Fertility Answers - Helping Build Families

Gift of Hope 2009 – Michele & Kip

Ectopic pregnancies make couple a good candidate for the IVF grant

Breaux Bridge couple awarded Gift of Hope IVF Grant 2009 and a chance to build their family.

MIchele & Kip - Gift of Hope IVF Grant recipients
MIchele & Kip – Gift of Hope IVF Grant recipients

Michele, who works for the Vermilion Parish Clerk of Court, and her husband Kip, an offshore dispatcher, were ecstatic upon hearing the news that they had been selected as one of the Gift of Hope IVF grant 2009 couples. The couple have been trying to start their family for over five years but after three ectopic pregnancies and one miscarriage, Michele was left with only one fallopian tube and little hope for getting pregnant without advanced fertility treatments. After trying several fertility treatments and a surgery without success, the Trahan’s were advised that in vitro fertilization would be their only chance of conception, a procedure their health insurance does not cover.

In 2007, the couple decided to give IVF a shot and took out a loan for the expensive procedure. Unfortunately, their attempt at pregnancy through IVF, which has an approximately 50 percent chance of success, did not result in a pregnancy. What impressed the selection committee members most about the Trahan’s were their strong faith and commitment to each other and the support of family and friends revealed in the personal letters submitted with their application.

After going through the Gift of Hope IVF grant 2009, Michele conceived but miscarried a short time later.