Help Combs Family Freeze Embryos
Donation protected
My name is Katie Combs and I have been married to Jimmi Combs for 3.5 years. Since the day we said "I Do", we have wanted to create a family together. Both coming from families of 4 kids got us used to the idea that making babies would be easy. We tried, waited, and cried, month after month for about a year and a half before we finally had the courage to see a doctor. Of course, doctors immediately turned to me thinking I had to have some sort of issues in my body. So the testing began. Then during testing is the "advice stage" where doctors and non-doctors alike tried to prescribe outrageous tips or tricks to try and help us conceive. There is nothing in this world like changing diets, drinking habits, sexual rituals, and trying a bunch of different medications to still have no positive pregnancy tests. Then one night in 2018 we got a letter and a phone call that we would never forget. Unfortunately, Jimmi has a condition called Azoospermia, which is medical terms for 0 sperm. Not a single one.
After we received the news, Jimmi and I fell into a deep depression. We stopped leaving our house, stopped hanging out with friends, and definitely couldn´t look at social media without crying about how many people our age were moving onto their second and third child. This was also when Jimmi had to go through his portion of testing, medical visits, and medications for months with no success. We spent an entire year hating ourselves for something completely out of our control. Something no one ever talks about before marriage is the possibility of infertility. We had no idea the kinds of emotions we would experience towards ourselves and each other. Finally we made the decision that if we wanted to live even just a moderately happy life we needed to move on and try something new.
Oct 2019 was when we finally decided that if we could not be biological parents that maybe we could try adoption. Plenty of children need homes and we have plenty of space. So we began yet another journey towards parenthood. Applications filled out and paid for, we began mandatory weekly parenting classes. We had our home inspected 4 separate times. We reported our tax returns, 4 months of paystubs, monthly bills and expenses reviewed, fingerprinting and background checks to only to find out we are still just being considered for fostering a child. It is now the end of Oct 2020 and our cases are still being reviewed for approval.
Needless to say, waiting for a foster agency to call is one of the most stressful wait times imaginable. It took Jimmi and I an incredibly long time to agree that maybe finding a sperm donor would bring the blessing of children into our home finally. So once again, in July 2020, we began our first cycle of IVF with a sperm donor. We, like many people in the world, were unaware of just how much money goes into buying sperm, obtaining proper medications and medical supplies, co-pays for daily monitoring appointments, and the psych consultation prior to undergoing real treatments. Jimmi and I have worked and over-worked ourselves over the course of this entire IVF process to ensure that we have just enough money in our accounts at the exact moment SGF calls for payment. We both work full time jobs Monday through Friday and then work multiple side jobs on nights and weekends. So far, we have been able to manage all of the payments and keep our living expenses (rent, BGE, car loans, etc.) paid but tonight we received yet another phone call that we did not expect so soon.
Jimmi and I were blessed to find out that we have a very large amount of embryos that were created from my eggs and our donor´s sperm! We also have a whole other vial of sperm left over. This of course is fantastic news to us since we really want to have more than one child! What we did not expect to hear tonight, though, is the outrageous cost of freezing our embryos and sperm. The only options other than freezing the embryos and sperm would be to donate them to someone we don´t know or throw them away, which would also mean we would have to start right back at square one to ever have another child. The biggest part of our fear set in when I was told that since they already have my bank card on file they will just take the money from my bank account 5 days after freezing the embryos and sperm.
We would not be asking for help if we did not exhaust every hardworking, honest way of making the money. Jimmi and I are asking for your help to reach our goal in any way you can, whether it be a donation or even just a share. Please know that your donation or share will be helping us hold onto so many more chances to bring children into the world. We love and appreciate everyone who takes the time to read our story and help! Thank you! The Combs Family.
After we received the news, Jimmi and I fell into a deep depression. We stopped leaving our house, stopped hanging out with friends, and definitely couldn´t look at social media without crying about how many people our age were moving onto their second and third child. This was also when Jimmi had to go through his portion of testing, medical visits, and medications for months with no success. We spent an entire year hating ourselves for something completely out of our control. Something no one ever talks about before marriage is the possibility of infertility. We had no idea the kinds of emotions we would experience towards ourselves and each other. Finally we made the decision that if we wanted to live even just a moderately happy life we needed to move on and try something new.
Oct 2019 was when we finally decided that if we could not be biological parents that maybe we could try adoption. Plenty of children need homes and we have plenty of space. So we began yet another journey towards parenthood. Applications filled out and paid for, we began mandatory weekly parenting classes. We had our home inspected 4 separate times. We reported our tax returns, 4 months of paystubs, monthly bills and expenses reviewed, fingerprinting and background checks to only to find out we are still just being considered for fostering a child. It is now the end of Oct 2020 and our cases are still being reviewed for approval.
Needless to say, waiting for a foster agency to call is one of the most stressful wait times imaginable. It took Jimmi and I an incredibly long time to agree that maybe finding a sperm donor would bring the blessing of children into our home finally. So once again, in July 2020, we began our first cycle of IVF with a sperm donor. We, like many people in the world, were unaware of just how much money goes into buying sperm, obtaining proper medications and medical supplies, co-pays for daily monitoring appointments, and the psych consultation prior to undergoing real treatments. Jimmi and I have worked and over-worked ourselves over the course of this entire IVF process to ensure that we have just enough money in our accounts at the exact moment SGF calls for payment. We both work full time jobs Monday through Friday and then work multiple side jobs on nights and weekends. So far, we have been able to manage all of the payments and keep our living expenses (rent, BGE, car loans, etc.) paid but tonight we received yet another phone call that we did not expect so soon.
Jimmi and I were blessed to find out that we have a very large amount of embryos that were created from my eggs and our donor´s sperm! We also have a whole other vial of sperm left over. This of course is fantastic news to us since we really want to have more than one child! What we did not expect to hear tonight, though, is the outrageous cost of freezing our embryos and sperm. The only options other than freezing the embryos and sperm would be to donate them to someone we don´t know or throw them away, which would also mean we would have to start right back at square one to ever have another child. The biggest part of our fear set in when I was told that since they already have my bank card on file they will just take the money from my bank account 5 days after freezing the embryos and sperm.
We would not be asking for help if we did not exhaust every hardworking, honest way of making the money. Jimmi and I are asking for your help to reach our goal in any way you can, whether it be a donation or even just a share. Please know that your donation or share will be helping us hold onto so many more chances to bring children into the world. We love and appreciate everyone who takes the time to read our story and help! Thank you! The Combs Family.
Organizer
Katherine Combs
Organizer
Baltimore, MD