At 27, married for four years, we were told we had only a 2% chance of getting pregnant naturally. My dream of becoming a mother began slipping away, and though my husband held my hand through the grief, it was a pain he couldn’t fully grasp. With infertility treatments and adoption financially out of reach, we filled the silence with a dog. But even that joy brought its own sadness, I had always pictured our children playing with a family pet, not just me and a dog in a quiet house.
In August 2014, a friend from my community group invited me and my pup for a walk. We had bonded over losing our moms young, and I found comfort opening up to her about infertility. During our walk, she casually mentioned her husband was a reproductive endocrinologist, one of the best in the state. My heart skipped a beat. She encouraged us to at least schedule a consultation. “Don’t destroy a path you haven’t even walked yet,” she warned.
After much prayer, we met with her husband. We were impressed by him and his compassionate staff but left feeling defeated, knowing we couldn’t afford treatment. As we prepared to walk away, he returned and stunned us with an offer: they would cover our treatment, no cost to us, because any good friend of his wife’s was a good friend of his.
We were stunned. IVF typically costs around $15,000. We prayed, reflected, and moved forward. Our first IVF attempt failed. With four embryos left, we transferred again and were overjoyed to learn we were pregnant .Only a fortnight later, the news hit us: triplets were coming!
Two embryos had taken, and one split, giving us identical girls and a boy. We couldn’t believe it. The pregnancy, birth, and early months were intense, but we were overwhelmed with gratitude and support. The triplets brought chaos, joy, and a love we never thought possible.
Just as life began to “settle” (as much as it can with triplets), I started feeling off. I saw my doctor, and after tests ruled out other causes, she asked: “Is there any chance you’re pregnant?”
I laughed. Hard. That couldn’t happen, not naturally.
But the next day, the phone rang.
I was pregnant.
