A newcomer on our Choice Moms Over 40 discussion board did 12 cycles of IUI before her clinic noticed that she had "fallen through the cracks" and suggested she try IVF instead. Unfortunately, this does happen. When women find their ChoiceMoms.org peers, it becomes easier to learn what to ask doctors in order to achieve motherhood.

Long-time Choice Mom support Patricia Mendell, who works with single women in the New York City area who are building families on their own, has announced a new monthly support group to help families (single and coupled) create healthy families using egg, sperm and embryo donation, as well as surrogacy.

On our yahoo discussion group for Choice Moms on the journey after the age of 40, a woman asked for stories of hope from others who had paid that kind of money, at that age, and found success.

I just returned from Orlando, where hundreds of specialists in reproductive medicine gathered for their annual convention -- largely focused on helping women get pregnant with up-to-date research and technology. Here is some of what I learned, and people I talked to.

Our Choice Mom-friendly fertility clinic in the Los Angeles area, C.A.R.E. Fertility, has created this Fertility Ties resource for helping U.S. women nationwide find a fertility clinic, egg donor agency, fertility pharmacy, and much more in their area.

If you're thinking of using a surrogate -- and I know a few Choice Moms who have -- there are important legal considerations. Here is advice from Choice Mom-friendly attorney Chris Tymchuck (Minnesota) about this method to motherhood.

One of the most exciting developments I see for Choice Moms in the coming years is the opening up of the relatively new embryo donation frontier for those women whose own eggs aren't working. New players in the field are working with single women.

As we continue our look this month into alternatives to the "traditional" IUI route for Choice Moms, here are some great resources.

Back in August 2010, two wonderful colleagues talked with each other in a radio show about moving beyond the "simple" conception options to surrogacy, adoption, embryo donation, egg donation and more. Here are highlights, and a direct link to the show.

When I hosted the first Choice Mom networking event, in San Francisco in 2007, one of the sponsors was a new egg-freezing company. The concept was in its earliest stages.

We've been busy assembling new fertility resources for our large community in the Trying: Fertility stage. Use this link to our new page of medications involved in fertility treatment.

It's great to find this community, and I'm so excited to get to know you all! My story goes like this. I was married to a wonderful man, John....

This London-based woman shared her story about weight loss, and finding a fertility clinic that will take her out of country.

This is a wonderful article that takes a fresh look at building family in non-mainstream ways, which originally appeared in The New York Times in January 2010.

One of my favorite websites is CreatingaFamily.com, run by Dawn Davenport. Like me, she's developed a comprehensive resource for her community as a labor of love. Hers is specifically designed for anyone building families through adoption, egg and sperm donation, surrogacy. Here are highlights:

This documentary promises to be an interesting one for people using assisted reproduction technology.

More Choice Moms are looking into embryo donation these days, perhaps because international adoption doors once open to single women seem closed right now because of protracted governmental regulatory issues. Here are a few things you should know about this growing family-building option:

Are you struggling (alone) with the weight of deciding whether to persevere with costly fertility treatments? There are mental health counselors who specialize in the fertility industry who are here to help you. This is great, detailed advice from one of them.

I'm hearing from more women who are interested in learning about egg donors and embryo adoption. It's been suggested that the door to adoption might seem more limited for single women right now, making egg donation a more popular choice. Whatever the reasons, this new Choice Mom has a story to share about her past life as an egg donor, for those who are curious about the women behind the scenes.

I'd love to get the input of Choice Moms who went through the donor egg process, as it's a topic that hasn't been discussed much yet at ChoiceMoms.org, and I've heard from many women lately who would like to learn more about it. Use the Comments field below to post your questions, stories, answers.