Campaign Story

Hello, my name is Chelsea. I’m 28 years old and I live in Phoenix, Arizona.

When I was 17 I became pregnant with my daughter who was born full term naturally. I was overwhelmed with joy, happiness, and love. I was ecstatic to give birth to her on June 10th, 2012.

Six months later my life would be turned upside down.

I was caring for my daughter who was about 4 months old when I started getting got. My brain felt like it was about to explode, I was going to pass out or even die. I felt outside my body and shortly called for an ambulance to a hospital. After investigation, I had two “ovarian” cysts. One was 10cm and the other was 6cm on both of my ovaries. My OBGYN was on maternity leave and I couldn’t find anyone to do the surgery I needed because I was “obese” from packing on this baby weight. I waited for months in and out of the hospitals, pain, suffering, no one answering my pain and just throwing pain medication in my face until I finally met with my OBGYN agreed to complete the surgery. I told her: “Something is wrong with my body I feel like I’m going to die if we don’t do this surgery”. I was prepped for surgery on February 25th, 2013. I awoke in the hospital to my hysteric mother who told me at the age of 19, “Chelsea, the cysts were inside both of your Fallopian tubes and they damaged and diseased your tubes to the point where they couldn’t be saved. You could have died if one of those cysts burst. Your daughter was a miracle. You can no longer have kids naturally.”

It felt like my heart was shot. There was a hole in me that started that day where it grew just like those cysts and like a cancer that took away my right to bear children again. I used to cry and ask “God” why did you take this from me? What could I have done wrong?

I have wished for years to get pregnant and have a family again and it’s not fair I was forced to pay something so expensive. With everything going on in the world today, I want to have children again before it’s too late and they take away IVF.

I’m a full time mom to a special needs girl and I surround myself with kids. I’m a special education teacher in training and I work in a school to fill that empty hole that grew in me so many years ago. I hope someone reads and hears my story.