Campaign Story

My name is Jennifer, and my husband is Michael. We are writing this letter asking for funding to help start our family. My husband and I met through friends. I was attending my master’s program and working as a nurse; my husband had just returned from overseas, serving with USMC, and had recently started the Police Academy. We always knew we wanted to start a family, but we never thought we would struggle with infertility.

I currently work as a Nurse Practitioner in Pediatric Primary care; my job entails taking care of acutely and chronically sick children, newborns, and new parents. I cannot tell you how often I have heard people question if I have children. Some days, this stings like a fresh wound, and some days, I proudly state, “I am struggling with infertility.” this soon shuts down any follow-up questions as to why we do not have children. I love kids and always saw myself surrounded by a big family. I believe everything happens for a reason, and God does not give you situations in life you cannot handle. I am going to use my voice to become an advocate, a shoulder to cry on, and an understanding listening ear to men and women struggling with infertility.

Our Journey started four years ago when we thought we would start trying. About two years into this journey of being unsuccessful despite cycle tracking, we knew we needed extra help with our fertility. We found my husband did have low sperm motility and quality. At the time, he worked as a correctional officer at the County Jail, working 70-80 hours of forced overtime weekly due to low staffing during the pandemic. During the summer of 2022, he began working fewer hours as a patrol deputy for the County, and we noticed his sperm motility and quality improved, which was relieving; however, this was still unsuccessful. We then began our journey with starting IUI. We had one cycle with Clomid, soon switched to letrozole, and completed four cycles of IUI with no pregnancy. Our Fertility Endocrinologist, has created a treatment cycle with IVF; we knew the cost would be daunting; however, we thought the insurance legislation had recently changed for Maine, mandating insurance for infertility. We soon learned that because my husband’s employer privately purchases insurance through his union, they do not need to follow state guidelines. They only need to follow federal guidelines, which do not enforce infertility coverage for all insurance. Knowing this information, we thought we would likely need to take out a personal loan or credit card to help pay for IVF. We are praying we will find help with funding.

Thank you for your consideration,

Mike and Jen