To my dear family and friends.  As most of you know by now, Scott and I have been struggling with infertility since the beginning of our marriage 10 years ago.  Our fertility specialist made it clear  that our only option to have a child of our own would be IVF with ICSI.  This is a procedure wherein the sperm is injected directly into the egg to fertilize, and the embryo is placed in the uterus after 3-5 days of development in a lab.  When we first got this news in 2007, we were told that the cost would range from $10,000 to $12,000.  As you can imagine, we were floored by this figure, and not able to afford to proceed. 

Shortly after this I was off work for almost 2 years due to my fibromyalgia, and then lost my job, which made our financial situation even more difficult.  By 2013, we had still not been able to save the money for the procedure after various unforseen circumstances. 

In early 2013, I heard about a fertility clinic called Fertility Ontario, run by Dr. John McNaught.  Dr. McNaught has become a light of hope for us.  In 2013 he ran a program called the Blue Sky Project, designed to show the government the benefits that a funding program could have in reducing the amount of multiple births.  His program would offer all of his services pro bono, and the patient would only have to pay for medication and fees from the hospital or other clinics.  In December 2013, we were able to make our first attempt at IVF.  We used sperm that had been frozen in 2007, and unfortunately it was unsuccessful.  We were told later that the sperm had not been in good condition, and this may have been why the embryos did not develop any further, but that we may have better success with a fresh sample. 


In 2014, the Ontario government committed to funding IVF treatments in 2015.  We decided to wait for the funding to come through before attempting IVF again.  We recently found out, however, that at the age of 37, I now have diminished ovarian reserve, meaning I don’t have many eggs left.  Dr. McNaught feels that we would be better off starting the IVF process now, rather than waiting for the funding to commence, as there is no sign yet as to when this promised funding is going to start. 

Dr. McNaught has been able to discount his services for us yet again, and has been able to offer to do a round of IVF for us for $5600, rather than $10-12,000.  While this is a significant savings, as of now we have not been able to save up this amount of money.  And so, we have decided to swallow our pride, and turn to our family and friends for help.  We know not everyone can afford to donate, and we ABSOLUTELY understand if you can’t.  However, if you were willing to donate even $5, we would be forever grateful.  Both Scott and I have wanted children since we were young.  We have so much love to give.  Being deprived of the ability to have children is like being deprived of oxygen.  Every day it feels like we can’t breathe. 

If you would like to donate but don't feel comfortable using this site, please email me.