Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)

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Daniel and I were married out of college and we had always dreamed of having a family. We wanted to be married for a few years to enjoy married life and to be who we wanted to be before we had babies. We traveled and went on some great vacations and led mission trips to Japan and Brazil. We really lived life!
We started trying to have a baby after 3 years of marriage. We tried for a year on our own, knowing it might take a little bit, however, we didn’t worry too much. After a year of trying to conceive, my OB tested me and told me I had polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and put me on Clomid. I did 6 months on Clomid, but we didn’t have any luck. My OB then referred us to a fertility center in TN, where we lived. We had high hopes to conceive after our first appointment.

Beginning treatment

We were tested at the fertility clinic and everything looked good. We started with intrauterine insemination (IUI). We were thrilled because we had lots of excellent swimmers each time we tried, and it was the closest we had gotten to maybe getting pregnant. All four rounds of IUI were negative.
We were told it was time for in vitro fertilization (IVF). We had more testing done and found out that I have a layer of protection around my eggs that fights away sperm. So, we would need intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) done on our eggs—where the embryologist inserts a healthy sperm into the egg.
We began raising money to go forward with our first round of IVF. We had three viable embryos. We decided to transfer two embryos and freeze the other, just in case. We got pregnant, but it was deemed a chemical pregnancy. Our second round of IVF resulted in the same. We were devastated. We had exhausted all of our options and came away with nothing but heartache.

Discovering Shady Grove Fertility

I reached out to a lady who is now one of my dearest friends, who told me about Shady Grove Fertility and their Shared Risk 100% Refund Program. If you do not have a baby at the end of six fresh cycles and as many frozen cycles that you have embryos for, you get your money back! This was a no-brainer for us!
Our clinic here didn’t have any kind of program like this and seemed to treat us like just another money-making endeavor, instead of being invested in us getting pregnant. We did the first couple of monitoring visits at our clinic in town, but once we were getting to the everyday monitoring, we flew up to Washington, D.C., and stayed until our egg retrieval and embryo transfer.
We started at Shady Grove Fertility in January of 2015 and went through a round of IVF. During our IVF process, we did daily injections and oral medications. I was able to do the smaller injections myself, but once we got to the bigger intramuscular ones, that job went to my amazing husband!
He was my biggest supporter through all of this, and when things would seem to be just “too much” he was right there, telling me that we could do this. It definitely helped to have a great team of people there to help us along the way. Dr. Chang and his staff were AMAZING. They were always there to answer any questions and help us. They were invested in getting us to the end of this journey with healthy baby/babies.
During treatment, I found out that I needed surgery to remove a fluid-filled tube, so I had this done and then we went ahead with the frozen embryo transfer. We ended up transferring 2 beautiful embryos.

The call we’ve waited for

The 2 week wait was so long! I tried to fill my days with visits from friends, and light work; we own a bakery, and so I was able to do a few weddings with the help of a dear friend, to keep my mind off of the waiting. During the wait, I was feeling good, with slight twinges here and there, and I just kept praying it was our embryos settling in for the next 9 months.
I was able to go to a friend, who is a doctor, and she did my bloodwork for my pregnancy test, and we got the lab results the next day. As soon as they came in, she texted me the results and my HCG levels were off the charts! It was so surreal to know we were pregnant and possibly pregnant with twins. Dr. Chang called within the next hour after he got the results and congratulated us!
We got pregnant and were overjoyed to learn that they both had implanted and we were having twins! A boy and a girl! Our twins were born at 36 weeks and were absolutely perfect in every way. They are our greatest joy!

Advice to other SGF patients

Our road to parenthood was long and tiring, but keep going if this is truly something you desire. Align yourself with people who understand. Unless you’ve walked this scary road, you don’t fully understand and know what to say to others. It’s ok to cry and it’s ok to fall apart when things don’t go as you planned or hoped— just don’t stay there. Pick yourself up and keep going. It is worth every needle and pain!



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Diagnosis and treatment

We understand you may have questions about infertility and how it’s treated. Gain answers from the diagnosis and treatments shared in this story.
In vitro fertilization (IVF)
Frozen embryo transfer (FET)
Polycystic ovary syndrome

Receiving care

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Dr. Frank Chang
Rockville, Maryland location
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We always thought it would be easy to get pregnant when the time came and never gave it a second thought. As soon as we were married in July 2012, the questions started rolling in about when we would start a family. Little did we know that it would be a long road ahead.
I always had strange cycles and chalked it up to my weight. I was later diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and was told that it would be difficult to get pregnant on our own. After trying to get pregnant for 3 years, we knew that we needed help. My uncle, who is also an OB/GYN, suggested we try Shady Grove Fertility.

