My Husband Darin and I would like to send our heartfelt thanks!! This message is a little late as our son Ryder was born November 13th, 2013 a healthy 8 lb 5 oz and will be 5 months tomorrow. However, a big thank you to the Fertile Future program for making fertility preservation treatment affordable to me and my husband during the hardest time in our lives. It not only enabled us to have a family it truly was a source of hope while I was under going chemo and radiation treatment. My husband and I even thought of names for our future children. Ryder was one of the names, in fact it was the only boys name we ever agreed upon!

We started our fertility journey with Genesis Fertility Clinic back in June of 2012 when I had time to undergo one egg retrieval cycle prior to starting chemo and radiation for cervical cancer (diagnosed April 13th, 2012 after my 1st abnormal PAP ever). I had hoped to have a radical trachelectomy but during surgery it was noted that the cancer had spread and safe margins could not be obtained and I had to have a full radical hysterectomy. Fortunately, I was able to keep my ovaries at that time. Dr. Taylor promptly took me on as a patient and was able to go trans-abdominally and collect my eggs and subsequently with my husbands sperm create our little “freezer-babies”. Where they safely waited till we had a carrier.

In the fall of 2012 after I had finished all my cancer treatment my cousin volunteered to carry our child. We started the involved surrogacy journey with her and when all the steps were complete Dr. Kashyup implanted one embryo. We were nervous at first about only transferring one embryo (of the 4 we had) but when Dr. Kashyup told us this is what she would do if she was in our position we immediately felt much more comfortable. On the first attempt the single embryo transfer was a success and we were intended parents.

The pregnancy was completely uneventful and my cousin was a loving, caring, inclusive surrogate. It went as smoothly as I could have envisioned. We are forever thankful to my cousin, the team at Genesis and the Fertile Future program. If we ever have the opportunity to have another gestational surrogate carry for us we will most certainly take that opportunity and try to expand our wonderful little family.

Thank you again for creating hope during a scary and dark time.