1 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:04,000 Speaker 1: There's a kind of fairy tale that I remember from 2 00:00:04,040 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: growing up. You've probably heard a version of it. In 3 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:11,559 Speaker 1: the story, a woman longs for a child. She's a 4 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,600 Speaker 1: woodsman's wife or a queen desperate for an air. No 5 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:19,479 Speaker 1: matter what she does, she can't conceive, and so she 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:23,400 Speaker 1: turns to the witch next door, the toad in the pond, 7 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: the nymph with the silver tongue, any mystical figure willing 8 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:32,199 Speaker 1: to make a deal the woman's sacrifice in return for 9 00:00:32,280 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: a child. The bargain is made. The woman follows their orders, 10 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:42,640 Speaker 1: eats herbs from a secret garden, plants magic seeds deep 11 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:46,920 Speaker 1: in the earth. She offers pieces of her life, her soul, 12 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: in exchange for a dream. The thing is for anyone 13 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,560 Speaker 1: who's ever struggled with fertility, These ancient tales might sound 14 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: eerily familiar. I have been this woman. Maybe you have too. 15 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:05,720 Speaker 1: The difference is today the bargain isn't made with a 16 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: witch or a toad. It's with a doctor at a 17 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:13,039 Speaker 1: fertility clinic, one that you've chosen to trust with your future. 18 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: IVF In vitro fertilization is a deal made out of necessity, 19 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: and the price is steep. You swallow pills and inject 20 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: drugs that change your body and your mind in unpredictable ways. 21 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:35,000 Speaker 1: You spend your life savings on tests and procedures and appointments. 22 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: You embark on long, repetitive voyages back and forth to 23 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,759 Speaker 1: the clinic without knowing how long the journey will ultimately 24 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:47,840 Speaker 1: take or where you'll end up. All for the chance 25 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: to hold a child in your arms. Which is why 26 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 1: when I heard about this story about what happened in Nashville, 27 00:01:57,640 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: I couldn't look away. The National Fertility Clinic abruptly shut down, 28 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: putting patients and their embryos in limbo. 29 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:08,360 Speaker 2: Have some breaking news to tell you about Tennessee's Attorney 30 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 2: General is suing a Nashville doctor. Just shock and disbelieve 31 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 2: from former patients at the Center for Reproductive Health. 32 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: A fertility clinic closed overnight without warning or explanation, leaving 33 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:25,040 Speaker 1: patients stranded and their embryos locked inside. 34 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 3: This was our last chance, Like the last of everything, 35 00:02:28,320 --> 00:02:29,440 Speaker 3: the dream was over. 36 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:34,000 Speaker 1: As a reporter, I've spent much of my career documenting 37 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:38,560 Speaker 1: women's experiences with violence. You may have heard my earlier 38 00:02:38,680 --> 00:02:42,799 Speaker 1: true crime podcasts, What Happened to Sandy Beal what happened 39 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:48,320 Speaker 1: to Libby Caswell, what happened to Teleinazar. Investigations into women 40 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:51,919 Speaker 1: failed by the people and systems meant to protect them. 41 00:02:52,360 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: Those failures cost women their lives. This story is different. Here, 42 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: these women are fire for their futures, for the chance 43 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: to become parents, and yet they still find themselves left behind, 44 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:13,400 Speaker 1: abandoned and vulnerable, not just by police and prosecutors, but 45 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: by doctors, legislators, and the very business of fertility. The 46 00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: cost is different, but the betrayal cuts just as deep. 47 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: It doesn't matter how much I fight. 48 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 4: It doesn't matter how sad I get. 49 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 5: It doesn't matter how much I cry over all of this. 50 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 2: It doesn't matter. 51 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 6: How much justice we get. 52 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,440 Speaker 5: None of it's going to get me pregnant. 53 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: This is a story about what happens when a clinic 54 00:03:40,440 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: entrusted with people's most fragile hopes simply collapses, leaving them 55 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: with questions, debt, and heartbreak. 56 00:03:48,480 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 3: This is the case of cases, and they haven't even 57 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:52,200 Speaker 3: cracked the lid yet. 58 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 1: It's also about what happens when an industry operates without 59 00:03:56,920 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: real oversight. 60 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:04,559 Speaker 6: IVF today is far less regulated than virtually any comparable 61 00:04:04,720 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 6: part of medical practice. 62 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: In the United States and the secrets and scandals discovered 63 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: behind the clinic walls. 64 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 3: I with Garrett, there was a proof that I owned 65 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 3: my embryos, that they were mine. 66 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: At its core, this story is about what it means 67 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: to create a family in a precarious system that can 68 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:25,799 Speaker 1: take that chance away in an instant. 69 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 2: You're not going into fertility treatment from any position of strength. 70 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:38,160 Speaker 2: It's a uniquely vulnerable kind of healthcare creating new life. 71 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:40,040 Speaker 2: We're still not parents, by the. 72 00:04:39,960 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: Way, and the hope that still prevails despite the overwhelming setbacks. 