Making Baby Ford
Donation protected
Hello Everyone,
We are Keith and Tawni Ford, and our fur babies Trixie and Gemma. We have been together for 15 years, married for 6 of those, and trying to make baby Ford for nearly 5.
For those of you who are unaware, Tawni was born with a rare autosomal domimant genetic disorder called Cowden Syndrome. Cowden Syndrome is caused by a mutation in the PTEN gene(tumor suppressor gene). It is characterized by both benign and malignant tumors, a larger than average head, lipomas (fatty tumors) on the skin, polyps in the gastrointestinal tract, trichilemmomas( skin tags), and papillomatous papules (bumps located in the mouth). Cowden Syndrome also carries a increase risk of developing breast cancer, thyroid cancer, kidney cancer, endometrial cancer, colorectal cancer, and skin cancer. A person with Cowden Syndrome has a 50% chance with each pregnancy of passing along the mutated gene to their child. Tawni was officially diagnosed with this genetic disorder at the age of 18,but has struggles with complications from it her whole entire life.
We started our journey to make baby Ford in 2016. During this time we where told by Tawni's genetic team, that our best option to have a healthy baby (without Tawni's genetic condition) was to go through IVF treatment with PGT (preimplantation genetic testing). We then went through pre-screening and our first IVF consultation appointment at DHMC. This process was very informative and scary. We leaned quickly that IVF was expensive, and that health insurance was not required to cover the cost of treatment. Due to this we put IVF on hold, and started to save our pennies.
Shortly after Tawni started having issues with her thyroid, and was recommended to have her thyroid removed due to a highly suspicious biopsy. Tawni had a complete thyroidectomy in 2018. Thankfully, Tawni's final thyroid pathology came back noncancerous. During this time, we where also faced with three chemical miscarriages. IVF was once again put on hold.
Then in 2019, we decided to stop putting our dream on hold, and we took out a home equity loan to pay for IVF. Before starting our first IVF cycle, Tawni went through her annual skin, colon, uterus, and breast screenings . During Tawni's breast and uterus screenings, two lesions where discovered in Tawni's right breast, and a polyps was discovered in Tawni's uterus. Both areas of discovery where highly suspicious for cancer. Tawni was recommended to have surgery to remove the uterus polyps, and biopsies on both breast lesions. Tawni's breast biopsies came back with one lesion being benign, and the other lesion being DCIS(non-invasive breast cancer). Tawni was then recommended to have surgery on her breasts as well as her uterus. Consequently, IVF was once again put on hold.
We, then went through one of the hardest years of our lives. Tawni underwent three surgeries; a polypectomy of her uterus, a bilateral mastectomy, and bilateral breast reconstruction. During this time Tawni was out of work for apx four months, and consequently we endured some financial hardship. We ended up having to use part of our home equity loan on bills.
Apx one year later, Tawni was cleared by her doctors to continue the IVF journey. At that time Tawni's health insurance did not provide any IVF coverage. Tawni then switched jobs to a facility that provided health insurance with IVF coverage. Tawni's new facility has amazing IVF coverage, however it does not cover it all. Unfortunately, the health insurance does not cover any portion of PGT (preimplantation genetic testing), and only cover a portion of medication.
Our IVF journey first started with having a genetic probe made to detect Tawni's genetic disorder( Cowden Syndrome). This process took apx 4 months, and was paid completely out of pocket.
We then started our first IVF cycle in June of 2021. During this cycle we ended up retrieving 11 eggs, 6 where mature, 4 fertilized, and unfortunately zero made it to blastocysts. Therefore no eggs were able to be PGT (preimplantation genetic testing) tested. We were then recommended by our MD to undergo another round of IVF.
We started our second IVF cycle in August of 2021. During this cycle we ended up retrieving 9 eggs, 6 where mature, 6 fertilized, and 2 made it to blastocysts. We then sent the two blastocysts to be PGT(preimplantation genetic testing) tested for all 23 pairs of chromosomes, and Tawni's genetic disorder (Cowden Syndrome). This process took apx 3 weeks, and was paid completely out of pocket. Unfortunately, both embryos turned out with Tawni's genetic disorder (Cowden Syndrome), and genetic abnormalities. We were then recommended by our MD to undergo another round of IVF.
After our second IVF cycle, we decided to switch IVF clinics. We then underwent our third IVF cycle in January of 2022. During this cycle we ended up retrieving 17 eggs, 11 where mature, 9 fertilized, and 6 made it to blastocysts. We then sent the six blastocysts to be PGT (preimplantation gentic testing) tested for all 23 pair chromosomes, and Tawni's genetic disorder( Cowden Syndrome). This process took apx 3 weeks, and was paid completely out of pocket. Out of our 6 embryos, zero tested normal. 3 out of the embryos tested positive for Tawni's genetic disorder (Cowden Syndrome), and 3 of the embryos tested positive for chromosomal abnormalities. 1 out of the 3 embryos that tested positive for chromosomal abnormalities was also consider a high level mosaic embryo (containing both normal and abnormal cells),with a 50% of abnormal cells and a extra copy of chromosome 21 (Down Syndrome). Due to this, our MD doesn't suggest that we transfer our mosaic embryo. Instead our MD suggests that we do another cycle of IVF.
This news is devastating for us. We knew this journey was going to be hard, but never imagine it to be this hard. This journey has been emotionally, physically, and financially draining. During these last 3 cycles we spent over $20,000 out of pocket.
Our last IVF cycle was our best cycle yet, and our MD believes that a fourth round of IVF can finally produce baby Ford. Due to this we have decided to go through with a fourth cycle of IVF. Our hopes are that we are able to finally produce baby Ford.
We never thought we would be in this situation, and have exhausted all of our resources on our previous cycles.
Therefore, we are turning to you all and asking for help.
We know that times our tough, and hope that no one feels obligated.
Therefore, we are turning to you all and asking for help.
We know that times our tough, and hope that no one feels obligated.
Any amount you can give is helpful and greatly appreciated.
Please feel free to share our story, and hopefully IVF 4 will be the cycle that makes baby Ford.
Thank you for your consideration, support, and prayers.
Mr. & Mrs. Ford
Organizer
Tawni Ford
Organizer
Sanbornton, NH