A Lot of Love + A Little Science = Baby Callen
Donation protected
Hey there y’all! Our names are Kevin and Hannah Callen! We are in our early 30s and live in a suburb in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. We are from Louisiana - Kevin is from the New Orleans area and I am from the Lafayette area. We moved to Texas in 2015 when Kevin got a new job opportunity. I am very proud of all he has accomplished over the years! He is a registered nurse that started off in post-op at Lafayette General Medical Center, then led him to the Oncology wing. He soon after was offered a job at The Cancer Center of Acadiana in Lafayette where he excelled in his nursing career. A few years later he was sought out by a hospital in Dallas for cancer research and bone marrow transplant, which is what brought us here to Texas!
Our story first began when we met at Tulane University Hospital in New Orleans in 2005. Early that year I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, while at the same time Kevin was also fighting cancer, his second time around of Leukemia (ALL to be exact). When we met it was due to the fact that we were assigned adjoining hospital rooms. We were friends through chemo and radiation, through sunburns and laughter, through diagnosis and remission. Later that same year a hurricane hit New Orleans (Hurricane Katrina) which brought Kevin, who was about to have a bone marrow transplant, to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. There he received bone marrow from his brother that saved his life!
Fast forward another year, we would see each other again for the first time since being treated together at Tulane. We both happened to be attending a summer camp for children with cancer. There we bonded all over again. Somewhere between campfires and water sports something began to change in just one week. We said goodbye at the end of the week hoping we would see each other again soon. As luck would have it, I forgot a suitcase behind, so Kevin offered to take it back to me. We talked on the phone every night the following week in our spare time. The next weekend he drove about 3 hours down from New Orleans to see me and bring my suitcase. And as you would say the rest is history! I couldn’t believe how strong and fast I fell for this man! Another year of driving to see each other on weekends and we finally decided to move in together. Right around the same time he proposed and of course I said yes. About 5 years later we were married in October of 2011.
Over the years, we longed for something more. We didn’t realize exactly what that was until last year. We decided to take a dive into our first steps of parenting. At the time we knew we would never be able to have biological children together, because due to full body radiation Kevin was infertile. It was something we found out a few years earlier when the longing to have children began. So last year we made a last minute decision to host a foreign exchange student. After reading profiles we chose a sweet 16 year old girl from the Republic of Georgia. She was full of life and brought happiness into our lives that we didn't even know we were missing! She spent 10 months in our home as our daughter. We cannot even begin to explain the emptiness we felt when the school year was over and it was time for her to go home. We decided then, after realizing what a special gift it is to be a parent that somehow, some way we were destined to be parents to at least one more child in this lifetime.
That led us to where we are today. After lots of soul searching, prayers, and researching we decided to reach out to a fertility clinic about 2 months ago to see what our options were. We went into this assuming we would be using donor sperm and attempting a procedure called Intrauterine Insemination (IUI). An IUI is a fertility treatment that involves placing sperm inside a woman's uterus to facilitate fertilization. The goal of IUI is to increase the number of sperm that reach the Fallopian tubes and subsequently increase the chance of fertilization. The average cost of this procedure and the sperm we would need is about $3,000-$4000. So we proceeded with the tests to assure I was fertile and able to carry a baby. I began the process of having my blood drawn weekly at at some point daily. I also had multiple ultrasounds and sonograms. After a few weeks we received some disturbing news from the doctor about my genetic test results. I was diagnosed as being a carrier and having a pre-mutation to a disease called Fragile X Syndrome. Upon first hearing that I had no idea what it was or what it meant. After meeting with a genetic counselor we learned that Fragile X Syndrome is a genetic condition that causes a range of developmental problems including learning disabilities, cognitive impairment, and mild to severe mental retardation. We learned that what it meant for us is that any child conceived by my eggs would have a 50/50 chance of contracting the full mutation of the disease. The doctors then said that now my only option would be to have a procedure called in-vitro fertilization (IVF) which is a process of fertilization where an egg is combined with sperm outside the body, in vitro. The process involves monitoring and stimulating a woman's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm fertilize them in a liquid in a laboratory. Then each embryo that would be created from my eggs and donor sperm would need to be genetically tested, and even then there was a chance all embryos created could have the disease. The cost we were quoted for the procedure and genetic testing of the embryos was $30,000. Right then and there my hopes and dreams of every having a child were destroyed, as we knew there was no way we could come up with that kind of money. I was distraught with guilt over the fact that I could not have a healthy baby without a major risk. We knew there was no way we could create embryos and risk having them destroyed. It was something we could not live with.
