Bennis Fertility Fund

Hello everyone!  We are Michael & Sarah Bennis and we really appreciate you taking the time to read this.

We have been married for almost 12 years.  Michael(35) is a US Navy veteran and now works as a chemistry technician at TVA Watts Bar.  Sarah(37) is a hair stylist at Urban Salon, downtown Knoxville.  We live on a beautiful 3 acre property with a garden, chickens, and our 3 dogs. 

We have always known we wanted a family, but we did not know what was in store in order for us to make that happen.  Sarah has Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome(PCOS).  We saw our first doctor in 2006, but due to multiple military moves and issues with Tricare (military health insurance), there was a lot of stop and go with our care and a lot of back tracking with changing doctors.  When Mike got out of the military, we moved to the Knoxville area permanently.   Once Sarah finished Cosmetology school and spent a couple of years establishing herself at work, we decided it was time to get serious. 

Sarah had received several recommendations for Dr.  Doody in Knoxville.   He is a reproductive endocrinologist, renowned in our area for helping couples suffering from infertility struggles.  Our first appointment with him was in July 2014.  It involved standard blood work and exams as well as a lengthy talk with the doctor to gather medical information and history.  Sarah had exploratory surgery in Aug 2014, so Dr. Doody could get an idea of any obstacles preventing success with fertility treatments.  After the surgery the doctor decided the best place for them to start would be for Sarah to take Clomid (to cause ovulation) followed by an IUI (Intrauterine Insemination).  Unfortunately, after 4 months and 4 dosage increases, Sarah's body was not responding to the Clomid.  Dr Doody informed us that our next step would be injectable medication.  We were told that while these meds were very effective, they were also very expensive.  In addition to this, our insurance provides zero coverage for fertility medications or procedures, so there would be no offset to the out of pocket cost.  Obviously, we knew it would be difficult, but we were willing to do whatever it would take to grow our family.

We went through 2 cycles with injectables/IUIs with no success.  Our third cycle finally gave us a positive pregnancy.  Sadly this ended shortly in a miscarriage.  After taking a couple of months off, we just went through our fourth cycle.  The last cycle was cancelled because Sarah responded too well to the medication and we were looking at a dangerous ovarian hyper-stimulation situation.

The doctor is still extremely positive, as are we, that this is the correct path for us.  He firmly believes we will achieve success with these medications and the IUI procedures.  The difficulty that we have is financial.  Each cycle costs us $4,200.  The meds alone are $1,200 per cycle.  Each cycle also entails 4 ultra sounds and blood tests over the period of a week and a half.  Each of these tests is $612.  Before the IUI procedure Sarah must take an HCG shot that costs $90.  The IUI procedure itself costs $550.   We now have been through 4 of these cycles and are doing everything we can to scrape our finances together to continue.  We have tried very hard to cut our expenses where we can and save money but frankly, we don't know how much further we can get without help.

We would be incredibly grateful if we could raise enough money to cover one cycle.  It is pretty clear how much this means to us financially, but it would also be a great source of comfort to us emotionally.  We know this is a lot to ask and we are so thankful to anyone who has taken the time to read our story.  We have no expectations, but we would love it if you feel compelled to share our story.  You never know who you might reach out there who may relate to it and want to help us, or who may be helped by reading it.

Thank you so much,

Mike & Sarah Bennis