Campaign Story

Hello! My name is Katie, and I am an aspiring SMBC. I have always known my entire life that I wanted to be a mother. I am a pediatric nurse and my love for children is profound. I decided to embark on this journey 5 years ago and let’s just say things haven’t gone as well as I thought it could have, but I am not giving up hope. Initially I found out I had primary ovarian insufficiency and early menopause. Not only did I have to grieve this medical diagnosis, but with this condition, my insurance does not cover any part of IVF.

My only option to move forward was to use donor eggs and that’s when my sister so lovingly offered to donate her eggs. We went through the process and we were able to make 4 healthy embryos. I had a total of four transfers with my healthy embryos but unfortunately all resulted in miscarriage. At this point, I didn’t have any more embryos so I was unsure if my journey had come to end due to financial hardship. Out of the blue, a friend of friend offered to donate remaining eggs they had that they weren’t using and this gave me the opportunity to continue on and keep trying for my rainbow baby.

I initially was only able to thaw half of the eggs donated due to cost. Unfortunately we were only able to make one healthy embryo with this thaw. I was still hopeful because it only takes one, but this transfer, again, resulted in miscarriage for the fifth time. My last bit of hope is to thaw the remaining eggs I have to create more embryos but I am feeling the depths of the financial burden. I have paid 85K at this point and it’s devastating.

I am a nurse working three jobs to pay for this but my time has come that I felt I needed to ask for help. I have worked so hard to get to this point in my life and I am not ready to give up on this fertility journey. The reality is that my strength is undeniable but the grief is real. I am hoping with all my heart that this journey will end soon with a sweet angel in my arms.