Support Aimee & Karl's IVF Journey
Hi everyone, we have set up this page to support Aimee during her (hopeful) journey for a second round of IVF. As you may be aware, IVF in Newfoundland is non-existent. Aimee and Karl have to travel out of province and pay completely out of pocket for this opportunity to grow their family.
"We don't have time to fight for equal opportunity. We're busy fighting out own bodies for a baby"
The journey of 'starting a family' has not come easy for Aimee and Karl, in fact it's been a roller coaster of emotions, debt and stress. This page is to ease some of that, by at least helping financially and to show our support throughout their journey.
We would give anything to make Aimee and Karl’s dream come true... however, if another round of IVF is their only option, we are hopeful that with the support of their family and friends, their dreams will be that much closer to becoming reality.
We love you Aimee and Karl!
- Andrea, Michelle and Leah (Aimee's Mom and Sisters)
Check out the link below to see Aimee's story that was featured on 'Faces of Fertility' via Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/faces.of.fertility/photos/a.130624348658050/188894652831019/?type=3&eid=ARArbZx3YtUscHTMteP9YaSusb3RbiPnjtDmS6IE7YcZEFi3BFJqoWc9aS2xO1WMgW8sbbbHKbxOJjT3&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARD2vmrbFkBnsWwa1yJ6oh5-0E7xz9KLGmS6ppUPI7QtBSA5CI8mDpfogowIryvtlT9SkCwHgv_mTWQbjVGg1C7JNHaDw9KLoelYfblbYH_5FtU1Ffx_Rfh_g-KFxdx9vWa5jcuaOYxuhYIM1aJyhRA0_jmoimPoujp2a9tWtF033eCPJ7I3wzo_kV7Z56WFUG65NxTXifB1kAhEa3siZl7TKvTWwHq1PvT8nyJ-vHF_VNnw3Ob64SHodkEzDZDozugXj-KnDH2iaOMwk7L5UdCZCA3gywENQF5TAj0e5FgXNX-Qe0RKxzFFAo074STZx_1C2yXPmC5nKOnWh9lvRWA&__tn__=EEHH-R
"Hi my name is Aimee.
I’ve always dreamt of having a baby but my dream of becoming a mother has become my biggest nightmare.
At 33 years old I decided to stop taking birth control to prepare my body for eventually pregnancy. Very quickly I discovered things were “not right”. My always heavy periods on birth control suddenly became unbearable. Extreme pain during various points of my menstrual cycle lead to many visits over the next few years to many doctors, gynaecologists and the emergency room to try to figure out what was wrong. One doctor even told me that the pain was a normal part of ovulation.
A few years later having actively tried to get pregnant for over a year, my gynecologist finally decided to do a laprascopic surgery to see why I was not yet pregnant. The results were devastating. I had stage 3 endometriosis. My right Fallopian tube was blocked to the point of unrepair and had to be removed and a laparotomy (abdominal surgery) was suggested for best results as an excision specialist is not available in NL or out of province through MCP. In the recovery room my doctor told me the bad news. “The next 6-8 months will be your best chance to get pregnant but you likely will only get pregnant though IVF”.
After a few months wait to see a fertility specialist here in NL and more tests I quickly learned that IVF was not available in Newfoundland and that IUI was my only option here. I was told not to do IUI too many times as IVF was the best chance I had and time was not on my side. At 37 years old my egg quality was now low decreasing my chances to become pregnant even further. I was scared that my dream of becoming a mother wasn’t possible without IVF and after two cycles of IUI in Newfoundland without insurance or drug coverage (approx. $600 per cycle) we decided IVF was our only chance. At approx 20k without medical insurance plus flights, accommodations, car rentals and groceries etc, it was a big commitment. We were the “lucky ones”, not everyone has that kind of savings, vacation time or family out of province that they can stay with during the process.
Unfortunately our IVF cycle was not successful. After a very painful egg retrieval (from built up scar tissue from the endo and two surgeries) and a stressful 5 day wait to see if any of our 4 embryos were healthy enough, we learned we only had one viable embyro to transfer. After the dreaded two week wait after the embyro transfer we learned I wasn’t pregnant. We were back to square one.
I am now 39. We have done three more cycles of IUI after our failed IVF last year and we are struggling with the COVID-19 protocols that are in place as it’s no longer a guarantee that we can do a cycle every month as the services at the NL clinic are limited. We are left with the on my option to try IVF again if we want to have a baby. I ask my myself almost daily “how do you put a price on your dreams but how do you justify doing IVF again, let alone afford it”.
Through our infertility journey I’ve learned that many of my friends have suffered with infertility in silence. There is a lot of shame around it and it’s hard to talk about it, especially to people who haven’t been through it themselves. That has to change. It’s not our fault we are struggling with our bodies to conceive.
We’ve also learned that all other provinces (aside from PEI) offer IVF and that some provinces even have medical programs that either cover one round of IVF or subsidize it some way through grants etc. There are no such programs in NL. Not only do we have to travel out of province for IVF the government offers no financial support. It seems unfair that a medical procedure that is necessary to have a family isn’t covered through MCP.
Despite my own personal struggle I often think about the people that are not as high a priority as myself that are struggling. My friends who are using egg donors, those that are younger dealing with infertility, single moms or dads trying to get pregnant on their own, the lgbtqia2s+ couples who aren’t considered a priority as IVF is considered “optional” procedure for them. This journey is not optional for any of us, we are all a priority.
Aside from the financial aspect of travelling for IVF, if we had an IVF clinic here in NL we wouldn’t have to take two weeks off of work to travel out of province with no family support. How I wish I could have been home in my own bed many nights during my IVF cycle.
Everyone deserves the chance to have a family. We don’t have time to fight for equal opportunity for fertility treatments here in Newfoundland while we are busy fighting our bodies to give us a baby."
