Anonymous

Our story begins some ten or so years ago when we were living in Colorado. After a round of radiation and surgery for my husband, who was fighting testicular cancer, his physician told him that he wouldn’t be able to father children. The doctor also told my husband that reversing his vasectomy didn’t make sense in light of his prognosis. Despite that advice, we did schedule a reversal in a last-ditch attempt to get pregnant on our own. Even being over age 40 didn’t diminish our deep longing to have children. When we learned the reversal had not worked, we followed another clinic’s recommendation to try donor sperm. More than ten attempts to achieve a pregnancy followed. The clinic frequently lost track of our cycle progress, couldn’t remember which medications I was taking, and often didn’t have time to return our phone calls. Many of our office visits were chaotic and extremely stressful.

When we eventually found the Fertility Center, we had had no success and were beginning to despair. We had reached a dead-end with one clinic, and another had left us with serious questions about the status of our frozen embryos. After a surprisingly pleasant initial consultation with Dr. Donesky, we tried a few more cycles before moving to a cycle with donor eggs. At that time, we were also told about PESA, a procedure that could surgically retrieve my husband’s sperm and give us the precious possibility of a genetic connection to a child. We are now deliriously, happily pregnant with a baby girl and are very hopeful that all will continue to go well over the next several months.

Working with the Fertility Center has been a very good experience for us. Dr. Donesky was upfront, realistic and also very kind at all times. Having given us his assessment of our chances, he was willing to try what we wanted. This was important to us and helped us feel that we weren’t just being told what we “had to do” but that we were working together, in a sense. This brought us new hope that we had someone who could help us.

We got to know many of the staff at the Fertility Center and so valued their kindness and their professional, competent care. It was very different than our other experiences in sterile and impersonal settings. We felt very comfortable with everyone at the Fertility Center, which is very critical given the personal nature of this journey. At times, we had a lot of questions and many concerns, and we were able to address them easily with Dr. Donesky’s team. The office was organized, and we felt that we could count on them to keep track of our procedures regardless of whether we visited the Chattanooga office or the Knoxville office. Our schedule needs were accommodated, and the staff supported us every step of the way.

I would heartily recommend the Fertility Center.