When they were married in August of 2012, Jen and Andrew excitedly envisioned their future together and beautiful family to be. Andrew is a service-minded military veteran and Jen is a savvy researcher in the technology field - but more than anything, they are loving and committed to each other. They worked hard enough to buy a house with rooms to fill. They love each other, but it was the hope for children they yearned for the most. When they were ready, they began trying to grow their family.

Challenge and heartbreak have followed.

Their excitement and optimism were quickly met with barriers. Unable to conceive, Jen and Andrew met with multiple fertility doctors for support. To their dismay, it was discovered that Jen had issues with her fallopian tubes and had a benign uterine tumor; doctors informed her that surgery was required for a successful pregnancy.

In 2019, they were able to start the process for in vitro fertilization (IVF). The process resulted in two healthy embryos - one male and one female. The IVF procedure was successful with the female embryo. Jen was pregnant! It was cause for great joy and celebration for them and among their friends and family. They were informed they would meet the joy of their lives in January of 2020.

While away on their anniversary trip, Jen received a phone call from her doctor. She was informed she had Aplastic Anemia - a rare and serious condition that occurs when a person’s bone marrow stops making enough of the main line stem cells: red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets. Only 600 - 900 people in the US are diagnosed with it per year. Without a sufficient amount of blood cells, people run a higher risk of infection, uncontrolled bleeding and extreme fatigue. Aplastic Anemia has different causes but out of all of the ways it can develop, pregnancy is the rarest; it affects between 2-6 women out of every 1,000,000 pregnancies in the US. The only two treatment options are either a bone marrow transplant or immunotherapy (while not pregnant). Jen’s bone marrow was at 5%, when it should have been at 63-67% for her age. The news continued to get worse, she also learned from her doctor that future pregnancies were discouraged and dangerous due to the high rate of relapse. Jen and Andrew were both devastated by the weight of that revelation.

To protect her own health and the baby growing in her, Jen needed numerous blood and plasma transfusions. For months as her baby girl grew, the need for transfusions steadily increased. By the time she reached the third trimester, she soon required three blood transfusions every week.

A routine blood check revealed Jen had developed Pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and damage to her organ system. Due to elevated blood pressure and fetal distress, she was rushed to emergency care for a C-section.

Zoë was born at 33 weeks. Miraculously, she did quite well. After spending a couple of weeks in the NICU, she was able to come home.

Doctors waited to see if Jen’s body would heal on its own after the birth of Zoë, but all of her stem line cell numbers continued to drop after every transfusion. Fatigue and extreme headaches due to the low blood levels were a constant experience. At one point, Jen’s platelet numbers dropped to 7,000 per microliter and she was rushed for an emergency transfusion. A normal platelet count for adults ranges from 150,000 - 400,000 per microliter of blood. When an adult’s platelet numbers drop below 10,000, they run the risk of stroke or organ failure.

Since Jen’s condition was not improving, she needed to consider more invasive treatments. In April 2020, she began immunotherapy in hopes of stimulating the bone marrow. This process uses several cycles of Antithymocyte Globulin (ATG), a powerful immunosuppressant drug. She had to be hospitalized for a week and spent 60 hours hooked up to an IV to complete all four cycles.

Today, Jen is still taking immunosuppressant drugs to treat her condition. She is unable to carry their son due to her numerous health issues. Their daughter Zoë is flourishing, but their family is not complete, yet.

The male embryo currently sits in cryostasis until a surrogate can be found. The process for this is lengthy and exorbitant; their health insurance does not cover surrogacy.

To complete their family and bring their little boy into their home, they plan on using Circle's "Fixed Cost Program", but it doesn't include IVF, (Link: https://bit.ly/3rL0X1L). This costs $128,750.00. The average cost of IVF in Washington State (Link: https://bit.ly/3jbpPvN) is between $9,000 - $14,500.00. The total cost to accomplish this fundraising goal is $143,250.00.

Please consider joining the Gaines family in their desire to have a son.