Campaign Story

We are Steven and Ashley Bell. We have been together for just over 7 years and married for 4 years. We have 2 dogs, Spazz and Bella who definitely know they are fur babies.
Our journey actually began before we were actively trying. In January of 2017, we found I was pregnant. We were shocked! We weren’t trying to have a baby but we were so excited. Unfortunately, the pregnancy ended in an early miscarriage. The following June we decided to “officially” start trying for a baby.
We tried for over a year without any success. And we tried everything! In August of 2019, we made an appointment with a specialist. Right away, they noticed some things that were affecting us. I only have one ovary (the other one was removed years before due to a cyst), my AMH levels were pretty low, I had a cyst in the opening of my cervix, and a fibroid on my uterus. But my doctor was optimistic. We jumped right into our first IUI the following month. It didn’t work. We then completed our second IUI in December. It didn’t work. We were devastated. We took some time off and went back at the end of February to move to our next cycle. Unfortunately, the fibroid on my uterus had grown and needed surgery to have it removed. Then Covid hit and everything got pushed back farther. Finally, we did our last 2 IUIs in September and October with no success. We moved on to IVF in March of 2021. We got 4 eggs, only 1 fertilized, and our one embryo never grew. We were devastated. We had poured so much money and hope into this and ended up with nothing. After talking with our doctor, we knew that my eggs were a no go. Not only are they low in quantity but also quality. We are now moving on to using an egg donor.
We are choosing to use fresh donor eggs. The cost for this is $21,500 for the donor egg cycle and transfer. This does not include the cost of medication. We have been working as hard as possible to save what we can over the last 8 months.
I always dreamed of being a mother and wanted at least 3 kids. Now, I would be thankfully for just one. It would mean the world to us to be able to continue our journey and have the chance to complete our family.