Campaign Story

We are Jesse and Paola Garcia and we have been married for over 10 years. We have two doggies who are our babies but would like a human baby very much. We have been trying to conceive since August 2018 and have had no luck.

In January 2020 we went to see the highly recommended fertility doctor, Dr. Potter of HRC Fertility Newport Beach. We both underwent a lot of preliminary diagnostic fertility tests. Due to the results of these tests, we were told that IVF was the only way for us to conceive. Due to certain factors, IUI (intrauterine insemination) was not an option. In addition, we found out that conceiving naturally would also be highly unlikely and it was highly discouraged due to certain genetic factors that could cause developmental delays in our baby. These genetic factors could also increase my chances of miscarriage as well.

So with the love, support and financial help of my family we began our IVF journey in the Fall of 2020. In October 2020, I underwent the egg retrieval procedure and 14 eggs were retrieved. Of those eggs 7 were fertilized and 6 made it to the blast cycle. At this point they were frozen and underwent pregenetic testing. On 10/29/20, we found out that only 1 of our eggs was genetically normal so we couldn’t use the other ones. We were concerned but remained hopeful.

Next came a series of detours that prolonged our embryo transfer for about another year. First, I underwent 3 surgeries to remove uterine fibroids which would have interfered with the embryo sticking. Then, I had to get my A1C down because I’m diabetic so that was another 3-5 months. Finally, when my A1C was low enough, we could continue with the frozen embryo transfer.

Then, we ended up trying to prepare for the transfer twice but we were not ablet to continue until mid-March 2022. The big day had finally arrived! I underwent the embryo transfer with our only viable embryo and the doctor told us our embryo had a 90% chance of sticking. I had to be on bed rest for 3 days and then wait 12 days to find out if we were pregnant. This was the hardest part so far!

April 4th came and we went in super excited for my in-office blood pregnancy test. We went home and awaited the call that we had been anticipating since the beginning of our IVF journey over 2 years ago. We finally got the call and we found out that we were NOT pregnant. As you can imagine, we were and are still utterly devastated by this news. After everything we went through, we lost our only viable embryo, a baby boy.

This has been an emotional roller coaster for both of us. On top of that, the surgeries and the dozens of injections were very painful at times. Towards the end, I had so many bruises on my stomach and hips it was hard to find a spot that was not bruised.

Even though we are back at square one, we do not want to give up hope of having our very own baby. Our plan is to save as much money as we can on our own by maintaining a strict budget, selling things we don’t need or use and other entrepreneurial efforts. However, if you feel inclined to help us in any way toward making our baby dream a reality, we would be forever grateful. Whether it’s a small donation, buying anything we are selling or putting us to work in any other way (we are open to doing small jobs!), it would make a world of difference.

Thank you for the love & support
-Paola and Jesse