Next, we began doing more research. I learned that Fragile X Syndrome was rare, but there were other women in my position. I joined a Facebook group for other women with the same condition as I was in. That was when an option that I had never even imagined was introduced to me; create an embryo with donor eggs and donor sperm. I learned there are also embryos donated by other families that went through similar situations available for adoption/purchase. I began searching for donor embryo programs. Unfortunately there are not many clinics in the United States that offer this service. Ones I came across either were quite expensive at around $20,000 (not including expensive medications I would need) or had a waiting list for years. The same Facebook group I had joined after the genetic diagnosis also brought me to another Facebook group that consisted of people traveling overseas for fertility treatment at a much lower cost that what it is in the United States.
After much research and consideration, Kevin and I were able to come up with a plan of action. We learned that Europe has very high success rates and it is much more affordable than the United States. We decided to look in Georgia, where the daughter we gained through hosting a foreign exchange student lives. There I would have family to stay with and support us through this next journey we would be embarking on. We have found a few clinics that we are weighing options between, Chachava Clinic of Georgia being at the top of our list. We would be receiving donor eggs and donor sperm through IVF, then an Embryo Transfer. Some clinics offered 1 attempt and you hope it takes, while others offered a safety net of 2-3 attempts of the Embryo Transfer (ET). The cost between the 3 clinics we are deciding between are from $9,500 - $11,000 not including the medications I would need to prepare my uterus and airfare. The cheaper of the clinics being the one that does not offer the extra attempts. The total cost of the medications here in the US is anywhere from $4954-$7954. The cheapest flight to Tbilisi, Georgia around the dates we are looking to travel there before my tests have to be repeated all over again (October) is $1374 round-trip with 1 stop and a total of 25 hours and 50 minutes of travel time each way. With learning these costs we are doing everything we can to come up with the money to make our dream come true. Kevin is looking into a second job in nursing and I am preparing to become certified as an agent with Farmers Insurance as a second job. I will be able to offer quotes on auto, home, and life insurance policies with Farmers. We, ourselves have enjoyed our experience with Farmers, hence the reason I went that route. There are many ways you can help us! If you would like to have me see if I can save you money on your insurance in Texas, please let me know and I will try my best! We also have a small woodworking business, called Kevin Seven Eleven Woodworking (or click here to find us on Facebook), that we will be trying to pick up business for extra money. With anything you purchase all proceeds will go towards our fertility fund. We took a hard look at all of our monthly bills and were about to switch cell phone and internet providers to get by with less and save more money. Even with additional jobs, all of our savings, and bill changes we are still very short on what we need to make this happen. Whatever we cannot come up with we plan to take out a loan for.
We are hoping that we can fund raise to help offset the costs that we cannot afford. We know that we do not have much time to reach our goal of $12,000 so we are hoping to raise whatever we can to help! No matter how large or small, anything will help us towards our goal! We will always be transparent and 100% honest about where we are in the process and what it is costing us. Not a single penny of donations will go toward bills, mortgage, or anything else. It will only be put toward the clinic cost for the procedure, fertility medications, and flight to Georgia. In order to cut down costs as much as possible, I will be flying to Georgia by myself, while Kevin stays home to work and take care of our dog children, Nessie and Zeke. I will also be staying in Georgia with Lana and her family for the duration until we find out if the transfer was successful. After the Embryo Transfer, there is a 2 week wait before determining if it resulted in a pregnancy. If for some reason it did not, I would be there to do the “second attempt” transfer on my next cycle without having to spend more costs on airfare.
All money from fundraising will go into a separate bank account that solely houses our fertility fund. It will not be touched for any reason other than fertility expenses. We also want everyone to know that if our page happens to receive more money than is needed, we would donate the remaining to other deserving couples going through the same situation as our way of giving back!
Here is a list of the costs associated with the process:
IVF w/ donor eggs & sperm - $10,000
Round-trip Airfare to Tbilisi, Georgia - $1374
Medications (these costs are US prices as I will have to prepare my body with them here before going to Tbilisi):
Estradiol - $110
Progesterone (3-5 doses @ $1500/dose) - $4500-$7500
Medrol - $76
Lovenox - $268
TOTAL - $16,328 - $19,328 (cost difference depending on how much Progesterone I will need)
Here is a breakdown of what is included in the IVF w/ donor eggs & sperm package from the clinic:
-Egg donor selection w/ pictures (10-11 eggs from donor)
-Sperm donor selection
-Medical consultations and examinations
-IVF/ICSI
-Cultivation to Blastocyst Stage (7-8 embryos)
-Embryo Transfer (ET)
-Remaining Embryo Cryopreservation and storage for 1 year
-Second Embryo Transfer if the first result is negative
-Accommodation at the hospital’s Hotel for the duration of the transfer (4-5 days)
-Airport Transfer
-All taxes and fees included
We have nothing but gratitude and gratefulness for anyone who feels they are able to donate during this time. We would also appreciate any help in sharing our story to get the word out to more people. We also ask for prayers and happy thoughts as we embark on this journey to bring home our dream bundle of joy! We are so thankful to have an amazing support team of family and friends here with us on this journey. We will post updates as they come about.