Coming to SGF

On President’s Day 2015, we walked into the office and met with Dr. Doyle and the SGF staff. They gave us a full breakdown of what would happen and asked if we had questions. We just wanted to jump right in! My husband was checked out first and his results came back normal. My main problem was that my follicles were not maturing enough to initiate a cycle.
Dr. Doyle and his team decided the best step would be to start ovulation-inducing drugs to facilitate the maturation of an egg and go from there. At first, we used Clomid for a couple of weeks and eventually had a mature egg. We were so excited and moved on to the next step of an Ovidrel trigger shot followed by timed intercourse.
The 2 week wait afterward felt like the longest 2 weeks of our lives. Unfortunately, the day before we were supposed to go in for a blood pregnancy test, my period came. I was devastated but remained hopeful that we would get another mature egg soon. Over the next several months, we tried Clomid and Letrozole but could not get an egg to mature. We were bumped up to Follistim injections for several weeks. It was disheartening to go into the office every 3 days to check on the measurement of an egg, only to have no growth.

The two week wait

There were many days I would cry on the way to work after an appointment. Why was this happening to us? After several injection cycles, one egg finally reached the maturation size that Dr. Doyle was comfortable with. We used the Ovidrel trigger shot and timed intercourse. This time around, I promised I would not stress during the 2 week wait.
I tried to keep myself as busy as possible and tried my hardest to stay off the internet searching for pregnancy symptoms. My husband was training for the World Police and Fire Games and that became our focus over the next couple of weeks. We talked it over and decided that if this treatment did not work, we would move on to in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. We knew people waited longer to get pregnant, but I just couldn’t bear going in day after day and not have a mature egg. We even had an appointment scheduled on July 6, 2015, with Dr. Doyle to discuss IVF treatment.
On the day of my husband’s competition, July 4, 2015, while getting ready, my husband said we should take a pregnancy test just because. Our blood pregnancy test was scheduled in a couple of days, but he figured we should try anyway. I didn’t want to ruin his big day. I wanted to stay in my own little world where I was possibly pregnant and it was safe.
Taking a test now with a negative result would destroy me. I gave in and took a digital test that would say positive or negative, along with how many weeks. Again, the 5-minute wait felt like a lifetime. After what seemed like forever, he looked on the screen. He kept his face stone cold and said I needed to see it for myself. I was heartbroken. I just knew it was negative. As I looked down and saw the positive result, my heart skipped a beat.
Was this really happening? The test also said 2-3 weeks. Could this be true? I didn’t believe it and proceeded to take two more tests. All positive.
Even after all of that, I still didn’t want to believe it until the blood test came back. We canceled our IVF consultation and took our blood pregnancy test. We were pregnant.
We waited a couple of days and took another blood test to measure the HCG levels. Steadily increasing. Still pregnant. Still in disbelief. Another test, another positive result. After 6 weeks, we went in for our first ultrasound. A doctor came in with the ultrasound tech and looked on the screen.
The first words out of her mouth were, “There they are.” They? Who was this “they” she was referring to?
Sure enough, there were TWO sacs, one bigger than the other. TWO?! To this day we don’t know where that second egg came from. It never showed up on the screen or in any of the scans. The doctor said due to the size of the second egg, there could have been a chance of a vanishing egg. Every appointment after that, the second egg kept persevering. While we were praying for one baby, we were blessed with two.

Our life now

At around 20 weeks, we went in for a routine sonogram at the high-risk doctor, which is typical when you are pregnant with multiples. One look from the sonographer and we knew something was wrong. She left us in the room and went to get the doctor. For what seemed like an eternity, the doctor came in and explained that when pressure was placed on my stomach, my cervix would open. We were instructed to go straight to the hospital.
Three days later I had surgery where a cerclage was put in to keep my cervix closed. I was placed on bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. We just kept counting the days and marking the milestones, praying the twins would stay put for as long as possible. At 28 weeks, the twins had a good shot at being healthy, 32 was better, and 36 was ideal.
We kept praying and praying they would stay in as long as they could. We knew we couldn’t have come this far to not make it. The twins were born at 37 weeks, weighing 8lbs, 12oz. and 5lbs. 8oz.
Today, we are the proud parents of two 4-month-old twins. Life has been one hectic roller coaster. We have finally hit our stride and are enjoying every minute of our new family. Looking back, it all seems like a blur. We know the journey was long and hard, but it was well worth the wait. We cannot imagine our lives without these two beautiful human beings.

