Carolinas Fertility Institute is proud to serve our patients over the past 10 years. Please see the series of inspirational stories below. We’ll be adding at least one story per week through 2024. Thanks to all those who contributed!
JULY 7
JULY 15
Erin Cummins | 11/27/23
My husband and I started TTC soon after we got married. After many years of heartache, we pursued an RE in town. After being with that group for over a year and not feeling heard, we switched to CFI. We fell in love with Dr. Mesen and everything CFI stood for. Our first appt was in Feb, ER in April, pregnant by June.. I had our first daughter in Feb the following year. We went back years later for a sibling.
CFI makes literal dreams come true. They are forever family.
— Zach and Erin Cummings
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JULY 18
Benton Lash | 6/1/2023
We always knew we wanted to start a family shortly after getting married. We never imagined how hard starting the family would be. After a year of not getting pregnant, we spoke with our OBGYN. We did two rounds of letrozole and got pregnant, but unfortunately had a miscarriage. That’s when we started going to CFI. Our two IUIs didn’t work, so we moved to IVF. I responded really well to the medicine and had amazing results from my egg retrieval, with the end results being 10 normal embryos. Little did we know we would still have a long road ahead of us. Our first transfer ended in a miscarriage. So I did more testing and added more shots. The second transfer also ended in a miscarriage. But CFI never stopped trying. We did the kitchen sink protocol for my third transfer. The saying is true, the third time is a charm. That transfer resulted in our sweet baby boy, Benton. We can’t thank CFI enough for never giving up on us and giving the best gift ever!
— Spencer and Ian Lash
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JULY 21
Savannah Grace Taylor | 10/02/2023
Hi! I’m Ashley, and CFI is actually my 3rd RE provider. I have had quite a tough infertility journey to get where I am today. I am so glad I made the switch to CFI, they helped me get my miracle baby, Savannah Grace Taylor.
Prior to switching to CFI we completed 5 iuis without any success at all. I was so defeated and beaten down to say the least. My neighbor actually saw my journey on Facebook and immediately reached out to me saying “give CFI a chance, I promise you won’t be disappointed!” I called them the very next day and was scheduled an appointment within 2-4 weeks of calling! I had my consult with Mrs. Jessica Adams at the Wilmington clinic and OMG I was so impressed with how she handled my consult. She let me talk, listened to what direction I was wanting to take, and had so much confidence that we will be successful! She gave me her personal cell and said I could reach out any time with any questions as consults can be overwhelming with all the information. We quickly went from being a patient to becoming FAMILY. Yes, that’s right FAMILY. Mrs. Jessica & staff (Mrs. Amy & Ms. Roxy) never made me feel like a number at all during any of this. They would do their best to respond within 24 hours, most of the time sooner! My consult was in September, my labs/HSG was in October, my egg retrieval was in November and I did my first transfer in December 2022. It was unsuccessful but Mrs Jessica and her staff kept me motivated and I was going to do additional testing however I literally changed my mind the last second I could and decided to go ahead and transfer again in January 2023! Guess what?? It worked!!! We used neupogen injections (1 one hour before transfer and one 1 week later)!!! I was so excited, and so was Mrs Jessica!! I didn’t want to graduate, I wanted to stay with them the entire pregnancy! Honestly, I’ve never received such amazing medical care ever. I really hope one day they will expand to do full OB care!!!!
— Ashley & Cameron Taylor
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JULY 24
Harper Janelle | 5/19/2024
After finding out it would be a little more complicated than expected to conceive, my wife and I turned to CFI for help navigating the IVF process. Jordan Maloney, Megan Jenkins, Dr. Y, Dr. Mesen, and all of the staff at the Arden location were SO helpful and sweet to us! We’re delighted to report our little success story, Harper, who was born at 35w2d, 5lb 3oz, and is perfect in every way! We can’t say thank you enough for helping us grow our family, and on the first try!
