Morgan and Philip met through a local community service organization in August 2006 and married a year later. They were both eager to start a family, but wanted to wait a year. Morgan and Philip learned they were pregnant almost immediately after they began trying to start a family. However, they suffered a miscarriage early on. Doctors assured them that miscarriages happen more often than people like to talk about and encouraged Morgan and Philip to try again. They were immediately pregnant again and excited to become parents, however, Morgan and Philip soon hit a new low. They lost their baby during the 12th week of pregnancy. Given that this was unusual, their doctor ordered blood work and discovered Morgan was positive for MTHFR, a blood clotting disorder.
Morgan and Philip suffered three more miscarriages before learning about the Institute for Reproductive Health in 2011. After changing their routine by adding a couple of medications, Morgan and Philip became pregnant with daughter, Quinn. At a routine 18-week ultrasound, it was discovered that Morgan had extremely low amniotic fluid and was put on strict bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy.. Quinn was delivered on December 1, 2011. She was immediately intubated, but was stable. The following day, things took a turn for the worse and she was transferred to another hospital. Morgan and Philip hit an all-time low when they were given “two and a half hours max” on the morning of December 3, 2011. They were advised by doctors to take her off of life support, but they refused to give up hope. Seven weeks later, they were beyond thankful to take Quinn home.
The first year was full of excitement and fear. Although Quinn had overcome so many obstacles, her growth and kidney issues remained a big concern. At 14 months, she was diagnosed with Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome, an extremely rare genetic condition that affects 1 in 50,000. Soon after, they found that Morgan was a carrier for this syndrome. They learned that if they wanted to expand their family, the chances of either passing this on again or having more miscarriages was very high. The couple’s best option would be IVF with PGD testing.
Morgan and Philip found themselves back in Dr. Scheiber’s office discussing the future. They decided to move forward with IVF in 2016, but sadly, none of their embryos made it to transfer. After saving and trying again in 2017, they had 5 embryos make it to day 5. Feeling hopeful, they moved on to the PGD testing phase. They were overcome with sadness upon learning that none of the 5 were “normal.”
Morgan and Philip thought they were at the end of the journey, as they could not afford another cycle. However, a friend informed them about the grant through Parental Hope. They decided to fill out the application, as they were not ready to give up..
“We were overcome with emotions when we learned that we were grant recipients. We are very hopeful as we move into this next phase and hope that we are able to expand our family. Quinn would be the very best (little) big sister.”