Campaign Story

Nelson and I (Virginia) have been ready for a baby for a while, but we’ve been waiting until I graduate from my PhD program to start our family. Expanding our family hasn’t made sense until now.

I knew I wanted to do pre-conception carrier screening before we started trying. It felt like the responsible thing to do for our future child. In February we started that process, and in June we found out that we are both carriers for Pompe disease. Pompe disease is a severely life limiting disease, and we have made the decision to do IVF with pre-implantation genetic testing to avoid bringing a new life into the world with this disease.

Because I have been a graduate student for so long, I don’t have the savings that someone my age would typically have. A graduate student stipend is quite tight. I prioritized my education for my own personal growth and to be able to support my family in the future. I look forward to doing that, but this new reality is not something we were expecting. We have to pay upfront to start the process of making the personalized genetic test for our embryos. We can’t move forward with the rest of IVF without this test which costs $3000 to make.

We are working hard to make this happen. I am finishing up school and applying to full-time positions to help pay for IVF and prepare for our future family. Nelson works hard and I am so appreciative of everything he is doing for us. I am hopeful that my job will offer IVF coverage.

We are raising funds to be able to do what we have wanted to do for so long. We may have a more difficult path than we foresaw, but we’re committed to having a healthy baby. Anything we can do to prevent suffering for our future child is worth the expense and stress of going through IVF.

We are so thankful to everyone who donates to our cause and helps us start our family. I have wanted to be a mother for so long. Just ask Nelson, he will tell you all about it. It is such a special privilege to raise a child, and I can’t wait to do my best to be a great mom. I know this is a just a temporary challenge that will be so worth it in the end. But first, we have to make it happen. And that’s why we are so appreciative of your contribution so that we can have a baby free of the suffering of Pompe disease.