Our Story

So it seems every blog starts off with a story of the person or couple and their history of Infertility and all that. Lately I’ve been reading way too many of these, and I cry every single time. So I decided to write my own blog. Maybe writing my own will give me some purpose to my information surfing. Also, I will also get the support that I have decided I really need. Very few of our friends know we are going through this. And we are also physically away from friends and family right now.

So, I’m 35 and DH is 34. For the purposes of this blog, we are Gabby and Carlos. We’ve been married since early 2008. Obviously, we didn’t try for years and years before we started seeing doctors. Initially, we had some very mild male factor, which improved through surgery for Carlos, vitamins and Carlos's weight loss. Subsequent tests confirmed great SA numbers. But, we wanted to get on with all the tests for me and go ahead with ART due to my age.

After the tests indicated unexplained infertility, the RE determined that we were great candidates for IUI. So we had some quick pre-IUI blood tests.. and we got the bombshell news that we are both carriers for Cystic Fibrosis.

Carlos and I both have the same gene mutation that causes Cystic Fibrosis. So, we have a one-in-four chance of conceiving a child with Cystic Fibrosis. Wow. What are the odds? Well, for people of European descent, one in 40 are carriers for CF. So for us to have found each other, if my math is correct, there is about a 1 in 1600 chance that happening.. of both spouses to be carriers.

Being a carrier is So. No.Big Deal. Clearly Carlos and I have had no effects and never will. CF is a recessive disease, and both spouses have to pass the “bad” gene in order for our offspring to get it. So, when the doctor shares this news with me, he also tells me about IVF with PGD (pre-implantation genetic diagnosis), which is the route we are taking.

We’ve been through several things already, genetic counseling, meeting with the RGI lab in Chicago, who will be doing our CF PGD testing, appointments galore, hysteroscopy, baseline ultrasound, etc, so I am going to have these fist few posts play catch up.

Thanks a lot for reading our story. I'm also happy to answer any questions at adenturesinglass at gmail.com.