Vaughan's IVF Journey

This gofundme is set up on behalf of Stephen & Emily Vaughan and is overseen by Josh & Carla Yerkes. Here is the Vaughan's story...

Hi! We are Stephen and Emily Vaughan! We are so thankful you are here and that you are interested in our story. First, we'd like to tell you why we want to share. One, we need help in the financial portion of IVF. Two, we want the darkness around infertility to dissipate, we know that there can be shame, fear, and loneliness associated with infertility and we want others who are experiencing it to know that they are not alone. Three, we want to share the goodness of our God, Yahweh!

We've been married for seven years, five of those years we have been trying to conceive. We tried naturally for two years then went to a specialist here in Roanoke, VA. They had Emily go through a series of tests to make sure everything was working correctly. All the tests came back normal. So, we were advised to try intrauterine insemination (IUI) which we did, twice, both were unsuccessful. This was emotionally draining for both of us and physically hard on Emily. We figured we wouldn’t have a biological child at this point and began pursuing adoption or foster care (both of which we would still love to pursue in the future). A coworker of Emily’s suggested we get a second opinion at Virginia Fertility & IVF in Charlottesville, VA. We figured there wasn't any harm to it and boy oh boy are we glad we went! The specialists there have been so kind and hopeful! We were told that Emily was born with a low egg count and that we should pursue IVF sooner than later. The specialist said she wasn’t sure Emily would have any eggs left in two years. So, here we are preparing to start IVF in April/May 2023. We are full of faith most days that God will use this tool of IVF to give us the gift of a child. We have also made the choice now that if we do not have a child through this that we will remind faithful to Him because He is still good no matter what. Feel free to ask us any questions! We want to teach as we learn.

The figure stated is a large figure. It kind of shocks us just to think about it. In total though, this process will most likely cost upwards of $25k, however the stated goal is for what we know for certain we will need. With some savings we have, $20,000 will cover the medicines needed ($3,000+), two rounds of anesthesia for the egg retrievals ($1,100), and two egg retrievals with one embryo transfer ($17,500). We are having to do two retrievals due to Emily's low egg count which raises the cost. Unfortunately, the majority of this process is not covered by medical insurance other than some minor diagnostic tests. We are believing God for His provision as He already has all the finances we could ever ask for. Thank you for considering partnering with us in any way, and we ask that everyone who reads this would partner with us in prayer through this process.

With Love and appreciation,

S&E Vaughan