Model and modern mogul, Chrissy Teigen, who has been open in the past about struggles with infertility, recently shared the happy news that she is expecting her second child with her husband, singer-songwriter John Legend.

After the birth of their daughter, Luna, in April 2016, Teigen told People Magazine that she had dreams of a larger family, and indicated that, if she wasn’t able to conceive naturally, she would undergo more rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF.) The couple reportedly started with three embryos that were deemed normal after genetic testing, from an initial pool of 20 embryos. Their daughter, Luna, was the result of a frozen embryo transfer after the first embryo transfer they tried was not successful. The new baby, a boy, is the last of those embryos.

Teigen’s openness and willingness to speak candidly about the difficulties they encountered trying to conceive, shines a celebrity spotlight on IVF and other fertility treatments. People struggling with their fertility often feel like they are alone, but, as Teigen’s social media posts and interviews show, infertility affects people from all walks of life.

What is IVF?

During an IVF procedure, a fertility doctor extracts eggs from a woman’s ovaries (with a needle) and fertilizes them with sperm from the donor. After fertilization occurs, the eggs develop into embryos. At the appropriate time, the doctor re-implants the embryos back into the woman’s uterus where it will remain and grow during the rest of the baby’s gestation.

Are there other options to IVF?

While IVF has been successful for Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, it’s not the only option. In addition to IVF, there are many other ways to add to or complete your family. Many people have benefited from assisted reproduction techniques like egg donation, embryo donation, sperm donation and surrogacy.

Legal Details

Regardless of what method you choose to complete your family, having the appropriate legal documents and agreements in place to document and formalize your parental rights is critically important.

The services we provide to assist our clients include counseling future parents, surrogates, egg donors, sperm donors and embryo donors on the state of the law with respect to the different reproduction methods available; drafting of contract(s) between the parents and their surrogate, egg donor, sperm donor or embryo donor; and assisting future parents in finalizing their parental rights. We also help guide parents through the finalization of their parental rights, which can seem daunting and confusing.

Our firm provides comprehensive legal and counseling services for those using assisted reproduction with a third party. Each client is ensured of receiving personalized attention, support and counseling. Contact us today to get started!