— Autumn and Alex Baggett-Griggs
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JULY 26
Keatyn Vera-Jean Knox | 1/2/2024
It’s really important for us to share that this comes after a 7 year struggle with unexplained infertility; one that included multiple deployments (Krysten is an active duty Marine officer) 3 failed IUIs, one round of IVF (none of which military insurance paid for), multiple procedures, two fertility clinics, hundreds of doctor appointments, injections, blood draws, tears and countless prayers. There were many moments when it felt like we would never get to share our own pregnancy announcement or hold our own child. Infertility affects 1 in 6 couples trying to conceive. If you are in this season of life please know that we see you and you are not alone. We welcomed Keatyn Vera-Jean at 40 years old.
We are most thankful to God and the incredible team at Carolinas Fertility Institute for this precious gift.
— Krysten and Kevin Knox
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JULY 28
Michael & Bryan | 01/10/2022
After 5 years of unexplained infertility and 2 failed IUI, we transferred 1 embryo which split into our beautiful boys! Michael weighed 2 lb 14 oz and Bryan weighed 3 lbs 6 oz, born early due to mom
— Michael & Heather Vernon
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August 1
Isla & Easton | 5/24/23
After 4 retrievals & several transfers resulting in loss we were down to our last embryo. If this last transfer didn’t work we would be done trying.
Not only did this last transfer work, but the embryo split giving us identical twin girls. We could not be more grateful to CFI for our rainbow girls.
— Matt & Kelly Nordby
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August 3
Caroline | 10/19/2021
We are so thankful for Dr. Yalcinkaya and his team. We tried for so long to build our family. He helped make our dreams come true.
— Isaiah and Jessica Tuck
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August 5
Dream Plummer | 12/2/2021
Diagnosed with unexplained infertility & after having multiple miscarriages, we decided to go to CFI for results.
With a successful retrieval, we were able to implant our 6AA female embryo via frozen transfer.
My pregnancy was a very eventful one. Baby girl was consistently measured weeks behind on every US appointment. I was told that she would have spina bifida and other health issues. She was listed as an IUGR fetus. I bled every day throughout my pregnancy. My water broke at 29wks. I had to stay in the hospital until I was induced at 34wks. Baby girl had other plans and decided to come at 32wks via emergency c-section. Dream was born 12/02/2021 (which is a palindrome date). She weighed 3lbs 2oz. I spent 27 days in the hospital and Dream spent 27 days in the PICU. She only had to spend 3 days in the NICU. Dream has/had no health issues being that she was born early and had growth restrictions.
My pregnancy was a hard one but I would do it all over again!!! I’m forever grateful for CFI.
— Isaiah and Jessica Tuck
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August 8
Sandi and Dori | 7/15/22
After never being pregnant and failed IUIs, we discovered I had the PAI 4G/4G gene. Three transfers later, we ended up with our beautiful girls! Dr. Mesen said on our third attempt that we were going for twins and he was right!
— Nick and Jenny Weiss
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August 12
Kye Austin | 11/2/2021
We started our IVF journey around 2018 after leaving another fertility facility. I had to have both of my fallopian tubes removed due to extensive scarring. In 2019 we did our first transfer and it was a success. I went to my 20-week appointment only to be given the worst news ever. Our baby girl’s brain stopped developing and she was having heart issues. I had to have a D&C. We did our 2nd transfer during Covid in 2020. Found out we were pregnant with twin boys. I went into labor at 22 weeks. Our boys lived for 1 day before we had to make the difficult decision to let them go. I am a very stubborn and determined person who likes to start what I finish. We did another transfer in 2021. Dr. Mesen and Dr. Y came up with a game plan to help get me to the finish line. Dr. Y performed an abdominal cerclage and this procedure helped to keep me pregnant for the entire 9 months. Dr. Mesen was so compassionate and comforting after both my losses and helped me to not give up. We now have a healthy and very energetic 2.5-year-old little boy. He brings so much joy to our entire family. I can’t thank this facility enough for what they did and for helping us achieve this goal of having a healthy baby.
— Ebony and David Austin
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August 14
Tatum | 1/25/2024
My wife and I attempted 2 IUI’s at our OBGYN office that were unsuccessful before turning to IVF at CFI. We decided to go with reciprocal IVF, using my wife’s eggs and I carried the pregnancy. The staff at CFI were incredibly informative and kind in this process, we are so thankful for everyone who helped us along the way! We now have a bubbly and adorable 4-month-old little girl who lights up our lives!
— Cameron and Emilee