Help Kelsey and Brandon with IVF-PGD
I’m setting up this fundraiser for my oldest granddaughter, Kelsey, and her husband, Brandon, to pursue IVF with pre-implantation genetic diagnosis.
In 2017 Kelsey and Brandon received a long awaited genetic diagnosis for their daughter Blake. What they weren’t expecting was the heartbreaking blow that came with answers. It was discovered that they were both carriers of a condition called Ritscher Schinzel Syndome (3C), a condition that only affected 50 or so individuals world wide and caused various disabilities and serious medical problems. With the recessive carrier status they were at a 25 percent risk of passing on the condition with each natural pregnancy. It was tragic to the family to discover that building their family and giving Blake a sibling wouldn’t be an easy task, with each subsequent pregnancy being treated as high risk from the earliest moments and the chance of passing on this condition to more children. Sadly they have defied the odds in the worst of ways and have had 4 affected pregnancies in a row.. something that only occurs in 0.4% of cases. They have lost 3 very loved and wanted baby girls, named Aurora, Avani and Rowan.
IVF with PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis) is the only way for this family to have biological children without risking passing on this condition to more babies. This testing process creates a test specific to Brandon and Kelsey’s mutations and can test their embryos for the condition prior to transfer and implantation, eliminating the chance of having another baby with this syndrome.
For the past two years Kelsey and Brandon have pursued natural pregnancy mainly because of the cost of IVF with PGD. The cost of IVF PGD, has been estimated at $30k for one round. They have spent the past few years saving, fighting insurance and applying for grants to ease the cost, but have so far been unsuccessful. Because they would like to avoid anymore heartbreaking losses they have decided to move forward with the IVF process and have begun the working with the genetics lab for PGD.
From the beginning of their relationship having a family has been a dream for this couple and providing Blake a sibling has been tremendously important for them. They are both are wonderful parents to their little girl and have been through so much in the last 5 years. This process has been extremely painful for their little family and the losses of their daughters have deeply affected them.
If we can rally together for this family we can ease the financial burden and help them accomplish their goal. Any bit of support is deeply appreciated and will make a difference in reaching their dreams.
