Fertility Institute Offers Help For Hopeful Parents
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Mother's Day can be tough for Andrea Betts.
"It's hard because I want to be a mother, but I can't be yet," she said.
Last February, she and her husband, Ryan Smith, were approaching their one year anniversary, the date they planned to start trying.
"My brain and my heart and everything was really set on doing that right now," she said.
But, when doctors diagnosed Betts with breast cancer, her well laid plans came crashing down.
"All this information and news is raining down on you, and the one question I had for him was, 'what about kids?,' said Betts.
Dr. Walid Saleh, of the Sher Fertility Institute said, her response was a common one among young women diagnosed with cancer.
"For some women, the infertility is more stressful than the cancer diagnosis," he said.
The Institute's fertility rescue program, though, helps cancer patients freeze eggs or embryos for the future, free of charge. The normal cost for the service is about $10,000, according to Dr. Saleh.
Betts and her husband had only one shot, though, to produce a fertilized egg before she had to start chemo. Their attempt paid off.
"We got an amazing number of little embryos," she said. "We feel close to them. They're like our little guys."
Betts still has to wait another six years to make sure she's free of cancer and the drugs, before doctors can implant an embryo.
"There's still not certainty, but there's a really good chance. It feels like the reward at the end of a very long tunnel," said Smith.
That hope, they say, is enough – for now. For more information on the fertility rescue program, visit haveababy.com.
