My babysitter was the first to break the news to me, “Did you hear that they are running out of baby formula?” When she first said this to me, I was confused by her question and thought for sure I heard her wrong. I mean, we’ve all heard of baby formula recalls and the occasional plant shutting down, but was she actually saying that I wouldn’t be able to find my twins’ formula anywhere?

For almost a year, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing people’s surprised expressions when I share that I’m a mom to seven kids, including three sets of twins. I’m enjoying these moments because it took me and my husband 17 tumultuous years of navigating infertility via international adoption, IVF, pregnancy loss and surrogacy to create our family.

Trying to conceive and parenting can become all-encompassing. It can cut you off from the most important things, including your relationship with yourself. It's healthy to pause — whether for a minute or a day — to remember who you are.

“I was speaking to a life coach,” the self-proclaimed IVF Mama coach recalls to So Booking Cool. “It was part of this wellness day that I went to, and I signed up for a quick slot with this life coach…she’s sort of asking me all these questions about what I wanted, and I told her that I wanted to be a writer.”

My path to parenthood made me one of many statistics. I am one of the 1 in 8 women requiring fertility assistance, and also one of the 1 in 4 women who have experienced a miscarriage or pregnancy loss.

Mindfulness and meditation coach Josephine Atluri has seven children, including three sets of twins. She has experienced all the highs, the lows, and tangled messes of complicated emotions that come with having children. Well into her family's journey, she discovered mindfulness and meditation. Now she shares the insights she wishes she had.

To help demystify the process, we asked a diverse group of parents to share their reasons for pursuing surrogacy, what their experience was like, and the misconceptions that exist about the process.

After an arduous 13 year infertility journey, we created our modern day family of 5 children via non-traditional methods.

After an arduous 13 year infertility journey, we created our modern day family of 5 children via non-traditional methods.

After years of back-to-back IVF cycles, it was time to pause and heal.

After a long and arduous journey filled with many ups and downs, we had finally created our modern day family via IVF and adoption. Sounds simple, right? It wasn’t. But there was even more to come.