The Chadwick Baby-Making Fund

Hey everyone. Glad to hear you’re taking the time to read this. Firstly, even if you don’t donate, thank you for the time you’re giving us in reading this. Just knowing you care enough to inquire means a lot.

My darling and beautiful wife Lauren, and myself, began our journey 3 years ago after my last long deployment. We came off birth control and decided we wanted to start our own family. With no idea what we had to do, the first 6 months of trying on our own, we decided to try and science the baby-making process. We started charting ovulation, menstruation, and peak fertility days. This process went on for about a total of 9 months, $4200 in test kits, vitamins, and heartache.

We came to realize we were staring down the long, dark, and bleak road of infertility.

Seeking advice from medical professionals, we started being evaluated for andrology and fertility procedures. With the exception of semen analysis and testing, luckily, the first few steps were covered by Tricare.

From extensive scans, blood work, hormone injection therapy, semen analysis (not covered by insurance), test kits, and pregnancy tests, we had lost most of our hope. Determined with our doctors, we were unsuccessful after 4 Intra-Uterine Inseminations ( IUI Procedure ) and an additional 6 hormone medicated ovulation cycles. IUI couples typically have a 25% chance of conception (dependent on a bunch of different factors); we were told we had about a 5-10% chance. Nonetheless, we tried, and accumulated a hefty debt that resulted in failure.

In the coming months, my wife and I will be undergoing treatment and procedures through the New Hope Fertility Clinic in Virginia Beach. The only parts of the process currently covered by Tricare are the consultation and initial blood work and ultrasounds. All other expenses, not limited to but including egg retrieval, hormone medication, and embryo implantation will total in excess of about $15,000 to be paid at time of treatment.

The dream for this fundraiser is to expand our little family while we still can. Between reaching the age of egg expiration and the cost of our journey so far, any donations will go directly to funding the IVF process for Lauren and I. We have been through more pain than I ever thought we could handle, but we haven’t given up. This is our final attempt to have a child of our own. If unsuccessful, any remaining donations will go toward adoption in the future.

If you cannot donate financially, other ways you can help include:

If you’re unaware or don’t see my wife’s posts on Facebook, Lauren and I have been unsuccessful in growing our family. Our doctors think we have a chance with this. We love you all and hope, at the very least, you can donate some love back to us in this trial.

Yours Fondly,

The Chadwick’s