Campaign Story

My name is Amy, and my husband of three years, Jack was diagnosed with a rare testicular cancer after a Leydig cell tumor was found on an ultrasound. Jack was only 26 at the time.
We began trying to have a baby two years and three months ago. When we weren’t pregnant after six months with medicated cycles, I worried it was me. See, I was diagnosed with systemic lupus erythematosus when I was 13, so living with my autoimmune disease for so long, I knew the potential infertility risks. So, Jack and I began the standard fertility testing. I had blood work and ultrasounds done. They all looked good. I completed a hysterosalpingogram and it was clear. Then, it was recommended that Jack be tested as well. He had blood work, a sperm analysis, and an ultrasound and that’s when we were fortunate enough to detect the tumor in his testicle. I say that we were fortunate because we found the cancer very early and after surgery to remove the tumor, and Jack’s testicle, the doctor was able to diagnose him. Although we were grateful for the early intervention, we knew this would affect his fertility. We froze his sperm before the surgery, just in case. After my husband’s surgery, we tried further medicated cycles and timed ovulation/intercourse and this did not result in pregnancy. We did IUI as well with no luck. Then we moved on to IVF, but we had to do a freeze all cycle because I needed to have polyps removed. After I recovered from that surgery, we transferred our only two eggs. The cycle was successful, we were pregnant, and so unbelievably happy. Unfortunately, at 7, almost 8 weeks, we miscarried. We were, and still are, devastated. Jack and I are determined to have family and we hope we can continue trying to build our family.
We have had a lot of heartbreak over the past two years, as have many couples struggling with infertility, but we still have hope that we will have a family. We are still holding out for something good to happen to us. We hope that this is our something good we’ve been waiting for. As they say, the best views come from the hardest climbs. We have been saving to try to make our dreams of becoming parents a reality and we are so close to making our goal. We are asking for any help towards our goal of another IVF cycle so that we can have a family after cancer. Thank you for taking the time to read our story!