“For this child I have prayed and the Lord has granted the desires of my heart.” - 1 Samuel 1:27
Our story first began when we met at Tulane University Hospital in New Orleans in 2005. Early that year I was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, while at the same time Kevin was also fighting cancer, his second time around of Leukemia (ALL to be exact). When we met it was due to the fact that we were assigned adjoining hospital rooms. We were friends through chemo and radiation, through sunburns and laughter, through diagnosis and remission. Later that same year a hurricane hit New Orleans (Hurricane Katrina) which brought Kevin, who was about to have a bone marrow transplant, to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. There he received bone marrow from his brother that saved his life!
Fast forward another year, we would see each other again for the first time since being treated together at Tulane. We both happened to be attending a summer camp for children with cancer. There we bonded all over again. Somewhere between campfires and water sports something began to change in just one week. We said goodbye at the end of the week hoping we would see each other again soon. As luck would have it, I forgot a suitcase behind, so Kevin offered to take it back to me. We talked on the phone every night the following week in our spare time. The next weekend he drove about 3 hours down from New Orleans to see me and bring my suitcase. And as you would say the rest is history! I couldn’t believe how strong and fast I fell for this man! Another year of driving to see each other on weekends and we finally decided to move in together. Right around the same time he proposed and of course I said yes. About 5 years later we were married in October of 2011.
Over the years, we longed for something more. We didn’t realize exactly what that was until last year. We decided to take a dive into our first steps of parenting. At the time we knew we would never be able to have biological children together, because due to full body radiation Kevin was infertile. It was something we found out a few years earlier when the longing to have children began. So last year we made a last minute decision to host a foreign exchange student. After reading profiles we chose a sweet 16 year old girl from the Republic of Georgia. She was full of life and brought happiness into our lives that we didn't even know we were missing! She spent 10 months in our home as our daughter. We cannot even begin to explain the emptiness we felt when the school year was over and it was time for her to go home. We decided then, after realizing what a special gift it is to be a parent that somehow, some way we were destined to be parents to at least one more child in this lifetime.
That led us to where we are today. After lots of soul searching, prayers, and researching we decided to reach out to a fertility clinic about 2 months ago to see what our options were. We went into this assuming we would be using donor sperm and attempting a procedure called Intrauterine Insemination (IUI). An IUI is a fertility treatment that involves placing sperm inside a woman's uterus to facilitate fertilization. The goal of IUI is to increase the number of sperm that reach the Fallopian tubes and subsequently increase the chance of fertilization. The average cost of this procedure and the sperm we would need is about $3,000-$4000. So we proceeded with the tests to assure I was fertile and able to carry a baby. I began the process of having my blood drawn weekly at at some point daily. I also had multiple ultrasounds and sonograms. After a few weeks we received some disturbing news from the doctor about my genetic test results. I was diagnosed as being a carrier and having a pre-mutation to a disease called Fragile X Syndrome. Upon first hearing that I had no idea what it was or what it meant. After meeting with a genetic counselor we learned that Fragile X Syndrome is a genetic condition that causes a range of developmental problems including learning disabilities, cognitive impairment, and mild to severe mental retardation. We learned that what it meant for us is that any child conceived by my eggs would have a 50/50 chance of contracting the full mutation of the disease. The doctors then said that now my only option would be to have a procedure called in-vitro fertilization (IVF) which is a process of fertilization where an egg is combined with sperm outside the body, in vitro. The process involves monitoring and stimulating a woman's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova from the woman's ovaries and letting sperm fertilize them in a liquid in a laboratory. Then each embryo that would be created from my eggs and donor sperm would need to be genetically tested, and even then there was a chance all embryos created could have the disease. The cost we were quoted for the procedure and genetic testing of the embryos was $30,000. Right then and there my hopes and dreams of every having a child were destroyed, as we knew there was no way we could come up with that kind of money. I was distraught with guilt over the fact that I could not have a healthy baby without a major risk. We knew there was no way we could create embryos and risk having them destroyed. It was something we could not live with.
Next, we began doing more research. I learned that Fragile X Syndrome was rare, but there were other women in my position. I joined a Facebook group for other women with the same condition as I was in. That was when an option that I had never even imagined was introduced to me; create an embryo with donor eggs and donor sperm. I learned there are also embryos donated by other families that went through similar situations available for adoption/purchase. I began searching for donor embryo programs. Unfortunately there are not many clinics in the United States that offer this service. Ones I came across either were quite expensive at around $20,000 (not including expensive medications I would need) or had a waiting list for years. The same Facebook group I had joined after the genetic diagnosis also brought me to another Facebook group that consisted of people traveling overseas for fertility treatment at a much lower cost that what it is in the United States.
