Crystal and Sydney

My wife and I have been together for 13 years and married for seven. We have always discussed having children and knew it was something that we truly wanted. In early 2021, we finally felt ready and stable enough in life with a house, vehicles, and stability in our careers (myself as a firefighter/first responder and my wife as a social worker) to have a child, so we decided to go for it.

We first went the intrauterine insemination (IUI) route as recommended by our doctor, as she reported that I was a great candidate and in excellent health. After three failed unmedicated IUI cycles, more testing was completed which all came back great with no issues. Next came the medicated IUI cycles, five of them, all leading to negative pregnancy tests. At this point, we were exhausted due to the roller coaster of emotions each month, but still had high hopes of adding to our family.

The next step was in vitro fertilization (IVF), but we were not sure that we would be able to go through with it due to the financial stress from the previous eight failed IUI attempts. We pulled together and took out a loan to complete one IVF cycle, which resulted in a pregnancy. It was the first time we were able to say those words after so many failed tries. Unfortunately, at six weeks pregnant, we lost the baby due to a subchorionic hematoma and our dreams were crushed. Shortly thereafter, we learned that we had received a grant to assist us in another IVF cycle through Chicago Coalition for Family Building. We feel so blessed and excited to have another opportunity to build a family of our own!

Thank you to all the supporters who make this possible!

Crystal and Sydney are recipients of a donated IVF cycle from our Partner Practice, the Advanced Fertility Center of Chicago.