Campaign Story

Hello, my name is Marielena and my fiancé is John. We met in 2015 and have been together since 2016. We have been trying to conceive since 2018. I am 31 now and my fiancé is 32. In 2016 I was diagnosed with PCOS and had very irregular periods. When we started to try and nothing was happening we figured it was because of the PCOS but for years now I have had regular periods and ovulate each cycle. I first went to see by OBGYN who started me on medicated cycles to help with ovulation. None of that worked. I was then referred to a fertility specialist where I went through all the common testing. The specialist didn’t think I would have any problems getting pregnant once I he saw my blood work. I’d been seeing this doctor for about 2 years. Month after month of medicated cycles I was not getting any positive results. We eventually moved onto IUI. We completed 3 IUI procedures all of which failed. The doctor finally said that we could continue to do IUI procedures but that at this point we were experiencing unexplained fertility. He said there was nothing that stood out as to why I wasn’t getting pregnant. He recommended we explore IVF. Like many others stories — insurance doesn’t cover anything fertility related. We had already spent thousands with the specialist so we thought it’d be best to move on and try to save enough to go for IVF. I’ve never been pregnant. There’s nothing more we want than to have a baby of our own. People often say you’re never ready to have a baby but we are so ready. We’ve enjoyed our young adulthood, we’ve gotten to form a really strong bond with all this time we have had to share with one another, we are financially are able to provide, and more importantly we have so much love we want to share. We did eventually move onto IVF where we ended up with 7 embryos. Out of the seven one did stick but ended in an early loss. I was speechless when I saw the positive pregnancy test and even more so during my first ultrasound that confirmed I was pregnant. At the same time I was so, so scared. I found it hard to be excited because I was so worried that things would go wrong and they did. The process was draining in every way you could imagine. It’s been discouraging at times but we have not given up. The money we are trying raise in this campaign would be for another round of IVF. We’re thinking of going through CNY since they are the most adorable is the US. We would like do mini IVF. I have sick time I can take off of work and we have savings that could cover lodging and other related expenses. I can’t put into words how much it would mean to us if we reached our campaign goal. This would be absolutely life changing. If we get donations we will forever be grateful and honored to have been chosen. It’s unfortunate that sometimes the only thing stopping you from continuing a journey like this is money.  Thank for listening to our story. We are still hopeful not only for us but for everyone experiencing fertility related issues.