After Our Fourth Failed Attempt at IVF, We Ran Out of Money—That's When My Hero Family Stepped In

For the past five years, we have struggled with the painful rollercoaster ride of infertility. I have been through eight cycles of ovulation-inducing meds, two inseminations, five rounds of IVF, one surgery on my ovaries, four embryos that wouldn't implant, three egg retrievals, four infertility doctors, one miscarriage, countless pills, injections, blood draws, ultrasounds, and negative pregnancy tests, many road trips to our IVF clinic in Minneapolis, and an awful medication allergy that landed me in the E.R. twice.

In order to afford all this, we used our savings and my husband sold his beloved 2018 Dodge Challenger. By the fourth failed attempt, we were heartbroken and out of funds.

I asked my mom, "What if the next round works?" We'd come this far; I just couldn't stop thinking how the next time could be "the one."

My parents surprised me at work one day and took me out to lunch. Inside a Panera Bread restaurant, they handed me an envelope. In it was a check for $15,000 to help cover our next IVF round. My parents are by no means rich. They'd been saving this money for their retirement and had plans to move to Florida. I cried right there and thanked them for their gift.

Last November, our one and only remaining embryo was transferred into my uterus. I am so excited to share that I gave birth to our son, Leo, on July 18! Thank you, Mom and Dad.

This article originally appeared in Parents magazine's December 2020 issue as "The Act of Kindness That Touched Our Families: My Folks Gave Us the Gift of Parenthood." Want more from the magazine? Sign up for a monthly print subscription here