Help Mary and Seth Start a Family- An IVF Story
Hello! My name is Mary Herbert and I am fundraising on behalf of myself and my husband Seth.
Seth and I met each other in college in 2007. We were on the same volley ball team and were introduced to each other by friends. I fell head over heels, quite literally due to an unfortunate ball to the face in one of our games, for Seth and we have been together ever since.
After spending 3 years in a long distance relationship and a year together again, Seth proposed. A year after that we were married and soon moved to Williamsburg Va. We started working at Colonial Williamsburg so Seth could follow his love of military history and I for my love of historical architecture. I did also work for Trader Joe's so I could follow my love of food for a couple of years as well.
Having been diagnosed as a teenager with PCOS I knew it would be hard for us to have a baby. We started as soon as we could to prepare ourselves for what was going to be a long journey.
Almost a decade later, thousands of dollars, hospitalizations, and 3 miscarriages later, Seth and I are still without children. Our last attempt was with an Interuterine Insemination (IUI) and instead of getting pregnant I developed severe Ovarian Hyperstimulation Syndrome (OHSS). The side effects included extreme swelling, and fluid in my abdomen that put pressure on my heart, lungs and kidneys. Seth stood beside me the whole time I was healing, and let me cry into him as I felt I had failed us yet again.
Talking to my doctor, they have found I am a good candidate for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Although they believe my body can handle it, our wallets are a different story. IVF is not covered under insurance. Just the procedure alone one time is $16,900 and that does not factor in medications and testing, or if it fails.
The clinic has offered us a program that will give us 6 rounds of treatment as a guarantee that we should be able to take home a baby or we get our money back, but you have to pay the entire cost upfront before they will start. Our hope is to use the funds raised here and our own savings to buy into this program, and if it doesn't succeed, then we use these funds for adoption. One way or another, Seth and I want to be parents one day.