My advice to future patients

The only thing we would tell future patients is to keep faith and hope. Write your thoughts down so you can review later or keep a video journal to remember how far you’ve come. It is a long process that can have an emotional toll on you, your partner, and your family. Just know that these hard times will pass and SGF has a wonderful support system. There are a lot of blogs and groups that can provide support. Don’t be afraid to talk to someone. Just know you aren’t alone!



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Diagnosis and treatment

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Infertility terms
Ovulation Induction
Timed intercourse
Polycystic ovary syndrome

Receiving care

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Dr. Joseph Doyle
Rockville, Maryland location
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Steve and I met in October 2004 and have been together ever since. After three years of being together, Steve proposed. We ended up having a long engagement because we both had goals of finishing college and starting our careers. In June of 2012, we got married.
Right after we got married, I went to my OB/GYN to talk to her about planning for a child within the next year. I knew my pregnancy would have to be planned since I work with special needs students. I do not have a typical job and my students thrive on routine so I knew I had to have a plan.
Little did I know that it would not be easy to get pregnant. Everyone around me made it look so easy. They were able to get pregnant without even trying. The plan was to get off of my birth control and start taking prenatal vitamins until the time was right. I asked my doctor if my weight was a concern and she told me that I was at a higher risk for things like preeclampsia but no indication that I would have trouble getting pregnant.
After trying for 8 months, I went to go see my doctor to talk about infertility. My husband came with me but was told he wasn’t allowed in the room. The first thing my doctor said was, “I was not ovulating because I was overweight.”
She told me that she would not run any tests until I lost 25 lbs. She told me that if I lost the 25lbs she would consider IVF. How could she tell me this without doing any tests? She also decided to try and comfort me by saying “It must be hard seeing all of your friends pregnant and you are not.” Did she honestly think that was going to help the situation? I was devastated and left my appointment in tears barely able to breathe.

Seeking answers

After all of the horrible OB/GYN appointments and the months of being depressed about the situation, I finally took the initiative to look for more information regarding infertility. I was not going to allow for my OB/GYN to stop me. I knew I had more options and not just IVF. I had heard wonderful things about Shady Grove Fertility, so I looked for more information. I went on their website and made an appointment to go to an informational open house.
At the open house, I met with the wonderful staff of Shady Grove Fertility. I learned so much information and met Dr. Bromer. After listening to him speak, I knew he was the doctor to help us. Every word he had to say, spoke to me. We left that day making an appointment to sit down with Dr. Bromer in the Frederick office to see what our options were.
I was so anxious to sit down with Dr. Bromer and finally get some answers. I knew he was going to go over our medical information and hopefully, he would be able to come up with a plan for us. After reading through all of my medical history, Dr. Bromer informed me that I have PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.) Dr. Bromer decided that we were going to do 3 cycles of timed intercourse, followed by IUI, and then if we do not have any success we would do IVF.

Beginning treatment

We ended up doing only one cycle of timed intercourse. My insurance was changing so I wanted to use my benefits before we lost them. We decided that IUI was the best route for our second cycle.
After an ultrasound, it showed that I had two huge follicles this cycle and ended up scheduling for our IUI. I was so nervous because I did not know what to expect. We dropped off my husband’s specimen and had to wait another hour for the procedure. I felt sick to my stomach just having to wait. It felt like forever until it was my turn. I had to lay on the table with a huge bright light shining into my lady parts. D
r. Bromer inserted the tubing and it was done within minutes. He then threw my legs up in the air and told me I had to wait like that for 10 minutes. The hardest part of the procedure was the dreaded two week wait to see if it worked.

