Campaign Story

My name is Marisa. I am fundraising for myself and my spouse, Angel for IVF treatment and medications cost. I am 36 years old and this would be our first child. We began this journey 2 years ago. At the start of the fertility journey, we tried to get pregnant at home, however, due to the cost of sperm, decided to seek a fertility specialist. Little did I know then, that I actual have fertility issues. I have fibroids, both of my fallopian tubes are closed, per my physician- I have PCOS and the potential for Endometriosis due to family history. The fibroids become a problem when-they grow in areas essential to pregnancy and also when they grow too large. My fallopian tubes being blocked-requires the use of IVF to achieve pregnancy. PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome-can cause multiple issues, from hormones to infertility. Endometriosis can cause numerous problems, that can lead to surgery and also infertility.

I have went through 1 cycle of IVF, resulting in 6 embryos. In May 2022, 2 untested embryos were transferred via a frozen embryo transfer. The results was a blighted ovum, per Google, “it occurs when an embryo never develops, or stops developing.” There is no explanation for it, however, it could be from a genetic abnormality of the embryo. This resulted in a miscarriage that required a D&C. Initially, we decided against PGT-A (genetic testing of embryos). However, after the 1 failed transfer, we decided to have our remaining 4 embryos tested. We expected to have at least 3 normal embryos available for transfer. We recently received the news that we only have 1 normal embryo available for transfer, the other 3 have severe genetic abnormalities that would not lead to a pregnancy or would always end in miscarriage.

Our first round of IVF was partially paid for by my health insurance, we were responsible for between $5,000-$6,000 of that initial treatment. I am anticipating having to go through hopefully just 1 more round of IVF to achieve at least 1 pregnancy. This second round of IVF will be mostly out of pocket. With around $9,000 of my fertility coverage left over. The estimated remainder that must be paid out of pocket for medications and fertility treatment will be close to $15,000+.

I am not one to let anything get me down and I am a very determined! I refuse to let any diagnoses determine anything in my life. Angel and I are asking for help in covering the financial burden of another round of IVF. Thank you for reading and well wishes to you all!