We have a special post this week featuring real stories from couples who have gone on to parent after infertility. To hear more about these stories from these parents in person, join us for a FREE special discussion panel next week for National Infertility Awareness Week:
Parenting After Infertility: Stories of Hope
When: Thursday, April 26 | 6:30-8:30pm
Where: Framingham Library | 49 Lexington Street Framingham, MA
RSVP for FREE Online Here
From Loss to Hope: Beth & Ari’s Story
A few months after getting married in 2006, Ari and Beth had an unassisted pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage a few months later. After several months of additional attempts at achieving pregnancy, Beth’s obstetrician referred them to a reproductive endocrinologist.
During the initial meeting they were told that since they had previously achieved pregnancy, they could be helped relatively easily. Testing showed that both Beth and Ari had some issues that were contributing to their infertility. After being unsuccessful through four IVF cycles, it was determined that success would need to be achieved through alternative methods.
After much thought and research, they decided to try to build a family through egg donation. Although that process had its share of twists along the way, they were successful and now have a twenty month old son.
Finding Hope Through Surrogacy: Kiran and Matt’s Story
In 2004, after an uneventful pregnancy, Kiran and Matt welcomed their first child into their family. A few years later, when trying to have a second child, they started the battery of tests that many women who are having difficulty getting pregnant undergo. After a few months of testing, doctors discovered a sarcoma and Kiran was diagnosed with uterine cancer at the age of 34.
At first, they strongly considered adoption. However, once it became clear that it may not be the best option for them, they started to consider the alternatives. It was one doctor’s statement that set them down the path that would change their lives: “You know that most everything works, right? You just need to find somewhere to put it.” It was with that comment that led them to start the process of finding a gestational carrier.
A year later, an amazing gestational carrier helped bring their twin daughters into their lives.
They are thankful to every person they met along their journey who helped them fulfill their hopes of completing their family. Their hope is that if their story can give hope to just others who are at a similar crossroad, then their struggle was worth it.
Grateful and Humbled by Our Journey: NM’s Story
For some unknown reason, we couldn’t get pregnant and, unfortunately, we didn’t have any answers as to why. We were advised by friends, by colleagues, by relatives, by everyone to relax, to have some fun, to exercise, to enjoy our life without children, to travel, to do everything we ever dreamed of; however, our focus was on becoming parents, to have children, to have a positive pregnancy test.
What followed for us was a plan to start our family thwarted by insurance red tape, lots of emotionally filled questions and strong feelings, frenzied confusion, and accumulated frustration. We wanted to be parents; we understood the various choices. We listened. We learned. We surrounded ourselves with supportive and wonderful people also going through various stages of this process. My husband and I learned to understand and accept that he and I would proceed through treatments differently.
We learned to help each other, and this took some time for us to figure out. Hope and possibility were the only things we had, and we painstakingly held onto them throughout every test, every treatment, every meeting, ever blood test, every phone call.
Ultimately, our treatments consisted of 4 IUI’s and 7 IVF’s with the addition of ICSI and assisted hatching (11 total treatments, 3 pregnancies, 2 live births).
Our story is probably not so uncommon in the fertility realm. It was hard. It was absolutely life altering. It helped us find strength in ways we never knew. We are grateful and humbled by our journey.
We thank our panelists who have shared their very personal, unique stories full of pain, challenges and ultimately, resolution. Join us on Thursday, April 26th to hear more stories of hope from real parents who’ve been through infertility at our free Parent Panel Discussion.