Anne & Andrew

Andrew and I met when we were both almost 35 years old. Prior to meeting, we were both focused on education, career, and travel. Once we connected we soon realized we wanted to get married and start a family. After we got married we took a few months and then began trying to have a baby. As time passed I began to use ovulation tests, take supplements, adjusted my diet, and did anything and everything to get pregnant. I even flew to another state to see an herbalist and acupuncturist that helped several of my friends conceive. Still no positive pregnancy test. Not one.

Looking for answers

After visiting my OB/GYN we started Clomid. We did two or three rounds of that. Nothing came of it. Month after month I was stressed and disheartened. By that time I was close to 38 and I knew that I needed more help than my doctor could provide. Luckily my OB/GYN agreed and wrote a referral to Shady Grove Fertility. I had two friends who conceived with the help of SGF in the past, so I decided to take the referral and make our first appointment. I am the type of person who likes to focus on the future. An eternal optimist, I kept my eye on the prize and knew this was the next step in our journey.

After the initial consultation with Dr. Bromer I felt excited! He too was a forward thinker. As we began to work together I was eventually diagnosed with unexplained infertility. That was frustrating because if you don’t know the cause how can you find the solution? My follicles and cycle seemed normal. My hormones were great for someone my age and my husband had no issues either. So we tried intrauterine insemination (IUI). It didn’t work. We had to regroup again, and decide what we wanted to do moving forward. We spoke with Dr. Bromer again and he suggested moving on to in vitro fertilization (IVF). Thankfully, I qualified for the Shared Risk 100% Refund Program and we started our IVF journey. I’m not going to sugarcoat it – it was tough. The meds and the money and the time and commitment.

The road to parenthood

After my first egg retrieval, my infertility was no longer unexplained. My eggs weren’t fully developed. I would have never ever known that if I hadn’t gone through the IVF process. We were able to do a day 3 transfer and after what seemed like an endless but hopeful 2-week wait I got my first positive pregnancy test! We were thrilled! After years of trying we had success! IVF worked!

However, that pregnancy quickly ended and we were back to square one. We were down but by no means out. As devastated as we were, we tried to focus on the fact that, finally, I knew I could actually get pregnant. And now we knew what the issue was that was causing infertility. That too gave me hope. Maybe now we could change things for a better result.

Again, I tried to keep looking forward, never losing sight of our dream to be parents. So back to the shots and the ultrasounds and the bloodwork. Dr. Bromer changed some things to help my eggs develop more completely. After the 2nd retrieval and transfer I was pregnant again. I had some bleeding, which I immediately thought meant I miscarried again. However, Dr. Bromer saw us right away and to our amazement, I was still pregnant! From there my bloodwork and ultrasounds kept looking better and better. The day I graduated from SGF my doctor and my nurse both had tears in their eyes. You could tell that they wanted us to have a baby almost as much as we wanted to.

Nine months later I delivered a healthy baby girl. After all of the years, and the heartbreak, and the money and shots and the tears, it was all worth it. My advice is never give up, don’t lose sight of your dream and keep looking forward. Reach out to others who have been there and lean on them for support. Understanding you are not alone can make a huge difference in your journey.

My experience at SGF

Working with Dr. Bromer, our nurse Jeanette, and the entire SGF staff in Fredrick and in Rockville was unlike any other experience I have ever had with any other medical practice. I could always count on them for a quick and complete response to an email or voicemail. If my nurse or doctor was out there was always competent and available coverage.

I had so many questions, concerns, and issues and I was always treated with the utmost respect, consideration, and care. They supported us through some of the lowest lows and highest highs my husband and I will ever experience and they did so with both warmth and complete professionalism. What a special and rare combination.