The Sidney family thought their family was complete

Doreen and her husband are from Texas. She is a nurse of 18 years and he is a Travis County corrections officer. In April 2018, the couple added a healthy baby boy to a family that already included three beautiful girls.

The couple was overjoyed with their family of six. They thought they were done growing their family, so they took measures to avoid having any more children. According to Doreen, “I had my tubes tied, thinking my family was complete.”

However, the couple’s little boy tragically passed away from an undiagnosed heart condition in June 2018. “It took us a very long time to mourn and we sought out counseling for our entire family,” Doreen recalls.

Deciding to try for another baby with help from Texas Fertility Center

After a while, the couple decided that they wanted to try for another baby. However, they faced the problem of Doreen’s tubes being tied. The couple also had another concern. “We were concerned about genetic disorders due to what had happened to our son,” Doreen explains.

The couple began researching to learn more about their family-building options. Their research led them to Dr. Propst at Texas Fertility Center (TFC). According to Doreen, “We attended an information session and were impressed by him and the practice.”

The information session left such an impression that they scheduled their first appointment with Dr. Anthony Propst. The couple first thought they would do a tubal reversal to conceive. However, they learned that Doreen’s husband had low testosterone and low sperm count due to the side effects of medication. For this reason, Dr. Propst and the couple decided that in vitro fertilization (IVF) with preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) would be best.

After her husband visited a local urologist to increase his sperm count, the couple moved forward with IVF. They ended up with three good embryos. Genetic testing revealed that two were girls and one was a boy. However, the boy embryo was missing chromosome 21, which means he would not survive. On April 8, the couple transferred one of the girl embryos.

“The process has been overwhelming, but Dr. Propst and the nurses and staff have been there for us the whole time. They are very knowledgeable and caring,” Doreen explains.

The importance of infertility advocacy

Many women and men struggle with infertility. Doreen and her husband believe that it is important to shed light on this important issue. According to Doreen, “When we talk about infertility, people learn that there is treatment and hope. Everyone should be able to have the family of their dreams.”