(peaceful music)
- It sometimes still gets me just that he's walking around
from being frozen for however many years.
- He was frozen?
- Yeah, you knew that.
- I was frozen?
- No.
- I am an only child, and Jenn has one older brother,
and we always said we wanted to have a family
and have children around.
So early on we both decided
we wanted to experience pregnancy.
So when we were thinking about starting again
we, of course, went right back to Dr. Gracia.
We spoke with her about what steps I would need to take,
and our journey.
- We were actually driving to our appointment
when I was on Penn's website
and I came across the Invocell,
and I knew from that moment
that that's what I wanted to try was the Invocell.
- We started talking about kids before we were engaged
just because I always knew that it was either gonna be
very high risk, or an alternative path to parenthood.
The question became, would it even be safe for me to do IVF
given where my vein malformations are.
That became then the next question
is could we even get my eggs?
Could I go through an egg retrieval?
- Stella was one year old.
We had her at her pediatrician
and what we learned was that Stella was actually a carrier
of a genetic condition called fever.
And I am actually the carrier of it,
and because of that we were very concerned
about me passing that to another child.
- My first thought when I got diagnosed was
I need to see a fertility doctor
because fertility preservation was really important to me.
I was 34 at the time,
and I knew that if I waited too long
that the chemo could wipe out all of my eggs.
I thought my fertility dreams were done,
and I was not gonna have any hope.
- Right around Olivia's first birthday
we kinda started talking about to try again,
expecting it to take a little bit of time,
potentially having to go back down the road of fertility,
and then that kind of came to a little bit of a halt.
And it was just one of those
whatever it is, just get me in the right care,
so I would watch this little girl grow up.
- As we started the chemo treatment and that path
I never really thought about,
does this mean we can't have children?
We kinda always felt like now we always could,
there's embryos that are frozen.
I think that gave us some peace of mind
that we didn't have to worry about that.
- We did the consult,
and then she asked my parents to leave
and she said, "I'm gonna do an ultrasound right now
to see if I can get to your eggs
and perform an egg retrieval,
or if these veins are in the way and it would be dangerous."
And so she did it right then and there,
and she said she could do it.
So, she's my favorite doctor.
She's the only doctor that's ever given me
a definitive answer in my life,
and I've been everywhere.
- After talking to some genetic counselors at Penn
we found out that this was a disorder
that could be tested for in embryonic state.
They can take this genetic information
that they're learning about,
and combine it with the IVF to make it possible for things
that might not have been possible before.
It was a no brainer for us where we needed to go
for the fertility aspect of it.
- I had faith that something good was gonna happen
from this relationship.
And one of the things I really liked
about Dr. Svoboda and Dr. Gracia
was that they were in contact all the time about my case.
And they were on the same page
in terms of what I wanted out of my fertility,
but also getting rid of the cancer.
- We realized that for us to have another child
that it was not gonna be that Ashley's gonna carry it,
so we had to come to the understanding together
of just, how are we gonna have this other child?
We knew we had the embryos.
Learned more about how you find a carrier,
but it was amazing learning that this whole world exists,
really in a pretty beautiful way
that we just never knew.
- You go in for the egg retrieval
and they put the eggs and the sperm
right inside this tiny little capsule
that they put right back inside you for a few days.
They bring you back after a week
and see what you have.
- It was perfect.
The ultrasound turned out beautiful
and this baby is growing just as it should.
But the fears you have are still there.
You want your children to be healthy and happy
and grow just the way they should.
And so every time you have a little bump in the road
you get very worried.
But Christina and Dr. Gracia were always there
to reassure us that they had us,
they were there to support us,
and we didn't have to worry.
We just needed to trust them,
which we do.
- After the implantation day
Scott and I knew that we were gonna have to wait
to get the results to see if it was a viable pregnancy.
And when that phone call came through
that was everything.
That was every hour of testing.
That was every trip to the doctor every morning.
It was everything coming together to just say
that this process worked.
- And then Dr. Gracia called me and she was like,
"It's positive."
That was kind of, you know,
I said I had a feeling, but I wasn't sure.
And she said, "I know.
No one waits, everyone takes the home pregnancy test."
- Today I am 17 weeks pregnant with our next child,
and just found out on Monday that it will be another girl.
So Jossie will have a little sister,
and she is ecstatic about that, as are we.
- That moment when you discover,
after all of your fertility struggles,
that you're pregnant with your first child,
you're never gonna forget that.
- He came out crying with a ton of hair,
and it was as if your heart just grows.
And it's one of those things
that I don't think anyone can explain
it's just an amazing part of what your heart can do.
- He was the absolute most precious chubby-cheeked
little man that I ever saw.
And I just, oh, he was just the best.
- I think it's important to know
that fertility is an option for everybody.
Getting the treatments,
checking out what your options are,
it's something that I would highly encourage
because you want to make sure
that you've got your bases covered.
I know that having my children
was the greatest experience of my life.
Every single step I took with Dr. Gracia and Penn Fertility
was worth it if it got me to where I am now.
- Going through this process at Penn Fertility
I think that I learned that compassion and patience
are very important.
- We're just grateful to have this little guy
and we're really grateful to Penn Medicine,
you know, for giving him to us.
'Cause he wouldn't be here if it weren't for Penn Medicine.
- We're so grateful for Penn Fertility and Dr. Gracia.
They've been with us since the first conversation,
and really fulfilled our dream of starting a family.
- In putting your trust in the Penn Fertility team
I can attest that that can relieve a lot of the anxiety
that many couples may be facing.
It's not solely medicine,
it's not solely a patient.
That you are an individual looking to grow the family
and they are the team that can help you do that,
so I feel we're not necessarily just going to a doctor
we're going to the team that helps to bring our family,
so they're forever our family.
- Without Penn Fertility, none of this would be here,
so I think we're all pretty grateful.