Sugar Ray lead singer Mark McGrath and his fiancee Carin Kingsland delivered beautiful boy and girl twins — Lydon Edward and Hartley Grace — in April, but conceiving them wasn’t easy.

As PEOPLE‘s latest Celebrity Babies blogger, Mark opens up about issues he and his fiancee had conceiving their babies.

At 10, Mark had an injury to one of his testicles when he rolled over on it in his sleep and cut off the blood flow. Carin, at 11, had one of her ovaries removed, and has had issues since with cysts, so it wasn’t a huge shock to the couple when they had trouble conceiving.

In his second blog entry, he talks about when he and Carin decided it was time to try some different options.

No man ever wants to hear about exploring a medical procedure, and I am no exception to that rule! Images of poking and prodding, scary conditions and afflictions, and bank account bloodletting (some procedures just aren’t covered by insurance these days) now filled the shallow recesses of my mind.

First, Carin and I decided to try IUI (intra-uterine insemination). This basically involves me doing my thing at a doctor’s office into a Petri dish with the help of well-used Playboy magazines from the ‘70s. Embarrassing and shameful, a little bit of me died that day! Afterwards, the sample is collected and washed, strategically placed, and then you hope for the best.

The first go at IUI didn’t work. We decided to try again. While on tour, we got the results of the second IUI back: Carin was not pregnant.

In my heart of hearts, I have to say I wasn’t surprised. She was 36 with one ovary and all of her complications, and I was a 41-year-old washed-up rocker… maybe children just weren’t in our future.

Mark goes on to say that IVF (in virto fertilization) was their miracle, though he sets up the cliffhanger for his next blog.

Obviously, we know what happened and are so happy Mark & Carin were able to bring Lydon and Hartley into the world.

It’s great that stars like Mark are willing to open up about their issues, since so many people idolize musicians/actors/etc. Hopefully his stories will encourage the normal folk to keep on truckin’ when it comes to the baby makin’.

You can keep up with Mark and Carin’s adventure, which will eventually get to the introduction of Lydon and Hartley, here.