The two week wait

We were not able to go into the office for a blood test because we were on vacation. After just celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary, I took a pregnancy test and it was POSITIVE!! It took about 30 seconds for the test to show that I was pregnant!
Once we got back from vacation I had to get my blood test done for confirmation. We scheduled our ultrasound when we found out that I was pregnant with twins and that my due date is February 22, 2016. Our babies came a few weeks early on February 6, 2016. I can’t thank the Frederick office of Shady Grove Fertility enough. Every time we interacted with Dr. Bromer and his staff, we were met with warmth, professionalism, and true kindness. They made us feel so comfortable and had our best interest at heart.

My advice to other patients

My advice to other patients is to never feel like you are alone. There are so many people around us who also struggle with infertility. My way of helping cope with everything I was going through was to blog about it. It was a great avenue for getting everything out and helped my family understand without having to ask all of the time. I would highly recommend consultation with Shady Grove Fertility as early as possible in your journey. You need to be an advocate for yourself and fight for what you want.



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Diagnosis and treatment

We understand you may have questions about infertility and how it’s treated. Gain answers from the diagnosis and treatments shared in this story.
Infertility terms
Intrauterine insemination (IUI)
Polycystic ovary syndrome

Receiving care

Assemble your fertility care team close to home. Explore our different locations and physicians who will provide guidance along your journey.
Dr. Jason Bromer
Frederick, Maryland location
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Like most women, all my life I knew I wanted to have children. I never thought that I would ever have “trouble” conceiving on my own. I started having irregular menstrual cycles when I was in high school so my OB/GYN put me on birth control pills to regulate my periods. Still being so young I didn’t think anything of it. I just thought this is normal, no big deal.
Well, all through college I stayed on birth control pills and when I met this guy towards the end of my college years who would later become my husband, I thought that once we got married I would get off of birth control pills and get pregnant, easy. I soon found out that it wasn’t as easy as I thought. Because I was on birth control for over 6 years, I thought that stopping the pills right before my wedding day it would allow me to get pregnant on my honeymoon, and my new husband and I would soon be announcing that we are expecting.
A few months after my husband Eugene and I got married there was a pregnancy announcement in my family but it wasn’t from us, it was from my sister. I was excited to be an aunt so I didn’t think much of it, just thought it hadn’t happened for us yet.

Searching for answers

Fast forward 3 1/2 years into our marriage and still no baby. My OB/GYN recommended I start taking Clomid so we did that twice. Still no luck and no baby. She then recommended that I go to Shady Grove Fertility.
So I called and made that first appointment with the Annapolis office to see Dr. McKeeby. I went through a series of tests to determine what was going on so Dr. McKeeby could best treat my case. It was determined that I had some signs of PCOS and endometriosis and I had a cyst on both ovaries, but nothing to be alarmed about.
My husband did all of his testings and everything came back normal, so it was all me. What a weight that was on my shoulders. I became upset and frustrated with myself because I wanted to know why I couldn’t get pregnant like everybody else.

Beginning treatment

From October 2012 (when we started at Shady Grove Fertility) to about March or April 2013 we tried Clomid (again) with timed intercourse and went in for monitoring. What a job that became and it was unsuccessful. Then in May 2013 the cyst on one of my ovaries became really enlarged and I was told to stop treatments and have it removed by my OB/GYN.
This was heartbreaking because I just wanted to have a baby and didn’t want to prolong the process any longer. So after I had my surgery to remove the cyst, my husband and I went through some personal issues and we did not start treatments again until December 2013.
Dr. McKeeby looked at our insurance and said that since it covers IVF we should go that route. So my husband and I agreed and the injections began. The injections were not too bad but they did leave the area a little sore after the first couple of days. My trick to help ease the pain of getting a needle every day was to ice the area before doing the injection and I place the oils under my arm to warm a little before extracting them with the needle from the bottles.
Fortunately, my husband was the one who administered my injections and he was more nervous than I was. He hated giving me injections because I would tense up when the needle would go in and having to watch the needle puncture my skin and sometimes bleed wasn’t a pretty sight for him to look at every day. It became like a chore that we did every night. A couple of times I didn’t want to have the injection because I was sore and too lazy to get up to ice myself, gather all the materials, etc. but we did what we had to do in order to bring our baby into the world.
I knew this time was going to be it, we were going to conceive. I had a few friends get pregnant around this time naturally and I believed I was going to join them soon. The medicines worked great, my egg retrieval was great (33 eggs retrieved), my husband’s sperm count was great, and I had 13 embryos that were in excellent condition.
So January 2014 was the day of our fresh embryo transfer. We were so excited that it went well. We had to go through that long 2 week wait for the pregnancy results. The day arrives and I received the call that I was not pregnant. Talk about heartbreaking. My husband and I agreed that we wanted to try again right away. So we did the injections all over again. This time I also really watched what I was eating, and worked out once in a while.
March 2014 was our FET. That went great and again the dreaded 2 week wait. I actually got sick the night before the pregnancy test so my husband and I prayed to God really hard that I got sick because I was pregnant.
I went in the next day for the pregnancy test and received the call later that day with the best news I’ve ever received…..I was pregnant!
I jumped for joy, cried happy tears. My husband and our entire families were so happy and excited for us. On November 29, 2014, we gave birth to our princess Carmen as a result of the successful FET. She was a perfectly healthy little girl and she is such a joy.

