The world of infertility is vast, and we’ve certainly found ourselves tossed on its tempestuous sea. Drew and I have longed to become parents for so long and when we began our life together, we had no reason to think that our journey to parenthood would be different from anything we’d envisioned for ourselves: meet, fall in love, get married, start a family, and live a beautifully chaotic and peaceful, happy life. Simple, right? Until you get a double-whammy infertility diagnosis: azoospermia and low AMH. Naturally, when life throws a curveball, you pivot and redirect. An early diagnosis set us on our path quickly after we married and we threw ourselves into the realm of IVF. Drew underwent an aspiration procedure and fortunately, the doctor was able to extract a significant number of healthy swimmers. Resulting from what they withdrew from this procedure, we were now presented with 6 potential chances with IVF. Once we secured our financing, I dove into this needle phobia with as much positivity and determination as I could muster. Now, three rounds and one ectopic pregnancy later, it can be difficult to distinguish between hope and desperation. After taking time to process and heal after each failed round, we once again pivot and redirect. Three round and three egg retrievals with a relatively low yield have been taxing on the body, so the time is right to pursue other avenues. We’ve investigated embryo and egg donors and sought out as much information as we could for both routes while figuring out what we could realistically financially do. It’s hard to find a balance between what’s feasible and what would be overextending ourselves. While navigating our next path forward, our yearning was heard and an opportunity presented itself: a special price egg donor who exceeded our criteria. We’ve been able to scrape enough together to secure a full cohort of 6 eggs. Fertility coverage through insurance is now nearly depleted, leaving the next hurdle to be the remaining amount for the embryology lab and the frozen embryo transfer. We’ve fought too hard to get here and won’t give up on this dream. We continue to save what we can and shall keep applying for grants as they come available. If fortune sees fit, we also hope to secure 6 more eggs from the same donor if there are any remaining, but will then still need to cover embryology. Through the throes of infertility, we hold true to one another and take every opportunity to strengthen our bond and enjoy our time together. Drew makes sure I smile and laugh every day, a quality I admire and look forward to seeing in action for our children. We are keeping the faith that we will be parents, even if it looks different and takes a little longer than we had imagined. Thank you for taking the time to learn our story and adding wind to our sails. Jessey & Drew