Campaign Story

Evan and I have been trying to build our family for the last 3.5 years. Growing up there was never any medical concerns for either of us that would be a potential threat to us starting a family. In 2020 I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). We knew from that point I would likely struggle to conceive naturally. In January of 2021 we started our first round of infertility treatments through the OBGYN. Four rounds of failed treatments, he referred us to an infertility specialist. July of 2021 we met with our infertility doctor, Dr. Gentry. He decided to up my medication. We did another three rounds; all failed. November we went with a second treatment–injection shots. Three times a day for seven days I gave myself injection shots. Everything was looking positive…literally. December 1, 2021 I took an at home pregnancy test at 3:30 in the morning. Much to my surprise it was finally positive! I sat in the bathroom quietly crying tears of joy, not wanting to wake Evan up. When I got to work I called the infertility office to let them know the good news. They told me I would need to go to the local hospital to do a blood test to confirm. On my lunch break I went home to tell Evan the good news. Praying this day would one day come, I had made a little something for the day I would get to tell Evan the good news. I went to what would be the nursery and grabbed the bag. I came out and handed it to Evan. As he opened it you could see the tears well up in his eyes. I remember him looking at me and asking “Is this actually happening?” I went to the hospital right after work to go get the blood draw. Waiting for the nurse to finish the blood draw, I just had this gut wrenching feeling that something was off. By the time I got home, the results of my blood draw had already posted to my patient portal–negative. How was I supposed to tell Evan it was a false positive. I got his hopes up. Feeling all sorts of emotions–everything from being crushed to angry I went to the bathroom and took another at home pregnancy test. This time a different brand, different type. I knew what the results were going to be so I angrily tossed it in the trash and walked away. A little while later I went back and pulled it out of the trash can–positive. Extremely confused I just sat there in disbelief. Two at home pregnancy tests both reading positive, but my blood draw was negative. I called the infertility doctor the next day. She told me to test again in a couple weeks. I tested Christmas Eve–negative. Again just completely confused and crushed we pressed on for another treatment. January 2022 we did another round of injection shots. Coming up short again we decided we needed to take a break. Mentally, emotionally, I couldn’t take much more. Financially we had put ourselves into a place we never wanted to be, but growing our family was something we desperately wanted. While taking some time from infertility treatments, we decided we would search for more answers. I went to see a pelvic floor doctor who recommend we do a laparoscopy. In November 2023 a week before Thanksgiving I went in for my procedure. After returning to my room, I remember laying in the cold, dark recovery room with Evan not fully awake. I asked him “Is it bad?” to which he responded “your tubes are blocked.” I laid there just crying. A follow up appointment with my infertility doctor, he wanted to do a HSG to check the internal shape of the uterus. In doing so he unblocked my tubes, but believed I had a bicornuate uterus (heart shaped vs. the normal pear shape). He sent me in for a MRI of my pelvis. The findings came back that I didn’t actually have a bicornuate uterus, but I did have a decent size fibroid growing on my uterus, likely causing issues with implantation. Dr. Gentry wanted to just by pass my tubes all together because there is always a chance they will get blocked again. I was still holding onto the hope that we could conceive naturally with help so we compromised. Feeling 100% differently from any other round of treatment, I thought for sure this was our time. Our follicles were measuring where they needed to be, I wasn’t anxious. I was actually really excited because I would be testing in the same state where I was saved–Tennessee. The circumstances were all alike–I was going to be with people I really didn’t know, I wasn’t going to be with any of my family, but I just knew it was a sign. However, I tested at 4:00 in the morning on March 16 in Nashville, TN and came up short yet again. My heart just broke again. 10 treatments now, that have all failed. 3 procedures looking for answers, and we continue to come up short. So here we are, anticipating starting our journey with IVF in the fall. The financial burden on top of feeling emotionally, and mentally crushed has left us feeling scared. We’ve saved up some money, but no where near the amount it’s going to cost us to hand the infertility doctor the day we go in to start IVF. No payment options, it’s all paid for upfront. Insurance doesn’t cover any medication, procedures, etc. pertaining to infertility. Everything has been out of our pocket the last 3.5 years.

If you’ve read this far, thank you for reading our story. It’s been hard, but we have a great support system that has kept us on the path moving forward.

If you feel inclined, even $5 can help us reach our goal. Thank you for supporting us on our adventure to growing our family.

Much love,
Evan & Ashley