Round two

My husband and I decided to “try” again and have a second child and since we decided to freeze the remaining embryos we went back to Shady Grove Fertility in August 2015 to do another FET. Hello again, injections! We were scheduled for our FET in October 2015 and received the call that we were not pregnant. My husband and I decided to try again immediately, which meant more injections and meds.
In December 2015 we completed another FET and received the call that we are PREGNANT (currently 8 weeks)! We graduated from Shady Grove Fertility on January 21, 2016, and moved back to my regular OB/GYN.
My husband and I are so grateful to God and the doctors, nurses, and staff of Shady Grove Fertility for giving us the blessings we always wanted.

My advice to future patients

To all future patients, my advice to you is to never give up on your desires, trust in the promise, keep the faith, and remember you are not alone.



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Need-to-know fertility resources and guidance

Diagnosis and treatment

We understand you may have questions about infertility and how it’s treated. Gain answers from the diagnosis and treatments shared in this story.
In vitro fertilization (IVF)
Frozen embryo transfer (FET)
Polycystic ovary syndrome
Endometriosis

Receiving care

Assemble your fertility care team close to home. Explore our different locations and physicians who will provide guidance along your journey.
Dr. Jeffrey McKeeby
Annapolis, Maryland location
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Meet our SGF care team

by

Our story is a little different than the beautiful ones of high school sweethearts or those couples meeting in college knowing they were destined to be together, although I love reading those stories. After college, I began teaching school (kindergarten and first grade). I enjoyed babysitting as a teenager and loved my job as a teacher – I always looked forward to becoming a mother.
When I met my husband-to-be, he had a previous marriage and two children. We married when I was 29, and within our first year of marriage, we moved out of state to Florida (my husband was in the Navy at the time, and he received orders to Jacksonville).
Within a month of living there, knowing no one, with a new job, two step-children to take care of on my own (they were older, 8 and 10), my husband was deployed. During our six-year stay there my husband was deployed twice overseas and we lived apart for about a year for another job assignment within the states. During those years I did talk to a doctor about really wanting to have a baby and was told I would have to wait until my husband was in the country for at least a year. After meeting with another doctor who understood my increasing longing for a baby, we tried several rounds of Clomid without success.
After being married for six years and never getting pregnant I began to wonder. Even through the deployments, you would have thought at least once we might have gotten pregnant. Finally, after moving back to Maryland and living all together again under the same roof, I was 35 now and knew I was getting “older” for having babies but certainly didn’t think of myself as “ancient.”
I will never forget going to the doctor on base here and she looked me straight in the eye and said, “35 is practically a dinosaur to be having a baby. If there is any trouble, you need to get help and you need it now!” Of course, at the time this hurt my feelings, scared me some, but in retrospect made me think, ‘finally someone is taking me seriously!’ She called and scheduled an appointment for us at Walter Reed within a week.

Seeking a diagnosis

After several months of testing, I was diagnosed with PCOS and unexplained infertility, but because of a variety of reasons we were not able to make it all the way through a cycle there. We made it as far as a mock transfer. By now I finally started doing more reading and realized how much there is to learn. Interestingly we found out at the same time my insurance through the school system covered 3 cycles of IVF. I picked up this insurance and we made an appointment at Shady Grove Fertility within a week of being on the new insurance. We were so excited!
When we pursued our treatment at Shady Grove Fertility they did all of their own tests (blood tests, HSG, etc) and shared the same diagnosis of PCOS and unexplained infertility. Following our first IVF cycle, we were filled with joy. It was all so new to us. The meds, the blood tests, the sonogram, etc. After our 2 week wait we received the call we were pregnant! It was just amazing!
But a few days later the numbers still went up but were not as high as they hoped. Needless to say about 2 weeks later I miscarried. I remember clearly when I started bleeding on my 36th birthday. Pain and grief filled our hearts.

