Reed Baby Dream Fund
Donation protected
Aloha! Thank you for visiting our page. We are Nathan and Amy Reed. Nathan serves in the U.S. Army and Amy works for a Non-Profit Federally Qualified Health Center on Oahu, Hawaii. We are seeking to raise funds that will allow us to continue receiving fertility treatments and fulfill our dream of being parents. Here is our story:
Our passionate whirlwind romance began on July 28, 2012 when we first laid eyes on each other. It truly was love at first sight. Exactly one week later on August 4, 2012, we were engaged and then just a few short months later we married on October 31, 2012 at a beautiful beach ceremony surrounded by family and friends. Our fairytale was real and we were madly and deeply head over heels in love with one another and couldn’t wait to begin our lives together as husband and wife and start a family.
We knew conceiving might be challenging since Amy was first diagnosed with having uterine fibroids in late 2011. Her first surgery to remove the fibroids took place in January of 2012. Having a history of fibroids and knowing the hindrance they can play in trying to conceive we made an appointment with the gynecologist on November 13, 2012 to make sure all was clear. Unfortunately we received disappointing news – new fibroids had grown and Amy had to have another surgery to remove them. At that time, we were also referred to a doctor that specialized in fertility. Over the course of many months, Amy received 2 additional hysteroscopic myomectomys, one taking place in February 2013 and the other in May 2013. We are happy to say that Amy has been fibroid free for 2 years!
After the long road of surgeries and mental struggles that take place in stressful times, our bond and love for one another remained strong. We continued to see numerous fertility specialists and faced many additional challenges along the way – long military wait-lists, financial roadblocks and more health obstacles.
As time passed and more and more tests were performed in attempts to figure out what was preventing us from getting pregnant, one of our doctors decided to run a specific blood test on Nathan. Nathan’s test came back as being a positive carrier for the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) gene. One side effect of being a CF gene carrier is that of infertility. We were heavy hearted to receive this news but relieved to finally have some answers as to what was delaying us from starting the family that we had now been dreaming about for over 2-years.
Now that our doctors knew exactly what we were up against they created a fertility plan for us that would ultimately involve us having to go through the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) process. The plan would include Nathan needing to have a procedure called Testicular Sperm Extraction (TESE). TESE involves an incision and snipping off of tissue from inside the testicle. This procedure is extremely invasive, painful and costly as insurance does not cover any of the expense. Nathan had his first TESE surgery on March 3, 2015 in attempts to recover enough sperm to be used for the Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). ICSI is the process in which the sperm are injected into each egg that is retrieved and hopefully results in embryos healthy enough to then be implanted into Amy’s uterus. Unfortunately only 8 sperm were recovered, not enough to freeze to be used for our upcoming IVF cycle. Nathan’s urologist was optimistic in believing that if he did the procedure again on the same day of Amy’s egg retrieval that we should be successful in getting enough sperm to be used for ICSI.
Our first IVF cycle began on March 29, 2015. The weeks leading up to the embryo transfer involved many medication injections that needed to be administered to Amy daily – one in the thigh (Lupron) and 2 in the belly (Follistim and Menopur). Nathan quickly became an injection pro! Amy’s egg retrieval took place on April 24, 2015 along with Nathan’s second TESE surgery. 5 eggs were retrieved with only 3 of them mature enough to perform ICSI. Nathan’s TESE went well and we had enough fresh sperm to use. Of the 3 eggs, only 2 made it to a healthy embryo cell level that could be used for transfer. Following the egg retrieval daily intramuscular progesterone oil injections were given to Amy in the buttocks along with estrogen supplements that needed to be taken intravaginally 3 times a day continuing until pregnancy is confirmed. On April 27, 2015 our 2 healthy 8-cell embryos were transferred into Amy’s uterus and the hopes for new life began. There is a 2-week wait that takes place after the ICSI and it was the longest 2-weeks of our lives. On May 8, 2015 we received the call that everyone going through this process dreads, the embryos did not attach and we were not pregnant. In that moment, our dreams were temporarily shattered. We cried a lot and mourned our loss. We weren’t sure what our plan was next but we knew we weren’t going to give up.
Then, in what seemed like divine intervention, on May 13, 2015 we received a phone call from one of our other fertility providers and it was our turn, we were the lucky ones at the top of the waitlist! We met with our doctor on May 18, 2015 and our new IVF cycle will begin in June 2015.
Our journey has been one of many obstacles and heartaches however we have never lost sight our dream to be parents. The major challenge that we continue to face is paying our mounting medical bills. Amy has medical insurance through her job which helped paid for a portion of our first IVF procedure however we still needed to pay nearly $10,000 out of pocket. Our second IVF cycle will be done with a military provider and sadly enough military insurance does not cover the expense of IVF. They assist in paying for medication but they do not cover the cost of lab fees nor TESE. Shockingly, we are looking at even more money out of pocket for our second cycle. We are humbly looking to raise $20,000 to assist in paying for our upcoming procedure and funds to help us get out of debt from our previous cycle.
We are a loving couple that does already have 2 wonderful fur-babies but we are looking to fulfill our dream of becoming parents to the non-fur variety also.
