Campaign Story

Hello,

My name is Cassandra I’m 25 (soon to be 26 in a couple of months). I was diagnosed at 20 years old with PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). At the time I was placed on a hormonal birth control as that’s how the doctor said would “fix” my problem. I got off the birth control 6 months after starting it and have struggled ever since. I lost my period and rapidly gained weight in the summer of 2020. My period from there was very irregular until the summer of 2021 when my period disappeared completely. I met my husband Lonnie in the fall 2021 we both knew we wanted a family and decided to start trying immediately. I knew though that because of my PCOS and absent period that I was going to need assistance in getting pregnant. I went into to my OBGYN and had my physical. My doctor did not want to get involved with my fertility due to it being such an emotional journey. So he referred me to a fertility clinic. They were booked until July of 2022. While we waited to get in we decided to get a second opinion from another OBGYN and we did a few rounds of letrozole with her, that failed. In July we were both given full work ups and sent for testing. We had our results by the end of August and I had a period again. We decided that after visiting my family in September we would get fertility treatment through them. 2 weeks after we came home my dad unexpectedly passed and we decided to put a hold on trying due to the grief and emotional stress it caused. A month and half after his passing I went to my primary and he said I think you should start trying again. So we decided to go back to our OBGYN (2nd opinion) at this point we were trying different diets and we did a few more rounds of letrozole with her. In January of 2023 I had a cyst rupture and I was put in the hospital. My OBGYN has since felt uncomfortable with trying to induce ovulation because she doesn’t want me to lose a fallopian tube when I’m already struggling to get pregnant. In August of 2023 I lost my period again and I haven’t had one since. I was working with a holistic fertility coach at the beginning of 2024 but she got pregnant and stopped working with clients. My OBGYN sent in progesterone in May to induce a bleed and it didn’t work. In August of this year she gave me a months worth of birth control to induce a period. Just this last Wednesday I went in for my physical with her and I was told because I’m not having periods I am considered high risk for uterine and ovarian cancer because my uterine lining is getting to thick because of me not bleeding naturally. She wants us to have ASAP because my window is closing and I’ll be even more high risk in my 30’s for trying to have kids. I wanted to have more than one, and I know that 4 years is not that long since we’ve already wasted 3 years trying different things. She said the only way for me to conceive at this point is to have reproductive intervention. At this point we can’t really afford treatment costing upwards of 25,000$. So I’m looking for grants or any help I can get to make my dream of being a mama come true. Thank you for taking the time to read my story.