After much research and consideration, Kevin and I were able to come up with a plan of action. We learned that Europe has very high success rates and it is much more affordable than the United States. We decided to look in Georgia, where the daughter we gained through hosting a foreign exchange student lives. There I would have family to stay with and support us through this next journey we would be embarking on. We have found a few clinics that we are weighing options between, Chachava Clinic of Georgia being at the top of our list. We would be receiving donor eggs and donor sperm through IVF, then an Embryo Transfer. Some clinics offered 1 attempt and you hope it takes, while others offered a safety net of 2-3 attempts of the Embryo Transfer (ET). The cost between the 3 clinics we are deciding between are from $9,500 - $11,000 not including the medications I would need to prepare my uterus and airfare. The cheaper of the clinics being the one that does not offer the extra attempts. The total cost of the medications here in the US is anywhere from $4954-$7954. The cheapest flight to Tbilisi, Georgia around the dates we are looking to travel there before my tests have to be repeated all over again (October) is $1374 round-trip with 1 stop and a total of 25 hours and 50 minutes of travel time each way. With learning these costs we are doing everything we can to come up with the money to make our dream come true. Kevin is looking into a second job in nursing and I am preparing to become certified as an agent with Farmers Insurance as a second job. I will be able to offer quotes on auto, home, and life insurance policies with Farmers. We, ourselves have enjoyed our experience with Farmers, hence the reason I went that route. There are many ways you can help us! If you would like to have me see if I can save you money on your insurance in Texas, please let me know and I will try my best! We also have a small woodworking business, called Kevin Seven Eleven Woodworking (or click here to find us on Facebook), that we will be trying to pick up business for extra money. With anything you purchase all proceeds will go towards our fertility fund. We took a hard look at all of our monthly bills and were about to switch cell phone and internet providers to get by with less and save more money. Even with additional jobs, all of our savings, and bill changes we are still very short on what we need to make this happen. Whatever we cannot come up with we plan to take out a loan for.
We are hoping that we can fund raise to help offset the costs that we cannot afford. We know that we do not have much time to reach our goal of $12,000 so we are hoping to raise whatever we can to help! No matter how large or small, anything will help us towards our goal! We will always be transparent and 100% honest about where we are in the process and what it is costing us. Not a single penny of donations will go toward bills, mortgage, or anything else. It will only be put toward the clinic cost for the procedure, fertility medications, and flight to Georgia. In order to cut down costs as much as possible, I will be flying to Georgia by myself, while Kevin stays home to work and take care of our dog children, Nessie and Zeke. I will also be staying in Georgia with Lana and her family for the duration until we find out if the transfer was successful. After the Embryo Transfer, there is a 2 week wait before determining if it resulted in a pregnancy. If for some reason it did not, I would be there to do the “second attempt” transfer on my next cycle without having to spend more costs on airfare.
All money from fundraising will go into a separate bank account that solely houses our fertility fund. It will not be touched for any reason other than fertility expenses. We also want everyone to know that if our page happens to receive more money than is needed, we would donate the remaining to other deserving couples going through the same situation as our way of giving back!
Here is a list of the costs associated with the process:
IVF w/ donor eggs & sperm - $10,000
Round-trip Airfare to Tbilisi, Georgia - $1374
Medications (these costs are US prices as I will have to prepare my body with them here before going to Tbilisi):
Estradiol - $110
Progesterone (3-5 doses @ $1500/dose) - $4500-$7500
Medrol - $76
Lovenox - $268
TOTAL - $16,328 - $19,328 (cost difference depending on how much Progesterone I will need)
Here is a breakdown of what is included in the IVF w/ donor eggs & sperm package from the clinic:
-Egg donor selection w/ pictures (10-11 eggs from donor)
-Sperm donor selection
-Medical consultations and examinations
-IVF/ICSI
-Cultivation to Blastocyst Stage (7-8 embryos)
-Embryo Transfer (ET)
-Remaining Embryo Cryopreservation and storage for 1 year
-Second Embryo Transfer if the first result is negative
-Accommodation at the hospital’s Hotel for the duration of the transfer (4-5 days)
-Airport Transfer
-All taxes and fees included
We have nothing but gratitude and gratefulness for anyone who feels they are able to donate during this time. We would also appreciate any help in sharing our story to get the word out to more people. We also ask for prayers and happy thoughts as we embark on this journey to bring home our dream bundle of joy! We are so thankful to have an amazing support team of family and friends here with us on this journey. We will post updates as they come about.
“For this child I have prayed and the Lord has granted the desires of my heart.” - 1 Samuel 1:27
Organizer and beneficiary
Hannah Allen Callen
Organizer
Aubrey, TX
Kevin Callen
Beneficiary