Science & Love: My infertility journey

PherDal, like many companies, was started of necessity. Seven years of my life were dedicated to getting my Ph.D., and after getting married in 2016, my husband and I were ready to have kids. I got off my birth control and thought I’d be pregnant within a few months. Six months passed, and anxiety and fear increased. After a year, we went to a fertility doctor and were diagnosed with (the terribly named) “Unexplained Infertility.” So, we both started going through numerous tests and had them very closely monitor my cycle & hormones with lots of blood draws and found few answers. The doctor suggested we start by doing three months of intrauterine insemination (IUI). We were asked to pay $9,000 upfront for all three months of treatment ($3000/month). If this didn’t work, we would move on to in-vitro fertilization (IVF). That, of course, would be more invasive and costly. We were devastated and didn’t have $9,000 as our insurance only covered the tests that got us to a diagnosis, not anything to help us make a baby.

I thought there had to be a different way. If anyone knew what was supposed to happen to make a baby, it was me - I mean ... I have a doctorate in Biology. So, I put that Ph.D. to use.