Campaign Story

Britni and Chris have always known that they wanted to have a family. Britni always dreamed that one day she would find the love of her life, marry him, get a house and then start a family.

Her dreams became a reality when she met Chris.

Early on in their relationship, Britni and Chris found out they were expecting. They knew they loved each other, so at the age of 34, B was excited about becoming a mom. Fast forward to 7 weeks pregnant, Britni started to bleed, went in for an ultrasound and found out she had an ectopic pregnancy. The baby was stuck in her fallopian tube and Britni was rushed into emergency surgery. The surgeon was able to save her fallopian tube (thank goodness), but she woke up feeling sad and empty. Their excitement about becoming parents turned into pure grief.

After experiencing a very short, but very real pregnancy, they decided that they were going to continue to try and have a family. In October 2016 Britni and Chris started their journey of trying to conceive naturally.

After about a year and a half of trying to conceive, they made the decision to visit Britni’s OBGYN. She was put on clomid and after 3 months of TTC—no baby, and she was referred to a fertility doctor.They had their first visit to Fertility of San Antonio and met with Dr. Neal. They went through with an IUI and it was unsuccessful.

They had lost hope and were crushed. They felt defeated. Britni felt like a failure. Meanwhile,  there were no answers as to why Britni wasn’t getting pregnant. She recovered from another heartache and picked herself back up and decided she wouldn’t give up. Financially, they questioned what to do next?! Dr. Neal didn’t recommend another round of IUI, so IVF was discussed. It wasn’t in the cards for them, they decided to try to conceive naturally… again.

After about a year (on and off) of tracking Britni’s ovulation with apps and ovulation tests, recording her BBT (body basal temperature), cervical mucus observations and so much more, in July 2019 they decided to go to a different fertility clinic to get a second opinion.

In July 2019, they scheduled an appt with Aspire Fertility. They met with a Dr. James and decided that trying a procedure called Invocell would be their best option. This option was going to cost a little over $8,000 and it was what was best for them financially. So the journey began. Britni started all the medications again to help her body produce eggs. Lots of hormones were being injected. In August 2019 Britni went in for her egg retrieval. They were able to retrieve 8 eggs. AMAZING!! Britni’s eggs and Chris’s sperm were then placed in the culture device for fertilization and incubation. The device was then placed inside B and they waited; 5-7 days later the device was removed and the doctor then checked to see how many embryos were developed. They checked the quality and then a team decided which ones would be transferred to Britni’s uterus. She waited some more and the doctor came back with good news. They had 4 embryos. 2 had developed perfectly and they decided to go through with the implantation procedure that day.  (The other two did not make it). 2 we’re implanted. They had hope. They prayed and stayed optimistic.

About 10 days later Britni went in for a blood test to see if the procedure had worked. Later that day, Dr. James called and told us that neither one of the embryos implanted. Another heartbreak. Another let down. They were devastated. $8,000+ later and they had no baby… again. The Dr told Britni and Chris that their next steps would be IVF. $20,000-$25,000 was not in their budget at all.

That was 3 years ago. They have tried since then to conceive naturally. Britni has gone to different OBGYN’s to get different opinions, trying to find out what could be the problem. If she had an answer as to why she wasn’t getting pregnant, that might help a little with this feeling of failure. Nothing. She was put on Femara (another hormone medication) a couple times and still no baby.

Summer of 2022, Britni and Chris decided to visit Dr. Perry in Louisiana. Their extended family had said great things about this doctor and there was a procedure this doctor invented called The Perriscope. Basically he was able to identify why Britni wasn’t getting pregnant. After this procedure, she found out that her fallopian tubes were blocked, she had polyps and was diagnosed with endometriosis. Finally a reason why she wasn’t getting pregnant. Britni and Chris’s plan was to go through IVF in Louisiana with Dr. Perry, but plans didn’t go as they would have hoped and ended up going back to Aspire Fertility in SA.

Britni and Chris ended up getting in with one of the best (in their opinions) doctors at Aspire— Dr. Balthazar. They just completed their first IVF cycle. The cycle consisted of retrieving 11 eggs. Only 1 embryo made it to the end. They were disappointed at first, but knew they only needed one embryo to stick. While getting ready for this cycle, Britni wanted to do everything she could to increase her chances. She did an ERA, treated her endometriosis and lost 65 lbs. She became more active and made sure her body was ready for the transfer. On June 15, they transferred their little embryo and 10 days later found out it didn’t take. Of course they were devastated, but they aren’t going to let this stop them.

They will be starting round 2 of IVF in July. Dr. Balthazar has all the confidence in the world that Britni is in a better place to do another round and has high hopes for her and Chris.

The roller coaster they have been on has sucked. The emotional, mental, physical and financial part has taken a toll on them. They have spent over $60,000 so far and the next round will cost anywhere from $15,000-$25,000. They have some money stashed away, but anything you can donate will be greatly appreciated and put to good use.

The fertility journey they have been on for the past 5 years has changed Britni and Chris. Mostly for the better, but there have been some bumps in the road. Infertility affects 1 in 8 people. Infertility is a disease. Just because it’s not life threatening doesn’t mean that it’s not life changing.