3rd Times A Charm ♡ Ashley & Jeriko's IVF Fund
Donation protected
Hi! My name is Heather and I'm asking for help for my sister inlaw Ashley. She fills so many shoes as a wife, daughter, sister, nurse, step mom, friend, & so many more. She is always there for anyone that calls. She is dedicated to her family & friends. Shes helped me through my miscarriages & many sleepless nights when my boys were sick. She has always been there for my husband through thick & thin. She is constantly working hard at being a pediatric LVN. She is also currently getting her RN BSN & her goal besides wanting to have a baby is to work in the NICU.
In 2009 Ashley had an ectopic pregnancy that required emergency surgery where she lost a lot of blood and came close to death. After surgery, her right fallopian tube was completely removed and the internal blood created scar tissue within her left fallopian tube (and if you didn't know, you need at least one fallopian tube to get pregnant). After going through every test imaginable it was discovered that her remaining fallopian tube was 100% closed off due to scarring. Her chances of natural conception were no longer an option. Their only option to conceive is with In-vitro Fertilization aka IVF. It was a very long and difficult road to process, even more so with the ridiculous cost, because their health insurance covers ZERO percent! Apparently in California, having a family is an "elective procedure" (even though it was a medical necessity to ya know, save her life and surgically remove her fallopian tube!) The first few Fertility clinics they went to were astronomical in price, tears of frustration followed. There was no way they could afford close to $40K for ONE attempt when it is not even guaranteed. They spent 4 months researching Doctors, visited 5 clinics, and they finally found the one, the doctor, the lab, and a cost they could afford!
After a month of hormones through painful injections and pills, mood swings, Dr. appts, tests, crying, laughing, the torment of physical and emotional pain that my sisters’ body and mind were going through. They retrieved 16 mature eggs. Her eggs were fertilized through ICSI where they take the best sperm cell and inject it into the egg cell to create an embryo. Out of the 16 fertilized embryos, 14 made it to the Blastocyst stage. This means they had 14 chances to become parents together. Yay! They transferred 2 embryos with each IVF round, more embryos transferred can potentially increase the odds. They transferred the first 2 embryos in November 2018, which turned out to be a big fat negative a few days before Christmas. After a few months of physically and emotionally healing after that, they had just enough money left over to try again since they had 12 embryos cryopreserved. They gave it another go, this time it was easier to deal with and process because they already knew what to expect. So, they transferred another 2 embryos in March 2019. And it worked! It freaking WORKED! We were all ecstatic to hear the news. They were actually pregnant! The first time in my sister’s life she knew what it was like to be pregnant, she didn't feel any different, but the lab said she was! And her nausea proved it! She smiled every time she felt like she was going to throw-up.
It was time for their first ultrasound, they were supposed to be able to view the heartbeat for the first time and to see if it was one baby or twins (they were rooting for twins!) It turned out it was a singleton! My sister immediately fell in love with the image on the screen. But then the Dr. said he didn't see a heartbeat. My sister and her husband were devastated. It ended in miscarriage and they had to have a D&C and get chromosomal testing done on the tissues to figure out what happened. Come to find out the male embryo had multiple duplications of Chromosome #2 that were not viable with life. And that specific abnormality happens in 1% of the ENTIRE population! The entire population! The Doctor told them the odds of this happening again were only 1%.
So, here is where I'm asking for help; since their last failed IVF round, they have been slammed by life. A totaled car, medical bills and an incredible step daughter in college. This GoFundMe is to help my sister and her husband raise some money to achieve their dreams of growing their family. Most of all for Ashley to finally become pregnant and be a mommy. Your donations would be going to a beautiful cause, and at least sharing our story will help spread awareness to the fact that 1 in 8 couples suffer from infertility and know that they are not alone.
♡Thank you so much for your time, it means more than you know!
In 2009 Ashley had an ectopic pregnancy that required emergency surgery where she lost a lot of blood and came close to death. After surgery, her right fallopian tube was completely removed and the internal blood created scar tissue within her left fallopian tube (and if you didn't know, you need at least one fallopian tube to get pregnant). After going through every test imaginable it was discovered that her remaining fallopian tube was 100% closed off due to scarring. Her chances of natural conception were no longer an option. Their only option to conceive is with In-vitro Fertilization aka IVF. It was a very long and difficult road to process, even more so with the ridiculous cost, because their health insurance covers ZERO percent! Apparently in California, having a family is an "elective procedure" (even though it was a medical necessity to ya know, save her life and surgically remove her fallopian tube!) The first few Fertility clinics they went to were astronomical in price, tears of frustration followed. There was no way they could afford close to $40K for ONE attempt when it is not even guaranteed. They spent 4 months researching Doctors, visited 5 clinics, and they finally found the one, the doctor, the lab, and a cost they could afford!
After a month of hormones through painful injections and pills, mood swings, Dr. appts, tests, crying, laughing, the torment of physical and emotional pain that my sisters’ body and mind were going through. They retrieved 16 mature eggs. Her eggs were fertilized through ICSI where they take the best sperm cell and inject it into the egg cell to create an embryo. Out of the 16 fertilized embryos, 14 made it to the Blastocyst stage. This means they had 14 chances to become parents together. Yay! They transferred 2 embryos with each IVF round, more embryos transferred can potentially increase the odds. They transferred the first 2 embryos in November 2018, which turned out to be a big fat negative a few days before Christmas. After a few months of physically and emotionally healing after that, they had just enough money left over to try again since they had 12 embryos cryopreserved. They gave it another go, this time it was easier to deal with and process because they already knew what to expect. So, they transferred another 2 embryos in March 2019. And it worked! It freaking WORKED! We were all ecstatic to hear the news. They were actually pregnant! The first time in my sister’s life she knew what it was like to be pregnant, she didn't feel any different, but the lab said she was! And her nausea proved it! She smiled every time she felt like she was going to throw-up.
It was time for their first ultrasound, they were supposed to be able to view the heartbeat for the first time and to see if it was one baby or twins (they were rooting for twins!) It turned out it was a singleton! My sister immediately fell in love with the image on the screen. But then the Dr. said he didn't see a heartbeat. My sister and her husband were devastated. It ended in miscarriage and they had to have a D&C and get chromosomal testing done on the tissues to figure out what happened. Come to find out the male embryo had multiple duplications of Chromosome #2 that were not viable with life. And that specific abnormality happens in 1% of the ENTIRE population! The entire population! The Doctor told them the odds of this happening again were only 1%.
So, here is where I'm asking for help; since their last failed IVF round, they have been slammed by life. A totaled car, medical bills and an incredible step daughter in college. This GoFundMe is to help my sister and her husband raise some money to achieve their dreams of growing their family. Most of all for Ashley to finally become pregnant and be a mommy. Your donations would be going to a beautiful cause, and at least sharing our story will help spread awareness to the fact that 1 in 8 couples suffer from infertility and know that they are not alone.
♡Thank you so much for your time, it means more than you know!
Organizer and beneficiary
Heather Foster
Organizer
Riverside, CA
Ashley Carbonell
Beneficiary
