Personal Stories
Our stories have the power to influence legislators and let them know that protecting family building options is critical.
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Your story and experiences can have an impact on proposed legislation and help remove harmful stigmas associated with infertility and family building options.
This Week’s Question:
If you needed to pursue medical treatments like IVF to build your family,
how has it changed your life?
Check back frequently for new opportunities to share your story.
Sharing our experiences with one another can help remove harmful stigmas associated with infertility and family building options.
We are honored to receive and share the experiences of the family building community. Be sure to visit this page often to learn more about why protecting family building options is so important.
Featured Video Story
“IVF leads to safer and successful treatments.”
Six months into her family building journey, Dr. Tara Bradner was diagnosed with infertility. As she turned to IVF to build the family she dreamed of, she considered what would happen if IVF was outlawed in her home state of North Dakota. She shares her experience with infertility and why lawmakers must treat it like any other disease.
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Featured Written Story
Leann M. from Ohio shares her story about surviving leukemia and how access to IVF allowed her to build a family following her cancer treatments:
“Legislation restricting IVF would negatively impact families with cancer and other serious illnesses. When I was just 23 years old, I was told, ‘You have cancer.’ I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia that required intensive chemotherapy, and ultimately, a bone marrow transplant. These treatments cured my leukemia, but they also left me infertile.
At the time of diagnosis, I was concerned about my fertility. When my husband and I decided we were ready to have children, we explored all of our options. Adoption posed extra barriers as a cancer survivor and the more I thought about what I wanted as a woman and mother, it became clear that carrying our child though pregnancy was an integral part of that for me. After several years of infertility treatments and consultations with multiple specialists, I was finally able to get pregnant with IVF. We welcomed our beautiful baby girl earlier this year, and the love we have for her is indescribable. We don’t know what the future holds, but we are hopeful for the possibility of giving our daughter a sibling.
IVF is the reason we are parents today, and I urge lawmakers to consider what it means to families across America.”
...I was finally able to get pregnant with IVF.