis and the treatment process on marriage. In a nutshell, I think the kinds of support that mental health professionals have offered infertile couples has been woefully limited, and I want to change that. My hope is that this study will provide much-needed information that will shape psychological interventions for infertile couples.

I can't do this without your help. I am seeking couples who will give just a little of their time- 20 or so minutes- to complete an online survey. It's not painful. You might even find it kind of interesting. But I can tell you with certainty that it will help fill a gap in our understanding of the needs of people like you and me. And, as a token of my gratitude for your time, I will send each couple who completes the surveys a voucher for free movie tickets.

If you're interested, please contact me at UTInfertilityResearch@gmail.com . I look forward to hearing from you!

Warmly,
Elisabeth B. Morray, MA
Doctoral Candidate
The University of Texas at Austin