The ups and downs of treatment

By this time our children (my stepchildren) were in high school, and my mother-in-law moved in with us. Dr. Kipersztok suggested I lose some weight and, well, life just got busy. I took care of a family member with cancer, I took care of the kids, and then one day John and I realized (when I was 39) if we are going to do this it needed to be now.
We then made the commitment to focus on this because it was important to us. We would accept what happened—well at least try. We had two frozen embryos from the previous cycle but decided to try a fresh cycle. It was in the fall of 2013 when we went back to Dr. Kipersztok to do another round of IVF. This cycle was unsuccessful.
That December I had some polyps removed and we were cleared to try another fresh cycle in January. I lost about 20 pounds and began to take Metformin before this next cycle. This was our last cycle covered by insurance. We were so nervous yet full of hope and excitement. I will never forget the two week wait call for this cycle because we received it on Valentine’s Day– we were pregnant!
The next day I started bleeding. This was a weekend so we went up to Rockville and they did a sonogram and took our blood. The minutes seemed to literally tick as slow as possible that day. That evening we heard my numbers had gone up a good amount! Things were looking good!
Our six-week sonogram was terrific and seeing that heartbeat for the first time still brings tears to my eyes. At age 40, after 11 years of marriage– I was really pregnant and was looking at the precious miracle’s heartbeat.
My husband was not able to be with me for that appointment, but I shared the wonderful experience with him and showed him the pictures. He could not wait for our next appointment!
By now it was March and I was just about 10 weeks along. I had a due date: October 21st! As we got started with the sonogram the room was very quiet and my husband and I were squeezing our hands together with excitement. Then I saw my nurse look away and knew at that moment something was very wrong.
It fills me with grief and to this day. I still cry when I think about it. There was no heartbeat. I had to go back to school that day and remember feeling frozen and numb. Over the course of that weekend, my husband and I went on a trip that we had previously planned and I sobbed and he cried for our unborn miracle. That next Monday I was scheduled for a D and C. Very late that Sunday evening I woke up in a lot of pain and began to miscarry. It was painful—both physically and emotionally.
At this point, my husband made it happen and found a way for us to try those two little darling frozen embryos that were left. Dr. Kipersztok wanted me to put it on hold until life was a little less stressful so we waited until school was out for the summer. I had lost a little more weight and came back ready to try again. We knew we had to at least try. I remember wearing my lucky hand-knit socks at the transfer my mom had made me, just like I had for the previous cycle.
My mom told me to tell them to use Gorilla Glue this time during the transfer. Funny enough my nurse remembered this story (a testament to how personal and caring the Shady Grove Fertility staff is–they truly listen and make you feel special). When I got the call after the excruciatingly long 2 week wait, she said that gorilla glue must have worked because you are pregnant! Elated doesn’t even begin to describe how we felt!
We hadn’t told anyone about what we were going through up to this point other than my parents because my mom was helping me with some of my shots. As we approached our six-week sonogram it was July and I was in a school meeting. I felt a little funny and uncomfortable. I thought it was something I ate and then I felt blood begin to just flow. I got up and ran to the bathroom.
I left immediately for home and my husband and I went to the local hospital where we waited hours to hear what I already knew from the amount of blood I had lost… we miscarried yet again. This was a very low point for me.

