Heath's Helpers - Carl and Sarah's IVF Fund

We are Carl and Sarah Heath, and we want to share a bit of our story and details of our most recent chapter with you.

We always knew we wanted to have children and experience the joys and challenges of parenthood together. After one year of marriage, we tried to get pregnant for 6 months before finding out we were expecting a daughter. Sadly, because of a rare chromosomal abnormality, she didn’t get to stay with us. After 5 months of pregnancy, Olivia Grace Heath was born sleeping on April 28, 2020.

Our hearts will forever be broken, but we both still wanted to have children. We tried again on our own for 6 months, then added oral fertility medication for another 5 months. With no success, we were referred to a fertility specialist to start our IVF journey. We were hopeful and a little scared of the unknown, but we were willing to take the significant financial, emotional, and physical leaps needed to grow our family.

Most people don’t realize the financial burden of fertility treatments. Medical insurance covers almost nothing. We paid $25,000 for IVF treatment and proceeded with cautious excitement. After months of daily hormone injections, regular doctor visits for monitoring, blood tests, an invasive egg retrieval, then lab fertilization and testing, we were able to transfer one healthy embryo. We received a positive pregnancy test, but after one week, the pregnancy did not last. Our doctor encouraged us that we can indeed get pregnant, and advised that often, couples must do multiple IVF treatments to have a baby. We decided to pursue another round of IVF, but with extra medications added in (yep, even more injections), the total was $27,000. Unfortunately, we did not have any viable embryos to transfer this time.

We have been actively trying to have a baby since the summer of 2019. We spent almost 3 years monitoring cycles, logging symptoms, testing for ovulation, and the monthly “two week wait”. This, followed by two rounds of invasive, emotional, stressful, and painful fertility treatments, and over $50,000 in costs, left us exhausted.

We decided to take a break and seek second opinions on what options may be available to us. We prayed for God’s guidance and were led to a wonderful clinic and a doctor that renewed our hope. He told us that even with everything we have been through, our diagnostic numbers are above average for our ages, and he is confident in our ability to get pregnant and take home a healthy baby.

They have a unique program called BundlGuard. Not everyone qualifies. The treatment is longer and more intensive, but over the course of two rounds, they guarantee we will have a baby. Even better, they offer a money back guarantee to those that qualify. After reviewing our history and running additional tests, we meet all the requirements and qualify for this program!

This unique opportunity comes with yet another expensive price tag. We are not able to pay for this all on our own. We need your help to achieve this number. Both of us really enjoy giving to others, but asking for help doesn't come easily. We humbly ask for your financial help to create the family we have always dreamed of having. Through 3 years of waiting and struggling, God has strengthened our relationship, our faith, and our determination. We wait with great anticipation for the moment we hear our baby cry out, to behold this precious gift, and embrace every adventure that waits for us ahead.

We thank you for your support, generosity, and encouragement. If you are unable to give financially, please continue to lift us up in prayer. Please pray and then cheerfully give to our fund, and help give us the gift of family.

Genesis 21:1 says, “Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.”