HR Newsletters 2021

EVERYDAY HEALTH My Infertility Journey

Mrs. Krystal Adcock

1 in 8 couples suffer from infertility, and it is a topic that many people view as taboo despite how common it actually is. I can attest that infertility is an extremely lonely, painful, and traumatic experience. Although it is understandable that reproductive medical jargon may be confusing and possibly make some people feel un- comfortable, it is a conversation that should be discussed more openly in order to increase infertility aware- ness in our society. On a hot July Tuesday in 2015, I was diagnosed with a very rare congenital birth defect that caused both of my fallopian tubes to be blocked and completely dysfunctional. This diagnosis meant it would be impossible for my husband and me to conceive a baby naturally without the help of a type of assisted reproductive tech- nology called In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). I wish I could say I handled the devasting news with grace; but my heart and dreams were shattered that day, and I have never been the same since. Before my diagnosis, I did not know much about IVF. During an IVF cycle, a woman takes medicine to help multiple eggs grow and mature until they are ready to be surgically extracted. All of the mature eggs are ferti- lized with sperm in a laboratory dish to make embryos. A viable embryo is then transferred into the woman’s uterus in hopes that the embryo will implant and form a pregnancy. Any remaining embryos are cryo- preserved (frozen) to be used for later embryo transfers. We did back-to-back IVF cycles in Arkansas in 2016 and 2017. Unfortunately, both of these cycles were un- successful, and we did not have any embryos leftover to freeze and use later. After the heartbreak of the first two cycles, I was not sure that I could handle another round of IVF. The emotional, mental, physical, and fi- nancial effects of IVF were more taxing than I ever imagined. In 2019, we attempted our third IVF cycle at CCRM in Colorado. This cycle was successful, and we had 8 healthy embryos (2 boys and 6 girls) that were viable for cryopreservation. We transferred one of the male embryos in April 2019, and our Henry was born that December. Although we have been blessed with our miracle IVF baby, I am still reminded of the heart-pounding, gut- wrenching fear of the unknown that is the epitome of infertility. Despite the million+ emotions we have ex- perienced throughout this journey so far, God has more than exceeded our expectations. I can now honestly say that I believe God’s timing truly is perfect, and everything we go through happens for a reason. Our adopted daughter Hayley (age 20) would not be here if things would not have happened the way they did. God first answered our prayer to become parents when He placed her in my English classroom in 2016. Somehow, God knows what we need even when we think we have all of our wants figured out. I am so in- credibly thankful for the blessings of this struggle! “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18).

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