There are door prizes. And then there are door prizes.
Like a $12,000 cycle of in vitro fertilization treatments. Or two years of storage for frozen embryos, valued at $500. Or a $300 discount on adoption services.
These and other prizes will be given away Saturday at the annual family-building conference of the Minnesota chapter of RESOLVE, a national infertility advocacy group. The conference in Golden Valley will focus on medical and emotional issues associated with infertility and adoption, with topics ranging from new medical treatments to legal issues to parenting options.
True, most people don't need those prizes -- they can have babies the natural way. But for many infertile couples desperate to have children, they are "life-changing gifts," said Julie Berman, a volunteer for the Minnesota chapter.
The organizers hand out donated prizes at the conference every year, and many couples who have won them have succeeded in becoming parents as a result, Berman said. But this time, she added, "we are having a banner year."
The door prize list includes:
•An IVF cycle from the Reproductive Medicine Center at the University of Minnesota.
•An egg donor discount from International Assisted Reproduction Center in Maple Grove, valued at $4,000.
