We want to start a family (IVF)
Donation protected
Hello Family, Friends and anyone who came across this page by chance. We appreciate you taking the time to read our story and/or donating to our cause. We couldn't do this without you!
In May of 2012 I (Maria) was diagnosed with stage 2 triple negative breast cancer at just 22 years old. At this time I had been living in the Queens area for a little over a year and I was just getting ajusted to life by myself, away from my family. Then the words "you have cancer" hit me like a ton of bricks, my life came to a dramatic pause and I wasn't sure what it would mean for me or life as I knew it.
Every part of Cancer is scary from a simple doctor appointments to losing all of my hair, their wasnt a day after getting that diagnoses that I wasn't worried, nervous or scared... You name it, I was feeling it. There was though a silver lining in all of this that I wasnt aware of until later on and his name was Lear. <3
When i was diagnosed Lear and I weren't offically together and I thought for sure theirs no way that this guy is going to stick around to watch me lose everything that makes me a woman. I had read stories by women who had breast cancer and their husbands left them because they couldn't handle everything that comes with it... So in my mind, why would someone who isn't even my boyfriend consider a relationship with ME AND CANCER?
Part of a cancer diagnosis means many different doctor visits one included a visit to a fertility doctor. In my case Dr. Linda Sung, Reproductive Specialist of New York. So for those who dont know much about cancer when a person recieves Chemotherapy it can affect the body in harmful ways as it is a very strong "drug" and sometimes for women it can mean loss of your period resulting in early menopause and not being able to have children. This visit was to ensure that I could have children in future if chemotherapy ended up doing damage to my female reproductive organs, one of the many things you need to think about when going through cancer.
The first question my doctor asked me was "is their anyone in your life you think might be a long term partner?" and if their was i should consider asking them if they would be willing to put their sperm with my eggs to make an embryo and have them frozen for future purposes. So as you can imagine this was exteremly over whelming. I see this man in my future but how can i ask him to go through all of this with me and on top of it give me his children. It may sound funny but i was a 22 years old and losing my mind at this point, in my head i had a better chance at winning the lottery.
The day Lear told me he would go through the fertility process with me is the day I knew everything was going to be ok. It didn't matter what cancer would throw at me I had the support of my amazing friends and family and a man who loved me in my rawest form. If you remember anything from my story please let it be this... If you know someone who is sick or going through something theirs nothing greater that you can do then just be there! Wether its to lend a hand or an ear..listen & love them! Its the best kind of medicine & you never know you may just change their life forever! Thank you to my love for changing mine!<3
Now fast forward 4 years to present day, Lear and I are happily married and can't wait to see what life has in store for us. We do know that we've always wanted to be parents and idealy we would wait a couple years and then try for a child but my life unfortunately hasnt always been "ideal" and more then one cancer runs in my family, that being Ovarian. So since I'm BRCA1 positive I run a high risk of also possibly getting ovarian cancer at some point in my life, a chance i'm not willing to take. To decrease the chances of Ovarian cancer I need to remove my ovaries, no ovaries = no babies. This is one of the reasons we are moving things a little faster then normal [Besides the fact that I love this man with my whole being and can't wait to bring our love to life in a little bundle of joy] Our other reason for doing IVF is to prevent our child from carrying the BRCA1 Gene. As of right now without genetic testing if I were to get pregnant naturally our child has a 50% chance of inheirting the BRCA1 gene from me and 80% chance of carrying ethier breast or ovarian cancer if they were to inheirt that gene. So my question is would you take that chance on your child if you knew you could prevent it?
Neither could we. So here we are trying to start a family but we need a little help as we didn't think it would be this difficult. Our insurance and most insurances as we were told cover close to nothing when it comes to IVF so we are looking at about a $20,000 medical expense to bring a healthy child into this world. By no means do we want anyone to feel obligated but if you can donate anything we truly truly appreciate it! Thank you again for taking the time to read our story. We will keep this updated as much as possible. God Bless.
