Seeds of Success: The Gerhart Family

Anne Marie and Lee knew they wanted a baby. But they also knew they were having trouble conceiving, and no doctor seemed to know what was wrong.

“The first practice that we went to, we felt more like a number because it was a very large practice that had a lot of patients,” Anne Marie said. “It was very impersonal; we didn’t get a lot of communication from our physician directly. It was kind of like an assembly line.”

That was when a friend recommended RADfertility. The friend was a former patient and had found success with RADfertility. At the time, Anne Marie was seeing another reproductive endocrinologist and was not having very much success, so the couple agreed to schedule an appointment at RADfertility and met with Dr. Adrienne Neithardt.

Anne Marie said Dr. Neithardt was incredibly welcoming and extremely thorough. She looked through her files and examined sections of her medical history no other doctor had considered before. After concluding Anne Marie had an abnormal thyroid issue and polycystic ovary syndrome, Dr. Neithardt referred Anne Marie to a endocrinologist.

“I feel like if I hadn’t had that referral, I still would be having fertility issues and I am not sure we would have my daughter today because of that,” Anne Marie said. “We had a wonderful experience with Dr. Neithardt. I felt like I was finally getting some answers. I really felt like she truly listened to us and really tried to get to the bottom of what was causing my infertility.”

Anne Marie came back to RADfertility after her thyroid treatment to have two intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles, which ended up being unsuccessful. The couple then elected to do an IVF cycle under the IVF For ME™ program in RADfertility’s Family of Services.

During the process, Anne Marie developed ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome and on the day of her transfer, learned she would have to undergo a frozen transfer. After speaking with Dr. Ronald Feinberg, the couple also elected to have preimplantation genetic testing for aneuploidies (PGT-A) to increase Anne Marie’s chance of getting pregnant.

“Dr. Feinberg gave me so much information about PGT-A testing and after talking with my husband, we decided it was really something we wanted to do since we knew we were having the frozen transfer,” Anne Marie said.

Her first transfer was successful and the couple had a healthy delivery. Anne Marie said the hardest part of the whole process was the physical and mental toll fertility care puts on your body.

“It can really affect all aspects of your life. In the very beginning, it was hard. I didn’t understand—you feel like, ‘What is wrong with me?’” she said. “As you go through the process, you learn so much just by being educated by all the people at RADfertility. You learn so much, you almost feel like an expert in the topic.”

“After the first trimester, we were sad that we wouldn’t be able to see everyone on a weekly basis,” she added. “The easy, fun part was going to the appointments, seeing the people, and knowing I was in the best care.”

Anne Marie said the most important thing is to stay positive during fertility care.

Anne Marie and Lee returned to RADfertility in 2015 to continue building their family. Lia became a big sister in October 2016 when they welcomed Luca to their now family of four.