Taking the next step

The next time we had our follow-up appointment with Dr. Kipersztok I brought all of my extra meds with me to hand them over. We discussed options but I was ready to accept defeat at this point. I was lucky to have two wonderful children in my life even though they weren’t biologically mine, and have a mother of their own, but I was thankful for the experience of seeing them grow up and graduate from high school.
Dr. Kipersztok mentioned a donor egg at this point and we talked about a few other things. He also said I could get some testing done to look at possible reasons for “recurring miscarriage” at this point. We went home to discuss it. Through a conversation with Dr. K. and a miracle in itself, an opportunity arose for a chance to try IVF one more time.
One little piece of information that always was dear to my heart (which may seem silly to some) was that I was adopted (this is not the silly piece–this is very important because I grew up being grateful to my birthmother whoever she may be for knowing she could not take care of me. She gave me the chance to have a wonderful life with my loving parents–who I was lucky enough to have chosen me) but for some reason, I just always hoped for that experience of being pregnant and having my own biological baby.
At this point, my husband and I were too old to be considered to adopt. In any case, we decided one last time to try a fresh IVF cycle. And at age 41, that October we had several embryos transferred. It was a very, very quiet ride home from Rockville that afternoon. My husband and I just stared at each other with love and longing, praying this would work this time. And, it did!
At our six-week ultrasound, there were actually two heartbeats! I will never, ever forget how nervous I was at our nine-week ultrasound. I knew I had to be positive but all I could think of was our last ultrasound the previous March when there was not a heartbeat. There was a very healthy heartbeat! And a weak one. We grieved for this one and said our blessings to be lucky enough to have one miracle survive. That was in November of 2013.
Since then we had found out that I had a positive lupus anticoagulant test and I would need to take daily shots of a blood thinner–first Lovenox and then because of allergic reaction heparin– throughout the duration of my pregnancy.

Our miracle baby

Our third pregnancy of the year – and on July 2, 2014, our healthy 8lb, 1oz, baby boy was born. Our hearts were filled with joy, and we are thankful every day for the miracle received and the team/staff at Shady Grove Fertility who made it happen!
Our little miracle is just over a year now! Our days are filled with laughter and joy. No matter what may happen during the course of the day our little boy’s smile lights up our day and makes everything happy. He is a busy boy and keeps us on our toes and brings sunshine to our days.

My experience at Shady Grove Fertility

I don’t even know where to begin. There are so many ups and downs with fertility treatment. Through the years some of the details have blended together, which I am surprised at because I remember at each point having such strong feelings/emotions whether they’d be happy or sad or nervous or hopeless
Dr. Kipersztok and his staff are AMAZING! They are professional and caring. I remember once I had blood drawn before driving up to Baltimore to meet my kids for a field trip. I was a little nervous about this trip and shared a little about my upcoming day while having my blood taken. A couple of days later when I went back the nurse asked how my kiddos liked the trip. I really felt like they cared.
They seemed like cheerleaders in a way for us, as well as very professional and knowledgeable. I could e-mail my nurse whenever I had a question and she always sent a reply the same day. After the birth of our little miracle we sent out pictures to everyone and of course included Shady Grove Fertility.
Dr. Kipersztok called my cell phone and left a beautiful message on there with his congratulations and best wishes on our little guy. They honestly felt like family. We will always be grateful to them and especially for Dr. Kipersztok who never gave up on us and always gave us hope. He knew how to change things each cycle to make it happen, ultimately giving us our miracle.

My advice to other patients

Have hope, stay positive. Go see someone early (much earlier than I did!!!) even if you just want to ask questions. There are amazing groups out there on social media with people struggling daily who are willing to share their stories. I found hope in all of the Shady Grove Fertility stories and would read them whenever I got them in my e-mail.
For me, they were inspiring. Everyone’s story is different. It put things into perspective for me. Find what works for you. I’ve heard of people getting acupuncture, and certainly staying fit helps–this can be challenging with PCOS but there are many options to try. We didn’t use them but there are support groups out there and counseling. Each miscarriage was heartbreaking. You need someone to support you and to talk to. Someone to lift you up when you feel low and someone to just listen.
Be resourceful! There is so much information out there and people who are willing to share. I did a Shady Grove Fertility webcast one day that was very interesting about PCOS and then there was an opportunity to ask questions by typing them in and the presenter responded. There is much to be thankful for. And lastly, maybe this sounds hokey– but I would say to believe in miracles– because they do happen! Especially at Shady Grove Fertility!



