Hi, our names are Alana and Andrew, we are 28 and 29 years old, and live in New Tecumseth Ontario. We have been married for 3 years but have been together for 10 years. We are both from large European families, and both feel that family is the most important thing to both of us and would make us both very happy. We are both gainfully employed so we moved to our house from an apartment because we both want to be parents and are committed to making a nice home for our future family. We both enjoy spending time working on our home, and spending time with our friends, and extended families.
However, as a child, I (Alana) was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, which is a Blood Cancer, at the age of three. The next three years were full of chemo treatments and medical procedures. Then I had a relapse into my CNS (central nervous system). This required several more years of aggressive chemo and radiation treatment. As a result of this, my ability to produce eggs has been greatly reduced, and now I am having trouble with my fertility and being able to get pregnant.
We have been seeing a fertility specialist at Mount Sinai Fertility for the past year and half and have gone through 6 rounds of IUI, which unfortunately have all failed, and 1 round of IVF.
In the first round of IVF, we were able to retrieve 2 healthy embryos. 1 Embryo did not take and the first-round implantation failed. My second Embryo however did implant and I did become pregnant. I was pregnant for 6 weeks, and unfortunately, I did suffer a miscarriage.
The process of any fertility treatments can be defined as a “roller coaster”. Lots of ups and downs, mixed emotions and can be hard physically and mentally. The key is to look forward and to not give up. Our doctor feels that I am a good candidate to proceed with further IVF treatments, so my journey has not ended yet!
The cost of IVF is going to make getting further procedures very stressful financially. Which is why we are so grateful we have the opportunity to work closely with the Fertility Friends Foundation. With the help of the foundation, we are able to move forward.
With many emotions moving forward, we are excited to have our fertility journey end in success!
Thank you
Alana & Andrew
