Mason  🏃‍♂️ ✂️

I know an amazing couple in LA. They have extremely successful careers in the music industry: one plays in a popular rock band, the other is a highly accomplished violinist. They’ve helped write & consulted on a number of hits, scored films, worked with headliners across genres.

One of them had a terrible time in school. Frequently flunked out of classes, wrote angsty teen notes about how loathsome the whole thing was. Focused on playing in the band they formed as a teenager, which eventually took off & generated several Billboard Hot 100 hits.

The other excelled academically, but also followed a passion for music. Played & taught children to earn a living, rented a near-uninhabitable flat in a *barn* to save money, used the savings to buy property young. Became a Grammy-nominated, world-class performer.

When I met them, they were trying for children. I said I was really looking forward to being a mom one day. At one point, one of them suggested I get some fertility testing done, just to be safe. I took that advice, and… the results weren’t good. At all.

I’d only met them the one time, but I let them know that things hadn’t turned out the way I’d hoped. These people — **who had met me ONCE** — offered to host me in their home and help me through the process if I decided to pursue fertility preservation options.

So I did. I stayed in their guest bedroom, reeling hormonally. The protocol required 2-4 self-administered injections per day, and I was terrified of needles. So they gave me my shots — all of them. They brought me along to jam sessions & dinners so I wouldn’t miss my timed doses

They’ve started two separate entrepreneurial endeavors in entertainment tech and biotech, both of which are early-stage but garnering considerable interest in their niches. And they have two little girls now, who they absolutely dote on.

They have help, but they’ve still restructured their careers and projects around being present parents. They love them *so much.* They want to respect and foster whatever interests and talents they might manifest. They’re thrilled with their burgeoning personalities & differences