Help Tina & Elliott Start A Family
Donation protected
Thank you so much for taking a minute to learn more and possibly help Tina and Elliott on their journey to start a family. Please read on with an open heart, open mind and put yourself in their shoes. Time is of the essence in this case and we hope you can understand why we have decided to ask for help.
The following message is from Tina-
"First off, I want to thank you for taking the time. This is not an easy thing to put out there, nor an easy ask. Scenarios like ours are often journeyed behind closed doors and with little broadcasting but this is the personal journey that we’ve decided to share.
Since I was a little girl, I’ve always dreamt about mothering my own children. Years have turned into decades and I've witnessed many family and friends conceive and raise their beautiful families. Of course, I couldn't help but wonder when I was going to be blessed with a turn at my own family. Now, being off birth control for many years our dream is starting to feel impossible without some much-needed help and support from our community.
Over the past 13 years, I’ve been suffering from serious stomach issues and pain that doctors couldn't quite put their finger on. I’ve been tested for conditions such as Crohn's, Colitis and Celiac, however, they all came back negative. Fast forward many years and many tests, I was finally diagnosed with a painful disorder known as Endometriosis and another condition called Adenomyosis. Both similar conditions, with similar side effects. Endometriosis is a condition in which the layer of tissue that normally covers the inside of the uterus grows outside of it and the surrounding organs. They categorize this condition in 4 stages of severity and I'm in the 4th stage. Adenomyosis, causes the tissue and muscles in the uterine wall to enlarge and harden. With the combination of both of these conditions, it would seem to be the cause of our trouble conceiving.
Elliott and I have been trying to get pregnant for almost 2 years with no success. Every month discovering that you’re not pregnant is incredibly disappointing and emotionally exhausting. I’ve done everything in my power to aid my body in this plight, herbal medicine, acupuncture, diet and many other little tricks, but nothing has worked.
We started visiting a fertility clinic over a year ago to see what our options were. Over this time my endometriosis has worsened and become quite severe. The only way to treat it would be to operate and remove the affected areas (which can take multiple operations with no guarantees). This process would also place me on hormone therapy, which would alas, not allow me to have children.
One of our other options was to try a procedure called IUI (Intrauterine Insemination), the success rate was low for a woman in my condition, but so was the price tag. Sadly, the IUI was unsuccessful.
Our fertility doctor, whom also specializes helping patients with endometriosis conceive, recommended we try Comprehensive Chromosomal Screening IVF. This process has a much higher success rate for a woman my age and with my condition and it has a much higher success rate than regular IVF but, time is of the essence.
BC is among the many provinces that will not cover IVF with medical and since we don't have that kind of money and because of our time constraints, we are reaching out to our kindhearted friends and family. They say it takes a village to raise a child, in our case, it will be a village to make a child. We know this post and ask will come with a lot of opinions and judgement and that’s ok, just please try to understand before you do so. We would not ask if this wasn't the only route left.
Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to read this, to understand us and for your kindness and generosity.
Tina & Elliott
*Should you feel more comfortable making a donation directly to Tina & Elliott, you can do so by transferring it to [email redacted] *
The following message is from Tina-
"First off, I want to thank you for taking the time. This is not an easy thing to put out there, nor an easy ask. Scenarios like ours are often journeyed behind closed doors and with little broadcasting but this is the personal journey that we’ve decided to share.
Since I was a little girl, I’ve always dreamt about mothering my own children. Years have turned into decades and I've witnessed many family and friends conceive and raise their beautiful families. Of course, I couldn't help but wonder when I was going to be blessed with a turn at my own family. Now, being off birth control for many years our dream is starting to feel impossible without some much-needed help and support from our community.
Over the past 13 years, I’ve been suffering from serious stomach issues and pain that doctors couldn't quite put their finger on. I’ve been tested for conditions such as Crohn's, Colitis and Celiac, however, they all came back negative. Fast forward many years and many tests, I was finally diagnosed with a painful disorder known as Endometriosis and another condition called Adenomyosis. Both similar conditions, with similar side effects. Endometriosis is a condition in which the layer of tissue that normally covers the inside of the uterus grows outside of it and the surrounding organs. They categorize this condition in 4 stages of severity and I'm in the 4th stage. Adenomyosis, causes the tissue and muscles in the uterine wall to enlarge and harden. With the combination of both of these conditions, it would seem to be the cause of our trouble conceiving.
Elliott and I have been trying to get pregnant for almost 2 years with no success. Every month discovering that you’re not pregnant is incredibly disappointing and emotionally exhausting. I’ve done everything in my power to aid my body in this plight, herbal medicine, acupuncture, diet and many other little tricks, but nothing has worked.
We started visiting a fertility clinic over a year ago to see what our options were. Over this time my endometriosis has worsened and become quite severe. The only way to treat it would be to operate and remove the affected areas (which can take multiple operations with no guarantees). This process would also place me on hormone therapy, which would alas, not allow me to have children.
One of our other options was to try a procedure called IUI (Intrauterine Insemination), the success rate was low for a woman in my condition, but so was the price tag. Sadly, the IUI was unsuccessful.
Our fertility doctor, whom also specializes helping patients with endometriosis conceive, recommended we try Comprehensive Chromosomal Screening IVF. This process has a much higher success rate for a woman my age and with my condition and it has a much higher success rate than regular IVF but, time is of the essence.
BC is among the many provinces that will not cover IVF with medical and since we don't have that kind of money and because of our time constraints, we are reaching out to our kindhearted friends and family. They say it takes a village to raise a child, in our case, it will be a village to make a child. We know this post and ask will come with a lot of opinions and judgement and that’s ok, just please try to understand before you do so. We would not ask if this wasn't the only route left.
Thank you so much in advance for taking the time to read this, to understand us and for your kindness and generosity.
Tina & Elliott
*Should you feel more comfortable making a donation directly to Tina & Elliott, you can do so by transferring it to [email redacted] *
Organizer and beneficiary
Nya Simone
Organizer
Calgary, AB
Christina Guindon
Beneficiary
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