Journey to Baby Kerns: Kevin and Rachel's Path to Parenthood
After IUI, a paused IVF cycle, and heartbreaking news at retrieval, this Missouri couple is preparing to try again.
A dream they have carried a long time
Kevin and Rachel Kerns met and married in 2022. They spent a couple of years enjoying life as a family of two, but becoming parents is something they have both dreamed about since they were little. In July of 2024, they officially began their journey to conceive.
What followed has asked far more of them than they ever expected.
The road so far
After six months of trying ovulation medications on their own, Rachel and Kevin reached out to STL Fertility for help. Following thorough testing and careful conversations with their care team, they decided to try Intrauterine Insemination. They went through three IUI cycles, paired with four months of acupuncture. None of them worked.
Needing to breathe, they took a short break to reset before moving forward with In Vitro Fertilization. Their first IVF attempt was paused about a week into stimulation medications because of an ovarian cyst and a lack of follicle growth. It was a hard setback, but not the end.
Their second round of stimulation went much better. On paper, everything looked promising: Rachel's estrogen levels were high, and her scans showed 7 to 10 mature-looking follicles. Then came the day of egg retrieval, and with it, devastating news. Nearly all of the follicles were empty. Only two contained eggs, and only one of those was mature. That single egg fertilized normally, but it did not grow to the blastocyst stage.
After so much hope, they were left holding grief instead of an embryo.
Trying again, together
Rachel and Kevin are not giving up. Their doctor at STL Fertility has already mapped out a strategic plan for their next IVF cycle. A portion of that upcoming cycle has been paid for, but there is still a real gap to close, including the cost of the medications Rachel will need.
Why community matters here
Building a family through fertility treatment is one of the heaviest financial lifts many couples ever face. Insurance rarely covers the full picture, and each new cycle brings its own bills for medications, monitoring, and procedures, on top of the emotional weight of not knowing what the outcome will be. That is why community support matters so much. It lets couples like Kevin and Rachel focus on the next step instead of the invoice.
If their story moved you, please take a moment to read their fundraiser in their own words and chip in whatever feels right. Every share and every gift, no matter the size, brings the Kerns family one step closer to holding their baby.
From the publisher
You don't have to carry the cost alone.
Gift of Parenthood awards a $20,000 Family Fund grant each cycle and helps families fundraise for IVF, surrogacy, and adoption. If this is your journey, there's a place to start.