Samantha

I am so thankful for Shady Grove Fertility and hope my story will help others, as I experienced both loss and joy. I am a single professional woman who always thought I would find a husband. However, I did not find a husband and because I was getting older, I decided to do IVF for the first time while I was living in Australia.

I had 20 eggs retrieved and 13 fertilized. I became pregnant the first fresh transfer and my entire family was so happy. Unfortunately, at my 22-week ultrasound, we found out the baby had a hernia and other problems and was only given a 20% chance to live.

I decided to carry the pregnancy as far as I could in order to give the baby the best chance possible. Sadly, I lost my first-born son at 32 weeks gestation. I truly believe he is watching over me.

I was tested and did not have any genetic disorders, so I took the chance and did a frozen embryo transfer. With this transfer, I was very nervous the entire pregnancy but ended up giving birth to a 10-pound, beautiful baby boy.

I couldn’t have been happier.

Trying for a second child

I always knew I wanted another child and still had not found ‘the one’ so I sought out Shady Grove Fertility last year while living in Las Vegas. I met with Dr. Doyle at the Rockville, MD office and he was so positive, professional, and friendly. I decided the best path was to go through IVF using an egg donor and participate in the Shared Donor Egg Program. I was so overjoyed when I learned I was pregnant on the first try. I gave birth to a wonderful and beautiful baby girl named Helena in October of 2018.

Being a mother is such a wonderful experience. I am definitely not perfect, but every day is an amazing adventure to learn and grow. Although my daughter is not my biological child, to me it is not a concern as essentially, we are all related. I never knew that I could love two little people so much! The baby that I lost is also with me and I share that same love with him which shows that even through loss, love and hope prevail.

Everyone at Shady Grove Fertility was very helpful through the entire process and I flew to Maryland from Las Vegas only twice. I still have two frozen embryos that I hope to pursue in the future. SGF was very efficient and professional the entire time. When I arrived at the Rockville office, the staff was friendly and accommodating. They made the process easy and I hardly had to wait. The nurses, doctors, and embryologists who performed the transfer were amazing and gave me so much hope.

If I could offer advice, it would be to never give up hope and to choose a program you feel comfortable with. Sometimes you just have to dive into the unknown and take a chance no matter the outcome. I always told myself that I would try until I failed and that way if I failed, I would be content knowing I tried. Specifically, for egg donor recipients, I would say that just because the baby is not directly related to you, you do not have to worry as the love you will have for your baby is unconditional. I can say this as I have had a child using both an egg donor and my own eggs and the love that I have for them is equal and never-ending.

I would highly recommend Shady Grove Fertility to anyone pursuing a baby. Do not give up as fertility treatment can be both exciting and scary while facing the unknown. Thank goodness for SGF, as without them, we could not bring a beautiful life into the world.