We had been married for five years when we decided to start a family. Pregnancy came very easy for us, which was wonderful; however, 6 and 8 weeks into our first two pregnancies we miscarried. Although tremendously saddened, we continued to pray for a child. Over the next year, we were pregnant two more times, but unfortunately these were ectopic pregnancies that required surgery. At this point, our OB/GYN encouraged us to see the physicians at the Fertility Center for consultation and possible candidacy for their IVF program.
At first, we were confused, anxious and even fearful of the in vitro process. After all, we had achieved pregnancy four times on our own and couldn’t understand why we would need this type of intervention. After much prayer, we decided to continue on with our appointment. The moment we walked in to the office for our consultation, we had an overwhelming peace that we were right where we needed to be. We encountered a number of obstacles in our IVF attempts, and it was a struggle at times emotionally; however, we continued to believe that we would someday have a child of our own. We kept that child as our focus and goal, which made our perseverance strong. Dr. Donesky, Dr. Bird and the entire staff never lost hope and encouraged us each step of the way.
Our pursuit of parenthood was an amazing journey! In fact, there has not been another event that has forced us to rely completely on our faith any more than we did during this time. The staff and physicians at the Fertility Center genuinely cared for us and couldn’t wait for us to have a child of our own. The day that we went in for our pregnancy test, the entire staff entered the room with Dr. Donesky as he delivered the wonderful news – we were going to have a baby! In February 2007, we welcomed our long-awaited and very much prayed for baby boy, Sherman W. Smith III. We thank God each day for the miracle of life He has given us and the wisdom and compassion He has given the physicians and staff at the Fertility Center. They are special people who worked together for a special purpose and who made a special time in our lives a sweet memory.