IVF in Calgary
Options, Cost & Real People
Creating Keira
The third times the charm.
Amber Luft's husband, Kevin, was diagnosed with cancer in 2007. He had myelofibrosis and needed a bone marrow transplant.
At the time the couple was prepared to do everything that would make him well.
"At the Tom Baker (cancer centre), they give you a binder and it’s a binder of everything you’re going to go through detailing who is going to be on the team supporting you, your medical diagnosis, what this means and what the process means and the side effects. One of the side effects was that we may not be able to have children."
Kevin had to go through chemotherapy.
Early on the couple took steps to ensure that they would still be able to have a family.
They contacted the Regional Fertility Clinic in Calgary, Alta to see what the process would be.
First, they needed a referral to see a doctor at a clinic. Then they had to wait to see the doctor and get some testing done. Then they had to wait for the results and to figure out what treatment would be best for them.
Based on all the treatments Kevin had received his sperm count was low and Intra Uterine Insemination was not an option for the couple. Their doctor advised them to go straight to in vitro fertilization.
With the birth of their dauhter, Keira, The Lufts became a family.
Photo Courtesy of Ambery Luft
Luft recalls what the process was like for her, "It’s tricky cause you don't feel too good on medications, but here you’re excited 'yes finally we’re moving towards our ultimate goal of having a baby and being a family so there is all these highs and lows in the way. You feel lousy on the medications. Then you finish that and you go into egg retrieval and you’re excited about that. Then that process is hard, waiting for the transfer, how many embryos can they get and then you go through waiting to find out if you are pregnant or not. After everything you have been through- that is the hardest part- waiting for two weeks to see if the pregnancy is going to be the result of everything you have been through.”
Excited
for Baby
Referral
Meet with
Doctor
Results
IUI
IVF
Highs
Medications
Egg
Retrieval
Embryos
Lows
Results
Despite the five years of intense medical treatments Luft says that she would still go through it all again, especially for their daughter,
Luft Says, "Family is everything to me, it's support, it's love, it's a part of who you are, and really without family being in my life I don’t know who I would be."
Originally the hardest part for the couple was if they were going to be able to afford IVF or not. After everything they had already been through, and Kevin not being able to work, the couple was in their mid 30s and ready to have a family. Finacially that was a barrier
"I think IVF should be included in Alberta's health care plan because in so many situations where it can be uncontrollable,” Says Amber, “If it was covered then I think there wouldn't be such a huge financial burden on families because then a single embryo transfer would then suffice for a hopefully successfully pregnancy and then it would be less cost on the government, with full term pregnancies, healthy moms and healthy babies."
Luft's first cycle of IVF was cancelled when the doctors determined her body wasn't ready. They were able to try again and go through a second cycle where they were able to freeze some embryos, however the couple still had trouble conceiving. With the frozen embryos, the couple tried IVF for a third time and were successfully able to become pregnant.
Four years after Kevin’s Diagnosis, on February 25th 2011,
The Lufts welcomed baby Keira into the world.
Keira Luft,
born February 25th, 2011
10:45 am
6lbs 6oz
Photos Courtesy of Amber Luft