Melinda and Connor’s IVF journey

Hi! I’m Savannah and my husband Curtis and I are fundraising on behalf of his sister and brother-in-law Melinda and Connor. Melinda and Connor are some of the most amazing people we know and we are lucky to call them family. They have been on a journey to start a family for a long time and now they are at the point where they need to do IVF. We are hopeful to help them raise this money so that they can start their family!

Here is their story:

We met during college and, after dedicated effort from Connor, got married in the summer of 2013. After spending our first year of marriage in Utah we moved to Ohio and then to our current residence of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada where Connor is pursuing a PhD in Psychology studying birds (a degree in bird psychology, you ask? Yes of course) while Melinda works at a bird-feeding store, Wild Birds Unlimited. Yay birds!

We were perhaps a bit nervous about starting a family as having a bunny as a pet was stressful enough (just kidding) but decided to start trying in 2018- and believe me, we were trying. We moved to Canada and at the end of 2018 we thought Melinda may have been pregnant but it wasn’t so, and by the summer of 2019 we were referred to a fertility specialist and underwent all of the initial testing to examine potential causes of infertility. After taking these various tests, we discovered that it would be difficult, but not impossible, to have children. Connor has sperm antibodies from some unknown past injury (he seriously does not remember getting such an.. injury). After meeting with a fertility specialist in the fall of 2019, we tried some basic fertility hormone treatments with no success, and then in the summer of 2020 we tried 2 IUI (intrauterine insemination) procedures. However, after our 2nd IUI, we were told that IUI likely wouldn’t work for us- Connor just had too many dang antibodies and not enough viable sperm for the IUI to work effectively. So, our doctor told us that the best option in our situation would be to try IVF. This was a really tough time for us, we felt pretty defeated and the thought of IVF seemed quite daunting.

Also around the same time as our 2nd IUI, Melinda was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, which was negatively affecting her intestines, blood iron levels, and could (though not necessarily) be affecting her fertility. We decided it would be best to try and get her new gluten-free diet under control and let Melinda’s body heal before pursuing IVF, and it has been hard (gluten is everywhere!) but she is doing well. Now that Melinda is eating gluten-free and feeling better and healthier, we really want to proceed with IVF. It has now been over 3 years since we started trying to start a family and we’re anxious to take the next step in achieving that.

Unfortunately, as many know, it is expensive and with Connor being in school way longer than a normal person should, money is tight. We have paid for our previous IUI treatments but are looking for help with our IVF. If you are able to help us at all, we would truly appreciate it- we are really hoping to do this the beginning of 2022 and are very grateful for any help we can get.