My name is Tiffany. My husband, Joey, and I have been married since April 28th, 2012. I am 28 years old and my husband is 30 years old. We are both relatively healthy individuals, who work hard and lead good lives. We had always talked about starting a family, once we were married. Unfortunately, we have been unsuccessful in getting pregnant. We started trying to conceive shortly after we got married.

 After 6 months or so of trying, unsuccessfully, we began to suspect that something was preventing us from conceiving. I made an appointment with my OBGYN to find out what could be the issue. She decided she would do exploratory surgery, to attempt to pin-point the cause of our lack of success. The results of surgery determined that I had endometriosis. The doctor removed what endometriosis I had. Post-operation, the doctor’s prognosis was that she didn’t see there being too much of a problem for us to get pregnant, naturally, on our own.

Over the next 3-4 months, we continued to try to conceive on our own. However, we were still unsuccessful. Still having no success, the doctor recommended we try the fertility drug, Clomid, for a couple of cycles. This too was unsuccessful, so we were then referred to a fertility specialist.

Upon review of both my husband’s tests, and my tests, the specialist seemed to think everything looked good but was unsure as to why we had been unable to get pregnant. He voiced to us that trying IUI would give us a better chance of conceiving. After discussing our options, we excitedly moved forward with what we hoped was going to be a simple process.

We were under the impression that our chances with IUI were great and we would soon be pregnant. So, we optimistically tried the first cycle of IUI with Femara, but were surprised to learn that it did not work. After a total of 3 unsuccessful cycles of IUI, and roughly $2000.00, we discussed with the specialist what the next option would be. His next recommendation was that we try an IUI with an injectable type of medication this go-round. We were told there is a higher success rate with this option, but with that higher success rate came a higher price. We completed 2 rounds of IUI with injectable medication, at roughly $1800.00 ea. Again, we were disappointed to discover that the IUIs were unsuccessful.  

Losing hope, we met with the doctor again to discuss what steps should be taken next. Seemingly perplexed, his suggestion was that we schedule another exploratory surgery to see if the endometriosis had returned. He performed the surgery and, disappointingly, the endometriosis had returned. The surgeon removed it all, and suggested that we try another IUI with injectable medication, since the endo had been removed. He was very optimistic about our chances of getting pregnant.

We went through with 1 final IUI, at another $1800.00, and once again, it was unsuccessful. Feeling very defeated, and unable to pay for more procedures, we decided it best for us to just try on our own again for a few months before we looked at any other options.

In September, we decided to seek out a second opinion. We made an appointment to meet with a new fertility specialist. This doctor spent over 2 hours with us discussing everything we had been through and his thoughts on why we hadn’t been able to get pregnant. He decided to order a few blood tests, one of which no doctor had done up to this point. The results came back that my AMA levels were low, meaning I had a lower ovarian reserve than someone my age should have. The doctor wanted to meet with us again to go over the results and discuss with us the options he would recommend. We met with the doctor on October 28th and he told us exactly what we didn’t want to hear! In his opinion, our only real chance at getting pregnant would be through IVF.

My husband and I want a child more than anything, but financially, we just can’t afford to pay for IVF, at a cost of $12,000.00. We have exhausted all of our savings on these unsuccessful IUI treatments, and we are losing hope that we’ll ever experience the joy of becoming a mother and a father. Of course, our insurance doesn’t cover any of the expenses for fertility treatment. We both have always worked full-time. We own our home and we don’t live extravagantly.  Neither of us are the type to ask for “hand-outs,” but we just don’t know where else to turn. We learned about GoFundMe from a few friends and family, and decided to put our story out there, for all the world to read. We desperately want to be parents, and anything you can give will get us that much closer to making that dream a reality. We appreciate you taking the time to read our story, and thank you from the bottom of our hearts!