Modern State of Fertility 2021 The New Normal: Timelines for Marriage & Kids

"We are now on our third wedding date for May 7, 2021. We will be moving forward no matter what. Since December, we have been casually trying to conceive. I do not care if I am pregnant at my wedding or if we were to get pregnant before being legally married. We have been together nearly nine years and are ready to start our lives and family together."

"We had a wedding planned in 2020 that was postponed. Shortly after, we had an honest discussion about when we were ready to have kids, which was previously discussed at a higher level. Now, even though our wedding date is up in the air, we have a date to start conceiving. A lot of that is due to Modern Fertility’s test, which jump-started our conversation."

"I wanted to be legally married before having kids so we did get legally married in a kind of small elopement in 2020. My partner and I are same-sex, so it's a lot safer legally to have children when married."

"My wife and I got married during the pandemic. As lesbians, we feel strongly about marriage protecting our relationship and our future children. The institution of marriage allows us access to each other in hospitals and other things. It also protects our future children if something were to happen to one of us. COVID made us feel even stronger about marriage."

"We're supposed to get married June 12, 2021. I'm nervous because of COVID but hopeful with the downward trend of cases and faster vaccination rate. My fiance and I have talked about moving our wedding but we don't want to push it because we don't want to push starting a family. We're a lesbian couple and know the process to get pregnant may be a little more difficult than conventional couples."

"With vaccines becoming widely available, we are moving full force with our wedding and encouraging our guests to get tested or vaccinated before the wedding."

"We were nervous about getting the COVID vaccine because we want to try to start a family in a few months and there are still so many unknowns about the vaccine — but we still decided to get the vaccine."

"After putting our lives on hold for nearly a year prior to COVID-19 due to a familial illness, we decided to go ahead and get married in as safe a fashion as possible. We have agreed, however, that we do not plan to even begin trying for children until after most people have been vaccinated."

"We got legally married on our original wedding date (August 2020) in a small ceremony with our immediate family but postponed the reception to June 2021. We are holding off on trying to have a child until after I am vaccinated — if it weren't for COVID we would have tried right after the wedding."

"Ultimately, the stress I was bottling up led to really wonderful conversations with my partner, a new degree of openness, less worry, and a decision to start trying before our rescheduled wedding celebration. If I’m six months pregnant as I walk down the aisle, so be it!"

"My relationship is absolutely stronger — we’ve had to support one another through unemployment, financial concerns, isolation, and working from home. We initially scaled down our wedding to just the party and family, and then had to push completely for the next year. We’re still excited and feel privileged to have the opportunity to have a party at all!"

"When it came to our wedding COVID-19 both ruined dreams and created beautiful memories. We postponed twice, then ended up having a 12-person wedding in August 2020. Making the decision not to have his mom present brought great tension, grief, and sorrow to our journey — but it also brought us closer together, solidifying we are each other's MVP. We are excited to celebrate in October 2021."

"COVID-19 started out as the scariest challenge my husband and I had to face in our relationship. I lost my job and we didn’t see people for many months. However, during the whole process of wedding planning and dealing with COVID-19, we became closer than ever. Our communication skills improved, we found ways to keep our relationship fresh when all we could do was stay at home with each other."