Fi & Paddy's baby dream
Donation protected
Our daughter, Fiona, who is 37 years of age, had a daughter 16 years ago, to her childhood sweetheart. Unfortunately, their relationship didn’t last and she spent 12 years, as a solo mother, bringing up her little girl. She would dearly have loved to have given her daughter a brother and/or sister but didn’t find the right partner with whom to have more children until 5 years ago, when she met Patrick.
Patrick had never been married and had no children, so they decided to start a family as soon as they were married, in August 2013.
After 12 months, and no sign of a baby, they sought medical advice. Fiona has suffered from severe Endometriosis since puberty, which has caused numerous problems with her body. However, their specialist thought this was something he could work around and so they initially tried a process called IUI. They were warned, that IUI didn’t have the greatest success but at $500 per cycle, it was cheaper than IVF. Regrettably, the process did fail so the specialist decided the best option for Fiona would be to have surgery in order to scrape out the endometriosis, which he ultimately discovered was extremely severe.
Following surgery, and a 3-month recuperation period, the specialist ran an HRT test to determine what Fiona’s egg supply was like. An average supply for someone her age is 14; but, sadly, Fiona’s was 3.5. However, the specialist agreed to try IVF and they went on to have 3 rounds.
The first round gathered no eggs, which was a devastating blow and totally unexpected. After increasing Fiona’s hormone drugs to try and improve the results, a 2nd round of IVF was undertaken but only 2 eggs were harvested. The first egg quickly died but the 2nd made it to the day before it was due to be implanted. Fiona was contacted by the laboratory to be advised that the egg hadn’t reached “Blastosis” (the optimal time to implant) but they encouraged her to proceed with the process. This, too, failed. The third round produced 1 egg which only survived a couple of days.
At this point, Fiona & Patrick’s specialist advised that he couldn’t do anything more for them but suggested they try another specialist who may have another perspective.
They had been told of a specialist who had remarkable results with IVF so they got a referral and booked their first consultation. The new specialist was hesitant to take them on, but Fiona and Patrick weren’t ready to give up so, after a lot of persuasion, he finally agreed to try and help them. While his fees were approx. quadruple that of the previous specialist, Fiona and Patrick were prepared to pay almost anything in order to have a baby. He put Fiona on a cocktail of hormone drugs (again at horrendous cost and which really knocked her about) but they paid off when 6 eggs were harvested. However, their hopes were very short-lived when, on day 3, all eggs died.
Having paid out nearly $40,000, Fiona and Patrick have come close to ‘the end of the road’. The financial pressure has been immense but they are still desperate for a baby. Egg donation is now the best choice available to them but, given Fiona’s age, and the cost and time involved to find a donor in Australia, their only option is to go overseas.
As her parents, my husband and I would dearly love to be able to help them in this endeavour as we know how desperate they are for children. They are both good people who would make wonderful parents (as Fiona has already proven with her daughter, who is a delight to anyone who meets her).
As we are both retired and living on a pension plus what little savings we have, we cannot afford to pay for their treatment but will do what we can. We pray that this Go Fund Me page and the generosity of those who read it, will help Fiona and Patrick realise their all-encompassing dream to have a baby.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for any help you can give.
Patrick had never been married and had no children, so they decided to start a family as soon as they were married, in August 2013.
After 12 months, and no sign of a baby, they sought medical advice. Fiona has suffered from severe Endometriosis since puberty, which has caused numerous problems with her body. However, their specialist thought this was something he could work around and so they initially tried a process called IUI. They were warned, that IUI didn’t have the greatest success but at $500 per cycle, it was cheaper than IVF. Regrettably, the process did fail so the specialist decided the best option for Fiona would be to have surgery in order to scrape out the endometriosis, which he ultimately discovered was extremely severe.
Following surgery, and a 3-month recuperation period, the specialist ran an HRT test to determine what Fiona’s egg supply was like. An average supply for someone her age is 14; but, sadly, Fiona’s was 3.5. However, the specialist agreed to try IVF and they went on to have 3 rounds.
The first round gathered no eggs, which was a devastating blow and totally unexpected. After increasing Fiona’s hormone drugs to try and improve the results, a 2nd round of IVF was undertaken but only 2 eggs were harvested. The first egg quickly died but the 2nd made it to the day before it was due to be implanted. Fiona was contacted by the laboratory to be advised that the egg hadn’t reached “Blastosis” (the optimal time to implant) but they encouraged her to proceed with the process. This, too, failed. The third round produced 1 egg which only survived a couple of days.
At this point, Fiona & Patrick’s specialist advised that he couldn’t do anything more for them but suggested they try another specialist who may have another perspective.
They had been told of a specialist who had remarkable results with IVF so they got a referral and booked their first consultation. The new specialist was hesitant to take them on, but Fiona and Patrick weren’t ready to give up so, after a lot of persuasion, he finally agreed to try and help them. While his fees were approx. quadruple that of the previous specialist, Fiona and Patrick were prepared to pay almost anything in order to have a baby. He put Fiona on a cocktail of hormone drugs (again at horrendous cost and which really knocked her about) but they paid off when 6 eggs were harvested. However, their hopes were very short-lived when, on day 3, all eggs died.
Having paid out nearly $40,000, Fiona and Patrick have come close to ‘the end of the road’. The financial pressure has been immense but they are still desperate for a baby. Egg donation is now the best choice available to them but, given Fiona’s age, and the cost and time involved to find a donor in Australia, their only option is to go overseas.
As her parents, my husband and I would dearly love to be able to help them in this endeavour as we know how desperate they are for children. They are both good people who would make wonderful parents (as Fiona has already proven with her daughter, who is a delight to anyone who meets her).
As we are both retired and living on a pension plus what little savings we have, we cannot afford to pay for their treatment but will do what we can. We pray that this Go Fund Me page and the generosity of those who read it, will help Fiona and Patrick realise their all-encompassing dream to have a baby.
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for any help you can give.
Organizer
Kaye Chappell
Organizer
Bracken Ridge QLD
