Evans Family Fertility Journey
Evans Family Fertility Journey
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$25,000.00
Fundraiser Goal -
$215.00
Funds Raised -
204
Days to go
Kristy Evans is organizing this fundraiser.
Campaign Story
My name is Kristy and my husband’s name is Jonathan. We have been together for 15 years. We enjoy hunting, fishing, spending time outdoors and at our cabin, and being with friends and family. We have always dreamed of having children and giving them a wonderful life full of experiences and love.
We are trying to have a family, but things have been extremely difficult for us. We have lost four babies. We lost our first baby on 03/11/2013 at 8 weeks 5 days; our second child, our son, on 03/01/2024 at 18 weeks 1 day; our third baby on 08/21/2024 at 6 weeks 6 days; and we just lost our fourth baby on 09/30/2024 at 5 weeks 5 days.
Our son, Gary Paul Evans, who was born sleeping on 03/01/2024, had bilateral renal agenesis (he had no kidneys), a cardiac malformation, and he either didn’t have a stomach or his esophagus was not connected to his stomach. We elected to have different kinds of pathology testing done to try to find a cause for losing our precious son, and sadly we have no answers. This has been the most heartbreaking, sad, and trying journey.
In addition to losing our sweet babies, I have had thyroid cancer twice (2017 and 2020) and had to have my thyroid removed, and I had to have a second surgery three years later to remove cancerous lymph nodes because the cancer came back. Then I had to undergo radioactive iodine therapy for the thyroid cancer. I was diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis in 2022 and had to undergo a thymectomy. Then in September of 2023, I was diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondylitis. Both Myasthenia Gravis and Ankylosing Spondylitis are autoimmune diseases that have no cure and require life long follow up and treatment. Due to the ongoing treatment I have been receiving, I am doing well. It’s not all rainbows and sunshine, but I am alive and making the most of it.
We started seeing a fertility specialist in early September of 2024 at RMA (Reproductive Medical Associates) of Lehigh Valley and our plan is to start with IUI (intrauterine insemination) and then go to IVF (in vitro fertilization). These are two types of fertility treatments used to treat infertility.
They have discovered that I have a severely low ovarian reserve, which means that I don’t have many eggs left. They are also testing me for other issues that could be causing recurrent pregnancy losses. They said my medical history is not the cause of the pregnancy losses and are not reasons for us not to try to have a family.
We are very hopeful that the fertility specialists can provide the help we need for us to have a successful pregnancy.
Thank you for taking the time to read our bio and getting to know us and our story. My husband and I are truly thankful for any help that anyone is willing to offer us. We look forward to giving our sweet angels a sibling on earth one day, no matter how that happens for us.
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02-13-2025
Infertility Journey Update
New Update:
Hey there! I just wanted to give an update on our infertility journey and what the plans are now.
We have now completed two IVF cycles. Our first IVF cycle was in January. It was an egg retrieval/fresh transfer cycle. Our egg retrieval was done on January 8, in which we retrieved three eggs. Of those three eggs, one egg was mature, and it fertilized and turned into an embryo. We transferred that embryo, which was the best quality embryo we could have, on January 11. Sadly, that transfer resulted in an early pregnancy loss (chemical pregnancy/early miscarriage).
Our second egg retrieval/fresh transfer cycle was in this month of February. When I went in for my egg retrieval February 12, it was found that the follicles had collapsed, which means I ovulated early, so no eggs were collected.
It is very heartbreaking and discouraging when you don’t retrieve any eggs. We were hoping for at least one egg again that could’ve turned into an embryo, but sadly that’s not the case.
So we have now had two failed IVF cycles and have lost a total of five babies, including our son, Gary.
This has been such a painful journey.
Our next steps are to do a donor egg cycle. With a donor egg cycle you have to pay for the donor eggs and pay for a retrieval cycle and medications for the donor as well as pay for a frozen transfer and medications for myself.
We are waiting to hear back from the Fertility Clinic to determine when we can start our donor egg cycle and move forward.
Hopefully, one day we will get to have a living child. We will keep you posted.
____________________Older Update:
We met with the doctor at RMA of Lehigh Valley. Due to my bloodwork and testing that I had done we now have a new plan of action. I was diagnosed with infertility. My infertility is due to recurrent pregnancy loss and a severely diminished ovarian reserve. My right fallopian tube is also 100% blocked and doesn’t work. Our next steps will be IVF.
We talked to the financial coordinator at RMA and found that for one round of IVF including medication’s egg retrieval embryo transfer, etc. that it was gonna cost us $32,000 in Pennsylvania. That cost is only for one chance and that didn’t sit well with me. So I started doing some research. During my research, I found CNY Fertility in Syracuse, New York. I spoke with the financial coordinator there and it was determined that for the same price as in Pennsylvania, we could do 3 to 4 rounds of IVF, giving us more chances at having a living child.
We have finally gotten everything switched over from RMA in Lehigh Valley to CNY Fertility in Syracuse. We had our initial consultation and our follow up appointment was this morning. The plan is to do my first egg retrieval at the end of December to beginning of January wherever my cycle falls and then we will be doing a fresh embryo transfer.
Starting in a week or two, I will be giving myself two injections a day to help make my body a better vessel for our future pregnancy.
When my cycle begins in December, I will be calling to report ‘day one’ of my cycle to get everything moving and to start the meds for our first egg retrieval.
We know this is going to be a long and hard journey, but it will all be worth it to be able to have a chance of having a living child.
We will keep you all posted!
| Name | Donation | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Kendall Peters | $100.00 | October 01, 2024 |
| Amy & Bob McNamara | $100.00 | September 24, 2024 |
| Jessica Sweinhart | $15.00 | September 22, 2024 |
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Kristy Evans is organizing this fundraiser.