Anderson Baby Our Journey to Three
Donation protected
Eva & Mark: Our Story...
March 10, 2013 I said “I do” to one of the most understanding and loving man I’ve ever met. A year later, we decided to start growing our family. At the end of 2014, I realized that something wasn’t quite right... and in January of 2015, I was diagnosed with PCOS - polycystic ovarian syndrome. My hormones were affecting my ability to conceive. There isn’t a cure, in fact most doctors prescribe birth control to help with the symptoms of PCOS, which wasn’t going to help with starting our family.
We were referred to a fertility doctor where we began oral medications to help stimulate my ovaries to produce, mature, and release my eggs. My ovaries and follicles would produce 2 to 3 eggs that were ready to be released just about every time we had taken the medication. However, after several trials of various medications, we were still unsuccessful.
I reached out to a friend to get the name of another fertility specialist. We began with similar medications and this time, an injection to increase the chances of my ovaries releasing a mature egg, as well as trying IUI (in-uterine insemination). Yet again, we were unsuccessful in conceiving.
2015 diagnosed with PCOS
6 years infertility
2 fertility specialists
9+ medication trials
3 IUIs
countless negative pregnancy tests
It has been a difficult path, but it has also brought me closer to my husband, family, and God. Yes, there have been some extremely low points with days I didn’t get dressed because the pain was too great... but there have also been some high points - helping others who have been diagnosed with PCOS and how to manage with healthy food, what to expect at doctors appointments, and learning to listen to your body. Mark and I have a stronger relationship, we are much more in tuned with one another and our needs.
At our last doctors appointment, we decided that IVF is one of our last options to try and start our family. This summer we began the journey of going from the two of us to three...
Unfortunately, we are still hitting some road blocks, this time financially. Our insurance does not cover any part of the medical process or medications for IVF and we weren't approved for the loan to cover the cost. The total comes out to about $20,500 for one attempt of becoming pregnant.
$13,500 is for the facility and procedures which includes: all ultrasounds (baseline to final), anesthesia, pre-genetic testing (PGT), ICSI (helping with fertilization), as well as cryopreservation (if possible).
Embryo testing is included, however, it costs $150 per embryo to be tested with an additional $150 for shipping. This cost will be based on how many eggs continue to mature after retrieval and fertilization. This cost is not included in my over all cost, because there is no way for me to know how many of our embryos will make it to this stage.
$5,000 - $7,000 for medications. This includes daily injections and medications that I will need to take to get my body to jump start my follicles that will produce mature eggs. I will then need to take trigger shots for my body to release those eggs during my egg retrieval day. I will need to continue to take medications for the following months to continue to prepare my body for implantation day. Then, God willing, if things stay on track, I will have a transfer day. The day where they take the embryo and implant it. Again, God willing if the embryo sticks and things continue to progress, there will also be continued daily injections and medications that I may need to take up 6 - 8 weeks from my transfer date.
This whole process can take about 4 months if test results come back positive and things go smoothly. If for some reason, they don't or if I do not become pregnant in our first attempt, the cost is about another $4,000 to use another frozen embryo to be transplanted.
Our journey to start a family has not been an easy one, and honestly without relying on God and support our family, and friends, I don't think we could have made it this far. Once we decided that we were ready for IVF, many of our family and friends asked about starting a gofundme to help with costs. So, here we are, sharing our story. I have also started a facebook page to help document our journey for the next year:
https://www.facebook.com/AndersonBabyOurJourneyToThree/
The journey for us has started this month. I am currently on a low dose birth control and blood work has already been done. I have a teaching consult on July 6th to learn about the proper placement and administration of the injections that I'll need. My medications will be ordered and shipped overnight afterwards. My baseline ultrasound will happen the same week, and it is at that appointment where payment will be due.
I can not express how much these donations will mean to us and how thankful we are that there is a platform like this to help us complete our family. Any and all donations will help, even sharing our fundraiser on your social media site, is greatly appreciated and will be a tremendous help in reaching our goal. Thank you again for taking the time to read about our journey.