Thank you for taking the time to read our story. Any amount that you are able to contribute would be greatly appreciated. We look forward to updating you on our journey to parenthood.
Much Gratitude and Love,
Nathan and Amy Reed
Our passionate whirlwind romance began on July 28, 2012 when we first laid eyes on each other. It truly was love at first sight. Exactly one week later on August 4, 2012, we were engaged and then just a few short months later we married on October 31, 2012 at a beautiful beach ceremony surrounded by family and friends. Our fairytale was real and we were madly and deeply head over heels in love with one another and couldn’t wait to begin our lives together as husband and wife and start a family.
We knew conceiving might be challenging since Amy was first diagnosed with having uterine fibroids in late 2011. Her first surgery to remove the fibroids took place in January of 2012. Having a history of fibroids and knowing the hindrance they can play in trying to conceive we made an appointment with the gynecologist on November 13, 2012 to make sure all was clear. Unfortunately we received disappointing news – new fibroids had grown and Amy had to have another surgery to remove them. At that time, we were also referred to a doctor that specialized in fertility. Over the course of many months, Amy received 2 additional hysteroscopic myomectomys, one taking place in February 2013 and the other in May 2013. We are happy to say that Amy has been fibroid free for 2 years!
After the long road of surgeries and mental struggles that take place in stressful times, our bond and love for one another remained strong. We continued to see numerous fertility specialists and faced many additional challenges along the way – long military wait-lists, financial roadblocks and more health obstacles.
As time passed and more and more tests were performed in attempts to figure out what was preventing us from getting pregnant, one of our doctors decided to run a specific blood test on Nathan. Nathan’s test came back as being a positive carrier for the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) gene. One side effect of being a CF gene carrier is that of infertility. We were heavy hearted to receive this news but relieved to finally have some answers as to what was delaying us from starting the family that we had now been dreaming about for over 2-years.
Now that our doctors knew exactly what we were up against they created a fertility plan for us that would ultimately involve us having to go through the In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) process. The plan would include Nathan needing to have a procedure called Testicular Sperm Extraction (TESE). TESE involves an incision and snipping off of tissue from inside the testicle. This procedure is extremely invasive, painful and costly as insurance does not cover any of the expense. Nathan had his first TESE surgery on March 3, 2015 in attempts to recover enough sperm to be used for the Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI). ICSI is the process in which the sperm are injected into each egg that is retrieved and hopefully results in embryos healthy enough to then be implanted into Amy’s uterus. Unfortunately only 8 sperm were recovered, not enough to freeze to be used for our upcoming IVF cycle. Nathan’s urologist was optimistic in believing that if he did the procedure again on the same day of Amy’s egg retrieval that we should be successful in getting enough sperm to be used for ICSI.
Our first IVF cycle began on March 29, 2015. The weeks leading up to the embryo transfer involved many medication injections that needed to be administered to Amy daily – one in the thigh (Lupron) and 2 in the belly (Follistim and Menopur). Nathan quickly became an injection pro! Amy’s egg retrieval took place on April 24, 2015 along with Nathan’s second TESE surgery. 5 eggs were retrieved with only 3 of them mature enough to perform ICSI. Nathan’s TESE went well and we had enough fresh sperm to use. Of the 3 eggs, only 2 made it to a healthy embryo cell level that could be used for transfer. Following the egg retrieval daily intramuscular progesterone oil injections were given to Amy in the buttocks along with estrogen supplements that needed to be taken intravaginally 3 times a day continuing until pregnancy is confirmed. On April 27, 2015 our 2 healthy 8-cell embryos were transferred into Amy’s uterus and the hopes for new life began. There is a 2-week wait that takes place after the ICSI and it was the longest 2-weeks of our lives. On May 8, 2015 we received the call that everyone going through this process dreads, the embryos did not attach and we were not pregnant. In that moment, our dreams were temporarily shattered. We cried a lot and mourned our loss. We weren’t sure what our plan was next but we knew we weren’t going to give up.
Then, in what seemed like divine intervention, on May 13, 2015 we received a phone call from one of our other fertility providers and it was our turn, we were the lucky ones at the top of the waitlist! We met with our doctor on May 18, 2015 and our new IVF cycle will begin in June 2015.
Our journey has been one of many obstacles and heartaches however we have never lost sight our dream to be parents. The major challenge that we continue to face is paying our mounting medical bills. Amy has medical insurance through her job which helped paid for a portion of our first IVF procedure however we still needed to pay nearly $10,000 out of pocket. Our second IVF cycle will be done with a military provider and sadly enough military insurance does not cover the expense of IVF. They assist in paying for medication but they do not cover the cost of lab fees nor TESE. Shockingly, we are looking at even more money out of pocket for our second cycle. We are humbly looking to raise $20,000 to assist in paying for our upcoming procedure and funds to help us get out of debt from our previous cycle.
We are a loving couple that does already have 2 wonderful fur-babies but we are looking to fulfill our dream of becoming parents to the non-fur variety also.
Thank you for taking the time to read our story. Any amount that you are able to contribute would be greatly appreciated. We look forward to updating you on our journey to parenthood.
Much Gratitude and Love,
Nathan and Amy Reed
Organizer
Amy Nicole Reed
Organizer
Honolulu, HI
