Tessa and Josh

We have been planning our family since three months into our relationship. Discussions about how many kids we would have and what to name them were happening before we had ever even spent our first holiday together! While we did broach the topic of adoption (if need be), we never imagined we’d be having the discussions we are having today, as we work through infertility.

Tessa had been on birth control pills for 14 years. In June of 2020, we decided it was time to go off the pill and start building our family. It wasn’t until three months later that Tessa’s doctor informed her she was not ovulating. For over a year we have been working to try to trigger ovulation through taking different medications, adding things to and removing things from Tessa’s diet, etc. In April of 2021, after extensive bloodwork and ultrasounds, Tessa was officially given the diagnosis of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS).

While our minds were at ease to learn that PCOS is fairly common and there are treatment options for us, financially the diagnostics and procedures were an extreme burden. Unfortunately, we did not plan or save for this. We both work for small startup companies, with no company-sponsored benefits. At the age of 30, our internal clocks remind us daily that if we want to have three children like we always planned, time is of the essence. We have been struggling with fear and anxiety not knowing how many cycles of costly treatment it may take for us to conceive, and ultimately will it even work?

The Path to Parenthood Grant lifted a huge burden from our shoulders, providing us the opportunity to move forward towards building the family of five we’ve always envisioned. We were ecstatic to learn about the Chicago Coalition for Family Building and its mission to help couples like us. Feelings of optimism and excitement are quickly replacing our initial feelings of worry and hopelessness. We are forever grateful that we were given this opportunity and look forward to future opportunities to pay it forward for other couples who are struggling with infertility.

Tessa and Josh are recipients of the Path to Parenthood Grant from the Jewish United Fund - Chicago. In 2022, they welcomed their son, Jackson!