Fertility struggles brought Christina to TFC

Christina Michaud, 33, and her husband, Justin, knew that they wanted to be parents, but getting pregnant wasn’t as easy as they had hoped.

As the couple struggled to conceive, Christina’s father, a cardiologist in Chicago, asked his peers to recommend a fertility specialist for his daughter. Kaylen Silverberg, M.D., Texas Fertility Center, was at the top of the list. Christina scheduled a consultation with Dr. Silverberg at our Austin fertility center. She had no idea that it would be the beginning of a journey that would involve in vitro fertilization, IVF, and endometrial receptivity analysis – and lead to two children.

Christina’s fertility journey with TFC involved IVF and compassionate care

At her first appointment, Christina was struck by the positive and professional atmosphere at our Austin fertility center. “Everyone at TFC was so kind. They didn’t give me false hope, but they did give me confidence,” she said.

Dr. Silverberg determined that IVF would be the best course of action to help Christina and her husband start a family.  After two IVF cycles, Christina was thrilled to learn that she was pregnant with the couple’s first child, a little girl.

Five weeks into her pregnancy, Christina started experiencing bleeding and her husband rushed her to the hospital. Although it was a Saturday night, the hospital was able to reach Dr. Silverberg. “He encouraged us not to give up hope”.

The following Monday, the nervous couple came to TFC. Within a few seconds, Dr. Silverberg was able to find their daughter on the scan, much to the soon-to-be parents’ relief.

The rest of the pregnancy proceeded smoothly. Later that fall, Christina gave birth to a beautiful and healthy baby girl who the couple named Annabelle.

Endometrial receptivity analysis helped Christina get pregnant with her second child

Christina and her husband decided that they wanted to have another baby, but they again experienced fertility issues. After five embryo transfers with frozen embryos resulted in five miscarriages, she felt discouraged. “I was starting to think it wouldn’t work again. I had even started asking about going off the fertility medications, and Justin and I started looking into surrogacy.”

The couple had two IVF embryos remaining, so they decided to try one more time. Before they proceeded, however, Dr. Silverberg suggested that the couple try a new endometrial receptivity analysis. The test from IGENOMIX involved taking an endometrial biopsy and using protein analysis to determine when a woman’s uterine lining is ready for embryo implantation.

Endometrial receptivity analysis seemed to make all the difference, as Christina is now 21 weeks pregnant with a son. “I really didn’t think it would work, so I was shocked when they told me,” she said.

Christina shares her thoughts about Texas Fertility Center and fertility struggles

Christina had nothing but good things to say about our Austin fertility center. “I always recommend TFC and Dr. Silverberg,” said Christina. “If you’ve made the choice to go to TFC, you’ve already made the right move.”

She would also recommend endometrial receptivity analysis to women experiencing similar fertility struggles. According to Christina, “The test adds a little more cost to an IVF cycle, but it’s much cheaper than multiple cycles of failure.”

If you have more questions about fertility treatments or endometrial receptivity analysis, please contact Texas Fertility Center.