Family Stories  Ashley and Kate “We met in 2009. It really was love at first sight, and we were married shortly thereafter in 2012. We have created a beautiful life together, and are the parents of three furry children. Our home is one filled with love, warmth, silliness and unconditional acceptance. There is only one thing that was missing from …

Family Stories  Peggy and Jake “I have worked as a Labor & Delivery Nurse for 15 years and I had helped countless babies come into this world. We want our chance to bring a child into our family with all the most love we have. We both have large, loving and extremely close extended families and friends, who have been …

Family Stories  Amber and Scott “We never imagined we would have trouble getting pregnant, but it has given us a glimpse into the struggle of many. It’s not a road that we walk alone, but it is filled with ups and downs that can feel lonely, and although we are thrilled for those around us that are having children, we …

Family Stories Christine and Brett “I have always wanted five children. Five – not four, not six, but five. We learned that without medical intervention, that number would likely be zero.” Christine and Brett tried for years to have a child before learning they would need IVF to help them make that dream a reality. But like many patients, they …

Family Stories  Kristen and Joe They started trying to have a baby in November, 2014. “You set out on this process to have a child and you naively assume that this is supposed to be the easy part.” It has been anything but and after years of fertility’s physical and emotional pain, Kristen and Joe knew IVF was their only …

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 …

Family Stories  Gloria and Vernon They 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 …

Family Stories Sujata 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 …

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 …

Family Stories Kandice 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 …

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 …

Family Stories Nancy and Frank My 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 …

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 …

Family Stories  Mary Rose and Luke Mary 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 …

Family Stories  Michelle and Erik Michelle 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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Family Stories  Katie and Josh After 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 …

Family Stories  Tracey and John Tracey 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 …

Family Stories  Amanda and Franky My 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 …

Family Stories  Ann and Harry We 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 …