An Update On Jimmy And Christine Moore’s Battle With Infertility

Filed under: Health — jimmy @ 9:39 am

Last week when I poured out my heart and soul to you about the infertility my wife Christine and I are facing, I knew it would elicit a great deal of feedback. But you guys just overwhelmed us with your thoughts, prayers, and personal stories about your own experiences regarding the decision about what to do regarding our desire to have kids. Read the many responses in the comments section of that post and I’ll share even more that we received via e-mail.

First, I’d like to provide a quick update.

We went to another local reproductive endocrinologist yesterday to go through one more round of testing on both Christine and I just to make sure the grim possibility of conceiving a child of our own is truly zero. We are big believers in the power of God to produce a miracle and would never say anything like this is impossible. If a 90-year-old woman named Sarah can get pregnant by a 100-year-old man named Abraham, then by golly who am I to doubt that a healthy couple in their mid-30’s can’t get pregnant?

The doctor we met was very kind and thorough in his analysis of our situation. This next week will be vitally important as it will determine where we go from here. On Monday, I have an appointment to have my sperm checked out for the THIRD time for viability. This office has a machine that electronically counts the good from the not-so-good sperm and applies a percentage to each of the kinds of quality sperm. If there is even ONE really good sperm in there, then we have a shot at having our own baby via IVF and other modern treatments. That is one of the next steps from there.

Interestingly, this office has a “money back guarantee” option with their IVF cycle if it does not take the first time. Since these procedures can cost upwards of $12,000-15,000, that’s nice to know. We are happy to take out a loan to pay for this for our opportunity to have a child of our own. But first things first. We need to make sure my sperm will work or else we’ll be looking at the alternative options I previously blogged about.

The longer I’ve thought about this, the more comfortable I am becoming with using donor sperm from either my own family or an anonymous donor. A baby is a baby regardless of where the genetic materials come from. It’s just amazing the many ways to make that happen with modern technology and I’m thankful to have these options. I can’t imagine how couples in previous generations dealt with these kinds of heartaches.

After obtaining a new sperm sample on Monday, we have a follow-up visit next Wednesday to see where we go from here. If the sperm is good, then the doctor may want to proceed with the IVF cycle. However, there is a new procedure called ICSI that can take even a lower-quality sperm and force it into an egg to see if it will fertilize. That’s a bit more expensive, but cost is not the issue. We’ll worry about paying for it later.

I’m not totally ruling out foster parenting or adoption altogether, but let’s just say the option is not as appealing to me for a variety of reasons that have come to light since I began researching it. Anyone who goes through that ordeal and survives deserves a medal for putting themselves out there for the sake of an unwanted child. Again, the door is not closed on that, but we’re gonna try other options first.

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all your prayers and support through this trying time. It’s funny, you get your health in order by losing weight and doing something with your life. But then you run into something like this and it makes you question what you could have done to deserve this. I know we’re not alone and that’s comforting to know there are others who struggle, too. But it doesn’t make it any easier to comprehend.

I’ll update you again when we get the test results back next week and decide what to do from here, but I just wanted to share my gratitude for your willingness to be open and honest about what you thought. God bless you all!

Click here to read a whole lot more comments about this issue we have received.