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Diagnosis and treatment

We understand you may have questions about infertility and how it’s treated. Gain answers from the diagnosis and treatments shared in this story.
In vitro fertilization (IVF)
Polycystic ovary syndrome
Advanced maternal age

Receiving care

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Dr. Simon Kipersztok
Waldorf, Maryland location
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by

I got my first period when I was 16. I was always “too thin” according to my doctor, so I was not surprised by the late coming period. My periods were very sporadic. I was put on birth control to induce periods. After graduating from college, I gained about 40 lbs.
I went to my nurse practitioner and she suggested getting blood work done and later confirmed PCOS was the culprit. I did not know anything about PCOS. I searched the internet for symptoms but found the worst stories about how women with PCOS can never have children. I was mortified! My husband knew how devastated I was, but was super comforting and assured me everything would be ok.
Christopher and I met in 2010. I graduated from college in Virginia and went back to live in my hometown, where I regrouped with some friends from high school one night. Christopher was at the gathering and turned out to be related to my friends from high school. I instantly felt comfortable with his family…probably because I already knew some of them.
We had a quick connection and moved in together in 2011. He proposed in November 2011 and we were married in October 2012. Once my husband and I were married, we wanted to have children right away. The dilemma we were faced with was when I stopped taking birth control I did not get a period and therefore, was not ovulating. The PCOS likely had something to do with this. We tried metformin to regulate my periods and that did not work. We gave up trying on our own in 2013 and went to Shady Grove Fertility.

Deciding to seek treatment

Our first meeting with Dr. Osheroff was very promising. He told me that he would do everything he could do to help us get pregnant. He made us feel so comfortable and hopeful. After it was confirmed that I was in fact battling PCOS, we immediately started treatment using Clomid.
This went on for about 3 months because we started with the lowest dose and kept working our way up. When the highest dose of Clomid wasn’t working, we were told we needed to start with Gonal F shots. I was terrified at the thought of sticking myself with a needle every day, but we were willing to do whatever it takes in order to start the family we’ve always dreamed of having.
Upon starting the shots, I began eating clean and losing weight. I lived my life around making sure I was healthy during treatments. I became so preoccupied and scared that I pushed my friends and family away. Every time we went for an ultrasound, the shots were not working so we had to increase the dose. This went on for about one month and then we finally had two viable eggs!
We ended up doing one round of IUI to start. However, Dr. Osheroff told us that it could take up to three times for it to work. If it didn’t work the first three times, we were to move on to IVF. I never thought we would conceive on the first IUI.
We successfully became pregnant (the two week wait was agonizing) with twins! The two week wait was so difficult because my body was going through changes and every time I felt a strange physical or emotional symptom, I hopped on the internet and searched EVERYTHING. That was the worst decision. I spent my days google searching and developed terrible anxiety. I remember the day my nurse called. I waited to listen to the voicemail because I was nervous about receiving a negative result.
On our last ultrasound with Shady Grove Fertility, we found out one of the babies did not have a heartbeat. We were devastated but reminded ourselves that everything happens for a reason. We were still over the moon ecstatic to be pregnant with one baby.
The nurses and doctors were with me every step of the way. I cried and laughed with them on many occasions, and they always made me feel so comfortable. They never gave me false hope and provided the most honest answers and information.
They always let me know what the worst outcome would be, so I was pleasantly surprised with the pregnancy. I did not expect it to happen so quickly.

Becoming parents

I gave birth to my daughter Charlotte on 12/27/14 via emergency c-section due to HELLP Syndrome. It was a scary day, but Charlotte and I both came out of the surgery perfectly healthy. Our family of three is perfect and I owe it all to Dr. Osheroff and his team. The life we have now would not be possible without them! I have actually started having regular periods since my pregnancy, for the first time in my life. We are going to try for a second child on our own, but if we are unsuccessful we will definitely be returning to our friends at SGF.

Devin’s advice to future patients

Keep trying and don’t alienate friends and family as I did. I pushed everyone out and kept our struggle a secret. I now realize that letting everyone know what was going on would have been the better choice. At the time, I was embarrassed and felt so alone. Now I know so many other people have been through this process, and talking openly about it would have made my treatment process so much easier.



SHARE YOUR STORY

Share experiences.
Share hope.

Submit Your Story

Need-to-know fertility resources and guidance

Diagnosis and treatment

We understand you may have questions about infertility and how it’s treated. Gain answers from the diagnosis and treatments shared in this story.
Infertility terms
Intrauterine insemination (IUI)
Polycystic ovary syndrome

Receiving care

Assemble your fertility care team close to home. Explore our different locations and physicians who will provide guidance along your journey.
Dr. Joseph Osheroff
Columbia, Maryland location
Find a location near me

2026 Shady Grove Fertility

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