In May of 2012 I (Maria) was diagnosed with stage 2 triple negative breast cancer at just 22 years old. At this time I had been living in the Queens area for a little over a year and I was just getting ajusted to life by myself, away from my family. Then the words "you have cancer" hit me like a ton of bricks, my life came to a dramatic pause and I wasn't sure what it would mean for me or life as I knew it.
Every part of Cancer is scary from a simple doctor appointments to losing all of my hair, their wasnt a day after getting that diagnoses that I wasn't worried, nervous or scared... You name it, I was feeling it. There was though a silver lining in all of this that I wasnt aware of until later on and his name was Lear. <3
When i was diagnosed Lear and I weren't offically together and I thought for sure theirs no way that this guy is going to stick around to watch me lose everything that makes me a woman. I had read stories by women who had breast cancer and their husbands left them because they couldn't handle everything that comes with it... So in my mind, why would someone who isn't even my boyfriend consider a relationship with ME AND CANCER?
Part of a cancer diagnosis means many different doctor visits one included a visit to a fertility doctor. In my case Dr. Linda Sung, Reproductive Specialist of New York. So for those who dont know much about cancer when a person recieves Chemotherapy it can affect the body in harmful ways as it is a very strong "drug" and sometimes for women it can mean loss of your period resulting in early menopause and not being able to have children. This visit was to ensure that I could have children in future if chemotherapy ended up doing damage to my female reproductive organs, one of the many things you need to think about when going through cancer.
The first question my doctor asked me was "is their anyone in your life you think might be a long term partner?" and if their was i should consider asking them if they would be willing to put their sperm with my eggs to make an embryo and have them frozen for future purposes. So as you can imagine this was exteremly over whelming. I see this man in my future but how can i ask him to go through all of this with me and on top of it give me his children. It may sound funny but i was a 22 years old and losing my mind at this point, in my head i had a better chance at winning the lottery.
The day Lear told me he would go through the fertility process with me is the day I knew everything was going to be ok. It didn't matter what cancer would throw at me I had the support of my amazing friends and family and a man who loved me in my rawest form. If you remember anything from my story please let it be this... If you know someone who is sick or going through something theirs nothing greater that you can do then just be there! Wether its to lend a hand or an ear..listen & love them! Its the best kind of medicine & you never know you may just change their life forever! Thank you to my love for changing mine!<3
Now fast forward 4 years to present day, Lear and I are happily married and can't wait to see what life has in store for us. We do know that we've always wanted to be parents and idealy we would wait a couple years and then try for a child but my life unfortunately hasnt always been "ideal" and more then one cancer runs in my family, that being Ovarian. So since I'm BRCA1 positive I run a high risk of also possibly getting ovarian cancer at some point in my life, a chance i'm not willing to take. To decrease the chances of Ovarian cancer I need to remove my ovaries, no ovaries = no babies. This is one of the reasons we are moving things a little faster then normal [Besides the fact that I love this man with my whole being and can't wait to bring our love to life in a little bundle of joy] Our other reason for doing IVF is to prevent our child from carrying the BRCA1 Gene. As of right now without genetic testing if I were to get pregnant naturally our child has a 50% chance of inheirting the BRCA1 gene from me and 80% chance of carrying ethier breast or ovarian cancer if they were to inheirt that gene. So my question is would you take that chance on your child if you knew you could prevent it?
Neither could we. So here we are trying to start a family but we need a little help as we didn't think it would be this difficult. Our insurance and most insurances as we were told cover close to nothing when it comes to IVF so we are looking at about a $20,000 medical expense to bring a healthy child into this world. By no means do we want anyone to feel obligated but if you can donate anything we truly truly appreciate it! Thank you again for taking the time to read our story. We will keep this updated as much as possible. God Bless.
Organizer
Maria Aiello Dahl
Organizer
Bayside, NY