IVF - Our Journey to Parenthood

Many of our close friends and family are aware of the heartache that we have been through the past few years on our journey to becoming parents, but now we would like to share our story with everyone as we are about to start our third IVF cycle.  Our story actually begins when Brandon was 14 years old and was diagnosed with stage four testicular cancer. Thankfully before Brandon had chemo and surgery he was able to freeze sperm that would be used for IVF in the future.  Because of his cancer we always knew that the only way we would have children of our own was through IVF. 

Brandon is in the United States Army and after we were married on May 2, 2009 we immediately were assigned to move to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.  In 2010 we decided that we were ready to start our first IVF cycle as Brandon was deploying to Iraq for a year long deployment.  We set everything up so that when Brandon came home for his two week R&R break we would have the IVF procedure done.  To make a long story short we found out we were pregnant, but a few days before I was scheduled to have our first ultrasound I was having horrible pains and knew something was wrong.  I went right to the doctor where I found out I had an ectopic pregnancy and needed emergency surgery as my fallopian tube had ruptured.  After surgery we decided we would take some time off and try to save our money for a second IVF in a year or so. 

In August 2012 we were ready for our second IVF.  Everything went great during the entire process and after the transfer we were very anxious and hopeful that we would be pregnant.  We found out we were pregnant and were so excited! Everything was going great with the pregnancy and we were able to hear the heartbeat and see an ultrasound at eight weeks.  Around nine weeks I started having some weird pains and thought I should get checked out by a doctor.  I was about 10 weeks pregnant and the doctor could not find a heartbeat.  We were heart broken.  Again, we decided we needed time to heal, but would try IVF again in the future. 

We are now getting ready to start our third IVF cycle and we are so excited! No matter what the outcome may be we will never lose hope of becoming parents.  As you may know, IVF is very expensive and unfortunately our health insurance does not cover any IVF expenses.  We have created this page to share our story with all of our friends and family who have stood by us throughout our journey.  We thank you for your continuous prayers and support.  Any prayers or donations would be greatly appreciated as we start our third IVF cycle and continue with our journey to parenthood!

Thank you for reading our story!
Hilary & Brandon