Family Stories Lisa and David“My husband and I are both teachers, and we met teaching at the same school. Being teachers, we’ve always loved kids and knew that we wanted our own children. We tried to get pregnant after our first anniversary and it was a long road.” Lisa and David were recipients of a Coalition grant and as their journey …

Family Stories Gloria and VernonThey found love and marriage and just wanted to add a baby carriage. After 10 years as “awesome auntie and uncle,” Gloria and Vernon, U.S. Navy enlisted and reserve, respectively, were the perfect couple – but they needed more help to have a family than they could afford. Gloria and Vernon received a donated IVF cycle from …

Family StoriesSujata and Swanan After Sujata’s younger sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and found to be BRCA positive (the breast cancer gene), Sujata decided to undergo testing to see if she carried the BRCA mutation. Sujata was BRCA positive and while she did not have cancer, she was concerned about passing the gene on to her children. She wanted …

Family Stories Jenna and Jordan Their grant application said it all: “We want a baby more than anything. It ultimately comes down to whether or not we can afford IVF.” Jenna and Jordan were financially and emotionally tapped as two weeks after their wedding, Jordan was diagnosed with testicular cancer and had to undergo surgery and chemotherapy. Fortunately, he had cryopreserved …

Family StoriesKandice and Christopher”There has been a lot of hope and a lot of let downs,” Kandice and Chris shared. Chris’s daughter Leah was born with Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome (SLOS), a rare metabolic disorder that is genetically inherited. She is described as, “the love of our lives, and the best part of every day.” They struggled with the decision of how …

Family Stories Amanda and John“My husband and I are just like thousands of other couples who are experiencing infertility issues. I just assumed after we got married and planned everything out, next would be a baby. In the blink of an eye the plan I had always envisioned was potentially gone. It’s so scary and daunting yet I tell myself the …

Family StoriesNancy and FrankMy husband and I have been together for eight years and we have been trying to conceive for five of those years and counting. When we were not successful with any IUIs, we turned to our final option, IVF. The cost was great, and we were looking for options. When we met Dr. Rinehart, he listened intently …

Family Stories Lauren and Matt“Having children was always something my husband and I had talked about. But this dream appeared to be far reaching when I had some obstacles in my way. Our will to keep going and to have our baby kept us moving forward towards IVF, our best hope, despite the financial burden and the pre-IVF treatment needed.” Lauren …

Family Stories Mary Rose and LukeMary Rose and Luke are Indiana residents who were the recipients of a $10,000 Coalition Grant. “My husband Luke and I are so thrilled to announce that the embryo transfer funded by our 2017 Coalition Grant was successful, and we are now the proud parents of Lawrence Mark, born in May, 2018! Our four-year journey towards …

Family Stories Michelle and ErikMichelle is an English as a Second Language teacher at a high poverty, urban middle school and Erik is trained as a welder. “We have loved each other nearly half our lives and have many more years together. As with any solid relationship, we are a work in progress. In 2015, we quietly began the journey to …

Family Stories Manar and Thaer“I never thought I would have trouble having children. My sister had problems with her period and she got pregnant easily. As for me, I had no problems until I got married. It has been four years since I started infertility treatments and was told IVF is the best next step”. Financial constraints made it difficult for …

Family Stories Leigh and Phil“My name is Leigh; Phil and I have been married for a year and a half. Happily, we were planning our wedding in 2015 when I was diagnosed with a germ cell cancer in January 2015 and had surgery that was unable to preserve my fertility. I started chemo two weeks after surgery. My amazing fiancé, Phil, …

Family Stories Kristie and Petru My name is Kristie and my husband’s name is Petru. We have been married for thirteen years. We have struggled with infertility throughout our entire marriage. In 2016, we met with a reproductive endocrinologist who diagnosed the cause of our infertility struggles. The Coalition grant gives us so much hope for building our family. Kristie and …

Family Stories Katie and JoshAfter about three years of marriage, we had the feeling it was the right time to have a baby. However, month after month and year after year went by without a pregnancy. Eventually, we visited a reproductive endocrinologist and learned that IVF was the best option of having our own children. We applied for the Coalition Grant …

Family Stories Tracey and JohnTracey and John have always known they wanted a family, and unfortunately like many others, just assumed it would happen. They finally made the decision to see a reproductive endocrinologist in 2012 and began their infertility journey with Dr. Kevin Lederer at Fertility Centers of Illinois. Tracey was diagnosed with PCOS, and began treatment with IUI. This …

Family Stories Amanda and FrankyMy Name is Amanda Cardona and I am 34 years old, from Mexico. My husband is Franky Palma. He is 33 years old and is from Guatemala. We met each other in 2006 in an ESL program for learning English and became friends. We started to spend a lot of time together, our feelings for each other …

Family Stories Ann and HarryWe have been together six years, married in 2015 and started trying in November 2014 after we got engaged. We had a dream wedding, bought our dream house and now we want to do everything possible for our next dream: create a life. After a few years of trying, we decided to do preliminary testing with a …