Celebrating New Life

Last week, I visited a good friend in Geneva, Sweet Momma I, who had just given birth to her third daughter, Princess C.  Princess C and her older sisters, Princesses L and E, are all beautiful, healthy and intelligent children.  They are very much loved by their proud parents and other family members.

But it took a lot of effort, patience and modern technology - for them to be here at all.

All three girls are happy results of in vitro fertilization (IVF), where eggs are removed from the woman's ovaries, fertilized by sperm in a fluid medium and then transferred back to the uterus so that the fertilized egg can grow and develop normally, hopefully to become a living baby.  This technique first succeeded in 1978, with the birth of Louise Brown, the first "test tube baby."  Since then, IVF has enabled couples to become parents who would otherwise have remained childless unless they were able to adopt.  In 2010, Dr. Robert G. Edwards, who, working with others, successfully pioneered the treatment, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. 

So this was not only a visit to a special friend, but also a tribute to her steadfast determination and perseverance.   All three girls were born in this tranquil clinic.

I visited with two other friends and former colleagues.  Sweet Momma E has a daughter of her own, just a couple weeks younger than my very special Prince Tyger.

While Sweet Friend H does not have children of her own, as one of nine siblings, she is an aunt who is much in demand..  It is clear that both are accustomed to babies!

Best of all, Sweet Momma I also made it through this delivery well, was in fine form and delighted to welcome her visitors.

Having a third daughter necessitated the purchase of a new family car: a VW Sharan.  Their former vehicle was simply not large enough for the three carseats that three precious little girls - aged almost 4, 1.5 and less than one month respectively, require.