March 10, 2013 I said “I do” to one of the most understanding and loving man I’ve ever met. A year later, we decided to start growing our family. At the end of 2014, I realized that something wasn’t quite right... and in January of 2015, I was diagnosed with PCOS - polycystic ovarian syndrome. My hormones were affecting my ability to conceive. There isn’t a cure, in fact most doctors prescribe birth control to help with the symptoms of PCOS, which wasn’t going to help with starting our family.
We were referred to a fertility doctor where we began oral medications to help stimulate my ovaries to produce, mature, and release my eggs. My ovaries and follicles would produce 2 to 3 eggs that were ready to be released just about every time we had taken the medication. However, after several trials of various medications, we were still unsuccessful.
I reached out to a friend to get the name of another fertility specialist. We began with similar medications and this time, an injection to increase the chances of my ovaries releasing a mature egg, as well as trying IUI (in-uterine insemination). Yet again, we were unsuccessful in conceiving.
2015 diagnosed with PCOS
6 years infertility
2 fertility specialists
9+ medication trials
3 IUIs
countless negative pregnancy tests
It has been a difficult path, but it has also brought me closer to my husband, family, and God. Yes, there have been some extremely low points with days I didn’t get dressed because the pain was too great... but there have also been some high points - helping others who have been diagnosed with PCOS and how to manage with healthy food, what to expect at doctors appointments, and learning to listen to your body. Mark and I have a stronger relationship, we are much more in tuned with one another and our needs.
At our last doctors appointment, we decided that IVF is one of our last options to try and start our family. This summer we began the journey of going from the two of us to three...
Unfortunately, we are still hitting some road blocks, this time financially. Our insurance does not cover any part of the medical process or medications for IVF and we weren't approved for the loan to cover the cost. The total comes out to about $20,500 for one attempt of becoming pregnant.
$13,500 is for the facility and procedures which includes: all ultrasounds (baseline to final), anesthesia, pre-genetic testing (PGT), ICSI (helping with fertilization), as well as cryopreservation (if possible).
Embryo testing is included, however, it costs $150 per embryo to be tested with an additional $150 for shipping. This cost will be based on how many eggs continue to mature after retrieval and fertilization. This cost is not included in my over all cost, because there is no way for me to know how many of our embryos will make it to this stage.
$5,000 - $7,000 for medications. This includes daily injections and medications that I will need to take to get my body to jump start my follicles that will produce mature eggs. I will then need to take trigger shots for my body to release those eggs during my egg retrieval day. I will need to continue to take medications for the following months to continue to prepare my body for implantation day. Then, God willing, if things stay on track, I will have a transfer day. The day where they take the embryo and implant it. Again, God willing if the embryo sticks and things continue to progress, there will also be continued daily injections and medications that I may need to take up 6 - 8 weeks from my transfer date.
This whole process can take about 4 months if test results come back positive and things go smoothly. If for some reason, they don't or if I do not become pregnant in our first attempt, the cost is about another $4,000 to use another frozen embryo to be transplanted.
Our journey to start a family has not been an easy one, and honestly without relying on God and support our family, and friends, I don't think we could have made it this far. Once we decided that we were ready for IVF, many of our family and friends asked about starting a gofundme to help with costs. So, here we are, sharing our story. I have also started a facebook page to help document our journey for the next year:
https://www.facebook.com/AndersonBabyOurJourneyToThree/
The journey for us has started this month. I am currently on a low dose birth control and blood work has already been done. I have a teaching consult on July 6th to learn about the proper placement and administration of the injections that I'll need. My medications will be ordered and shipped overnight afterwards. My baseline ultrasound will happen the same week, and it is at that appointment where payment will be due.
I can not express how much these donations will mean to us and how thankful we are that there is a platform like this to help us complete our family. Any and all donations will help, even sharing our fundraiser on your social media site, is greatly appreciated and will be a tremendous help in reaching our goal. Thank you again for taking the time to read about our journey.
Organizer
Eva Anderson
Organizer
Holiday, FL