Campaign Story

3+ years…2 ectopic pregnancies & 2 removed fallopian tubes…2 egg retrievals…4 transfers…5 embryos: This our journey to Baby Keskinen

Thank you for taking the time to visit our fundraiser and for considering donating. Please feel free to read our story below!

My name is Amanda and my husband is Keith. We have been together for 15 years and married for almost 8 years. I am a high school Spanish teacher and he works in digital marketing. Both of us have wanted to be parents our whole lives. It is the greatest gift that we could ever be given! It is something that we would never take for granted for even a second.

To help alleviate some of the financial burden of IVF and the process surrounding it, we have bought a 1,000-piece puzzle. For every person that donates, we will write your name on a puzzle piece. This puzzle will be framed and hung in the nursery so we can always remember the people that helped us build our family and show our little one just how loved they are. You can see a picture of the puzzle in our images!

To continue to be a part of our journey, follow Amanda on Facebook! https://www.facebook.com/vanboa77/

Our Story:

Our journey to make our family has been long and hard, but also full of many learned lessons. We started trying to conceive in June 2021. We tried naturally for about a full year without any success. Then, I started taking Clomid to induce ovulation. After six months of being on Clomid, we conceived our first baby. Unfortunately, that pregnancy ended up being an ectopic pregnancy in my right fallopian tube. We found out at about the 10 week mark and were absolutely devastated. Our only option at that point was to have my fallopian tube removed along with the pregnancy. So that very day, I had surgery to remove my right fallopian tube. That day went from what was supposed to be the happiest to being the hardest day of our lives. It was beyond devastating. After that, we went back on Clomid again for five more cycles. We were able to conceive again in December 2021. Unfortunately, at the four week mark we found out that pregnancy was also ectopic. Also sadly, I had to have surgery again to remove it and my one remaining fallopian tube after trying to remove it with several doses of Methotrexate.

At that point, due to no longer having fallopian tubes, our only option to create the family that we both wanted more than anything was to move forward with IVF. We started with our first clinic in May of 2023. Both of us did all of the screenings and testing. Luckily, all of our numbers are in normal ranges and are very healthy. I had my first egg retrieval in August 2023. From that, we got four fully viable embryos. From there, we had our first frozen embryo transfer in November 2023. Sadly, it was not successful, we were so heartbroken but not ready to give up. So, we went ahead with a second frozen embryo transfer in January 2024. Once again, that was not successful, and we were absolutely destroyed yet again. Our third transfer, this time with two embryos, was in May 2024. We were so hopeful and excited for this transfer. We felt so good! Sadly, this transfer ended in a chemical pregnancy. The pain and heartbreak were unbearable.

After that, we decided to continue with this process and transferred to a new clinic for our continued fertility treatment. We were very much looking forward to getting to start over again, and hopefully create the family of our dreams. Our second retrieval resulted in two highly graded embryos. After that retrieval, we did our first fresh transfer. Again, we both really felt good about how it went and how I was feeling. Recently, we found out that yet again, the transfer did not take. There were so many tears and the pain has been really hard.

It has been a long and a hard journey, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. We have both learned so much and have grown incredibly as a couple. Infertility is one of the hardest things that we have ever experienced but we’re ready to keep going with this process. We are hoping for better things moving forward. Our plans next are to go ahead with one more FET to transfer our remaining embryo. That is the first thing that this money would be used toward. If it does not take, then I will proceed to see if there is any other testing that I can do to see if we can find a “why” for our unsuccessful transfers. After that, we will proceed with a third egg retrieval and subsequent transfers at a clinic back in Wisconsin. This money would be used for all of that.

All of this is has been the most difficult thing that either of us have been through. Compounding all the physical, mental and emotional pain is the financial toll that this has taken on us. We have been able to fund all of this to this point but we are financially tapped out and that is why we are asking for your help. Our insurance does not cover fertility in any way so we have to pay everything out-of-pocket. Anything that you are willing to donate is appreciated more than you will ever know! Every cent helps in this very expensive endeavor.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and consider us for your donation. You are so appreciated! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!!