Nicole and Spenser's IVF Journey
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Hello and welcome to our GoFundMe page for IVF!
My name is Nicole and my husband's name is Spenser. We met when I moved to Spenser's hometown in the 5th grade. We were friends all through high school, but didn't start dating until University. Fast forward 10 years and Spenser popped the question!
It was shortly after we got engaged that we started trying to get pregnant. Both of us had always dreamed of having kids and as we had been together for so long, we decided to start right away.
A little under a year into trying to get pregnant with no success, we started to do infertility investigations with a gynecologist. After months of investigations and testings, we discovered that it was not a female issue causing our infertility. At this point we were referred to the fertility clinic in Saskatoon for further investigations with Spenser.
After months of waiting, and now 2 years into our fertility journey, we had our first appointment with the fertility clinic. Everybody there was amazing and it only took a few tests to figure out what was causing our infertility, but that answer gave us the shock of our lives. Turns out Spenser has Cystic Fibrosis. This was a totally unexpected diagnosis as neither Spenser nor anyone in his family had ever shown any signs of, or been diagnosed with CF.
As I'm sure many of you could understand, this diagnosis caused us a lot of stress, sadness and confusion. We found out that men who have Cystic Fibrosis almost always have a condition called congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD). Basically the tube that lets the little swimmers out of the body never developed. We once saw it referred to as a divine vasectomy. This diagnosis meant that we would never be able to get pregnant naturally, and if we wanted to have children of our own we would have to pay for the most expensive versions of IVF called ICSI.
With ICSI the fertility specialists take one sperm and insert it into one egg. This comes at an additional cost and a higher chance of chromosomal abnormalities. With CBAVD there are not many ways that the sperm can be extracted, and no matter which way they do it, the procedure needs to be done by a specialist at an additional cost.
My blood was sent away for genetic testing for CF immediately after this diagnosis. Shortly after my blood work was sent away we found out that my many gallbladder attacks, which I had been dealing with for months, meant that we could not start IVF until it was removed and my blood work came back.
During the months we waited for my genetic results and surgery dates we got our care transferred to a fertility clinic in Vancouver. This clinic would be able to do genetic testing on our embryos if my blood work came back with markers for CF. We were also told that there is around a 25-30% chance of us having a chromosomal abnormality due to our age (which is in the early 30's) and due to using the ICSI method. These chromosomal abnormalities mean that we have a lower IVF success rate, higher chance of miscarriage, and/or the 1 in 4 possibility of having a child with a chromosomal disease, which would greatly impact their quality of life.
In the last month my blood work has thankfully came back with no markers for CF, and I have had my gallbladder removed with surgery. We are now able to officially start the IVF portion of our fertility journey! We decided to stay at the clinic in Vancouver as we are unable to test our embryos for chromosomal abnormalities in Saskatoon.
In total for all of the various procedures, test and medication that will be part of our IVF journey, we are looking at having to pay around $18,000 plus travel expenses. That is a staggering number for a couple that just had their second wedding anniversary. We have also had to consider future costs that will likely arise with Spenser's diagnosis of CF.
We both work very hard and we are determined to do all that we can to try and have a child. We are very fortunate to have family that will help us, as well as a small amount of savings we started putting aside when we first realized that IVF ICSI was our only option. This has helped us to pay for our immediate IVF expenses, but there is still lots to go in the next couple of months. At the suggestion of several of our friends, we have decided to set up a gofundme page, in the hopes of offsetting some of these upcoming cost. We understand that not everyone will be able to help us financially, but we will also gladly take any stories or encouragements that people are willing to share!
We want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read our story and our eternal gratitude to anyone who is able to help us no matter how big or small!
Please feel free to share our story!
My name is Nicole and my husband's name is Spenser. We met when I moved to Spenser's hometown in the 5th grade. We were friends all through high school, but didn't start dating until University. Fast forward 10 years and Spenser popped the question!
It was shortly after we got engaged that we started trying to get pregnant. Both of us had always dreamed of having kids and as we had been together for so long, we decided to start right away.
A little under a year into trying to get pregnant with no success, we started to do infertility investigations with a gynecologist. After months of investigations and testings, we discovered that it was not a female issue causing our infertility. At this point we were referred to the fertility clinic in Saskatoon for further investigations with Spenser.
After months of waiting, and now 2 years into our fertility journey, we had our first appointment with the fertility clinic. Everybody there was amazing and it only took a few tests to figure out what was causing our infertility, but that answer gave us the shock of our lives. Turns out Spenser has Cystic Fibrosis. This was a totally unexpected diagnosis as neither Spenser nor anyone in his family had ever shown any signs of, or been diagnosed with CF.
As I'm sure many of you could understand, this diagnosis caused us a lot of stress, sadness and confusion. We found out that men who have Cystic Fibrosis almost always have a condition called congenital bilateral absence of the vas deferens (CBAVD). Basically the tube that lets the little swimmers out of the body never developed. We once saw it referred to as a divine vasectomy. This diagnosis meant that we would never be able to get pregnant naturally, and if we wanted to have children of our own we would have to pay for the most expensive versions of IVF called ICSI.
With ICSI the fertility specialists take one sperm and insert it into one egg. This comes at an additional cost and a higher chance of chromosomal abnormalities. With CBAVD there are not many ways that the sperm can be extracted, and no matter which way they do it, the procedure needs to be done by a specialist at an additional cost.
My blood was sent away for genetic testing for CF immediately after this diagnosis. Shortly after my blood work was sent away we found out that my many gallbladder attacks, which I had been dealing with for months, meant that we could not start IVF until it was removed and my blood work came back.
During the months we waited for my genetic results and surgery dates we got our care transferred to a fertility clinic in Vancouver. This clinic would be able to do genetic testing on our embryos if my blood work came back with markers for CF. We were also told that there is around a 25-30% chance of us having a chromosomal abnormality due to our age (which is in the early 30's) and due to using the ICSI method. These chromosomal abnormalities mean that we have a lower IVF success rate, higher chance of miscarriage, and/or the 1 in 4 possibility of having a child with a chromosomal disease, which would greatly impact their quality of life.
In the last month my blood work has thankfully came back with no markers for CF, and I have had my gallbladder removed with surgery. We are now able to officially start the IVF portion of our fertility journey! We decided to stay at the clinic in Vancouver as we are unable to test our embryos for chromosomal abnormalities in Saskatoon.
In total for all of the various procedures, test and medication that will be part of our IVF journey, we are looking at having to pay around $18,000 plus travel expenses. That is a staggering number for a couple that just had their second wedding anniversary. We have also had to consider future costs that will likely arise with Spenser's diagnosis of CF.
We both work very hard and we are determined to do all that we can to try and have a child. We are very fortunate to have family that will help us, as well as a small amount of savings we started putting aside when we first realized that IVF ICSI was our only option. This has helped us to pay for our immediate IVF expenses, but there is still lots to go in the next couple of months. At the suggestion of several of our friends, we have decided to set up a gofundme page, in the hopes of offsetting some of these upcoming cost. We understand that not everyone will be able to help us financially, but we will also gladly take any stories or encouragements that people are willing to share!
We want to thank everyone who has taken the time to read our story and our eternal gratitude to anyone who is able to help us no matter how big or small!
Please feel free to share our story!
Co-organizers (2)
Nicole Miller
Organizer
Lumsden, SK
Spenser Miller
Co-organizer