Leslie & Tom

When we got married in 2009, we always knew that we wanted a child to complete our family. We had adopted a kitten in 2011 and another kitten in 2013, but we knew our family wouldn’t be complete without a child.  

We started trying to conceive back in 2016 and tried for two years with no success. We went to a hospital practice in 2018 and had 2 failed rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF) before being told that we would need to consider egg donation.  

Finding fertility care at SGF

We wanted to get a second opinion, and we were recommended to try Shady Grove Fertility. We could not have been happier. Dr. Nguyen was very thorough and explained everything that we would need to do. We completed our first round of IVF with SGF and our third round overall seemed hopeful after we got the initial positive pregnancy test. Unfortunately, I had a miscarriage at 5 weeks and that news was some of the most devastating news to receive.  

It took another year to recover, and we decided to try for a fourth and final try. We did our egg retrieval in April 2022 and the doctors retrieved about 20 eggs. However, out of those 20, only 1 egg survived. To ensure that this cycle was going to work, Tom also had an appointment with Dr. Hayden. All of the tests looked perfectly fine. It was unexplained infertility. After doing the PGT testing, it came back normal, and we had our embryo transfer on July 6, 2022.  

Best news ever

On July 18, 2022, we received the best news ever. We were pregnant again! However, we took more precautions and were very careful. When we graduated from the program at 8 weeks, I sobbed happy tears in the waiting room of SGF knowing that we were finally going to become parents. Our gorgeous daughter, Naomi, was born on March 25, 2023, via c-section. She has been a joy in the short two years of her life. Having her has also brought us together more as a couple through communicating more and making sure we were on the same page for everything. She is keeping us on our toes, and we are living one day at a time navigating the multiple layers of toddlerhood. 

Advice for future patients

I would tell future patients not to give up and to trust your instincts. If I didn’t go with my intuition, I would not have a child today. Additionally, I asked the care team at SGF so many questions, and they were always so kind and wonderful and answered any questions or concerns that I might have.