"The Gift of a Child"
The Garfield family and their little miracle, Hayden; Santa Barbara, California

My journey started 25 years ago when I was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, rhabdomyosarcoma. A softball-sized tumor was found between my bladder and uterus. At the age of four, my only hope for living was to receive adult-strength chemotherapy and radiation. Thankfully, my doctor had the foresight to think of my future and moved my ovaries into my abdomen so they wouldn’t be affected during treatment. After two years, it was determined that the tumor had shrunk and could be removed.

Seventeen years later, I was in good health and living the good life of a college student when another obstacle presented itself. I was told that I had precancerous cells on my cervix and needed a hysterectomy—an unbelievably difficult diagnosis to accept at 21 that ruled out any chance for natural childbirth. I was saddened and angry and managed to convince the doctor to perform only a partial hysterectomy, which preserved one ovary.

While ever thankful for my health, the shadow of not having my own children seeped into my consciousness throughout the years. I went on to become a yoga teacher and married a wonderful man who accepted me despite knowing that I could never have children. We looked into adoption and other ways to bring a child into our home.

Finally, a student of mine told me about a friend who had expressed interest in being a surrogate mother. We immediately asked if we could meet her and if she would be interested in carrying our child. After our meeting, my husband and I felt that she was the perfect match. We began looking for a physician who would work with us. Unfortunately, many doors were closed on us and it wasn’t until we met Dr. Feinman that we felt this could become a reality. He wanted me to have some blood tests to make sure that I wasn’t menopausal—since I had never menstruated, most doctors thought there wasn’t much hope for my fertility.

Dr. Feinman was more than we could have hoped for—he was amazing and exhausted all possibilities to make our dreams a reality. After my test results came back normal, he put me on a regimen of Ferring drugs, believing that they were the best protocol to help with a successful egg harvest. I was overwhelmed with joy and hope. We didn’t know what to expect and during the first cycle we had a difficult time locating my ovary, as it had been moved into my abdomen. At first Dr. Feinman thought that I wasn’t being stimulated, but once he located my ovary, it was just the opposite—I had 9 follicles! However, it was too late in the cycle to harvest, so we waited until the next round. Since I wasn’t producing an abundance of eggs, he put me on Bravelle and Repronex and I ended up with 5 follicles, 3 of which were fertilized. Our miracle baby arrived on April 24, 2003.

The journey was extremely emotional for my husband and me. We were excited, scared, and nervous all at the same time and were amazed at the turn of events. We had accepted that we wouldn’t have children and all of a sudden we were preparing to welcome a baby into our lives. I am forever thankful to Shelly, our surrogate mom, because without her our baby wouldn’t be here today.

A couple of years passed and we had the urge to have another baby. Shelly was willing to be our surrogate again and Dr. Feinman was up for the challenge too. He knew that he was going to use Bravelle and Repronex again, as they had been so successful with our first pregnancy. After the first round, I had only produced 2 follicles and thought it was best if we waited until the following month for a better outcome.

At my next appointment, we found that I had 3 follicles and Dr. Feinman joked that this was a do-or-die experience—so I said I wanted them out no matter what. We proceeded with the retrieval and Dr. Feinman successfully removed all 3 eggs. We were blessed with yet another batch of fertilized embryos. However, only 1 of the embryos looked promising, so all 3 were transferred. On the day of our first ultrasound, fortune came our way again—we discovered that we were pregnant with not just 1 baby, but twins! This is the greatest possible ending—far beyond my wildest expectations—for someone who thought that I would never have my own children. None of this would be possible without Dr. Feinman. He was the only doctor who had faith to trust that this miracle could become a reality.