73 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 1: We're going to be moms one day. I'm Melissa Jelson 74 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:00,240 Speaker 1: from School of Humans and iHeart Podcasts. This is what 75 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:12,360 Speaker 1: happened in Nashville, Episode one collapse. The part that these 76 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:16,599 Speaker 1: fairy tales about fertility always skip through is what comes 77 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: before the desperate visit to the witch or the fairy 78 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:24,160 Speaker 1: begging for a miracle. It can take months, years of 79 00:05:24,279 --> 00:05:28,960 Speaker 1: dashed hopes and inexplicable losses to even realize you need 80 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:34,160 Speaker 1: help getting pregnant before your IVF story even begins, and 81 00:05:34,200 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: for many people, it's not a path they imagined that 82 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: ever need to take. 83 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 5: I truly did not know what to expect walking into 84 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 5: a fertility clinic. Anybody that's been there knows that it's scary. 85 00:05:45,839 --> 00:05:47,920 Speaker 5: Just walking in there. You kind of feel helpless, you know, 86 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 5: like my body's not doing what it needs to. So 87 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 5: here I am. 88 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:54,599 Speaker 1: This is Sydney McDowell. She's in her late twenties with 89 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: honey blonde hair and a naturally sunny disposition. She lives 90 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:02,640 Speaker 1: just outside Nashville, where she runs a small embroidery business 91 00:06:02,680 --> 00:06:06,320 Speaker 1: from home, stitching custom designs for strangers on Etsy. 92 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 5: I have two daughters. I had one when I was 93 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:11,919 Speaker 5: nineteen and the other when I was twenty two, So 94 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:15,840 Speaker 5: I was really young, young and dumb, as i'd say, 95 00:06:16,040 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 5: but they saved my life and I raised them as 96 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 5: a single mom until my oldest was six and my 97 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 5: youngest was three, and then I got married to my 98 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 5: high school best friend and they love him so much. 99 00:06:31,960 --> 00:06:36,760 Speaker 5: We have the sweetest, splendid family. But we went so 100 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 5: badly to just have a baby to kind of bring 101 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:40,599 Speaker 5: us all together. 102 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:44,760 Speaker 1: Sydney and her husband, Austin, got married in twenty twenty 103 00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:48,640 Speaker 1: three and started trying for a baby. Soon after a 104 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,560 Speaker 1: few months in it happened. Sydney saw a faint positive 105 00:06:52,600 --> 00:06:56,760 Speaker 1: line on a pregnancy test, but at just seven weeks, 106 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: she began having intense, painful cramps. At the time, Sydney 107 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,160 Speaker 1: was working at a local hospital as an ultrasound tech. 108 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 5: It felt like I was giving birth and in the 109 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 5: middle mus shift collapsed because I couldn't stand up anymore. 110 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:16,200 Speaker 5: And that's when my e topic just completely ruptured. 111 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: And ectopic pregnancy a nightmare most women don't think about 112 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:24,920 Speaker 1: until it happens to them. Sydney's embryo had implanted in 113 00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:28,840 Speaker 1: her Phillippian tube instead of her uterus, which meant she 114 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:32,840 Speaker 1: needed emergency surgery at the very hospital where she worked. 115 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: The operation saved her life, but the damage to her 116 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:39,080 Speaker 1: Philippian tube was irreversible. 117 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:41,720 Speaker 5: My life changed that day pretty much. 118 00:07:42,440 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 1: At her follow up appointment, her surgeon gently delivered more 119 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:51,000 Speaker 1: difficult news. Looking in her remaining Filippian tube, she had 120 00:07:51,040 --> 00:07:56,360 Speaker 1: found signs of endometriosis, a chronic condition where tissue similar 121 00:07:56,400 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: to the lining of the uterus grows outside it, often 122 00:08:00,360 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: pain and fertility issues. 123 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 5: I remember walking out of that appointment and I sat 124 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 5: in my car and I just bawled. I was only 125 00:08:09,840 --> 00:08:13,880 Speaker 5: twenty bob at the time. I didn't expect anything like 126 00:08:13,920 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 5: this to happen. 127 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:23,200 Speaker 1: Sydney's doctor suggested she speak with a reproductive endocrinologist, a 128 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:27,200 Speaker 1: dedicated fertility doctor who could give her a clearer picture 129 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:28,960 Speaker 1: of what her future might look like. 130 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:31,520 Speaker 5: She wanted me to receive the best care that I 131 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:33,959 Speaker 5: could get, so she sent me a referral to the 132 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 5: Center for Reproductive Health. 133 00:08:35,440 --> 00:08:38,559 Speaker 4: Welcome, Welcome to the Center for Reproductive Health. You may 134 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 4: be wondering what will your first visit be like. You'll 135 00:08:40,960 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 4: find our staff to be highly personable and eager to 136 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:44,360 Speaker 4: assist you for. 137 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,920 Speaker 1: The Center for Reproductive Health is a small, family run 138 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:52,120 Speaker 1: fertility clinic in Nashville, Tennessee, tucked away on the fourth 139 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:54,800 Speaker 1: floor of a medical building, easy to miss if you 140 00:08:54,840 --> 00:08:58,679 Speaker 1: aren't looking for it. Inside, the waiting room is simply 141 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:03,440 Speaker 1: decorated with floral upholstered chairs circling a wooden coffee table. 142 00:09:04,200 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: The space feels slightly dated, but clean and warm. When 143 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,240 Speaker 1: Sydney and her husband walk in for their first appointment 144 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:14,839 Speaker 1: in early twenty twenty three, they don't know yet how 145 00:09:14,920 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: much they'll come to associate that room with hope, anxiety, 146 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: and everything in between. 147 00:09:21,280 --> 00:09:24,199 Speaker 4: Your nurse will obtain a complete medical history as well 148 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,920 Speaker 4: as check your vital signs. Then it's the time you've 149 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:29,839 Speaker 4: been looking forward to the most your time with doctor Vasquez. 150 00:09:30,040 --> 00:09:33,200 Speaker 4: He will perform a physical examination and then you'll sit 151 00:09:33,240 --> 00:09:36,720 Speaker 4: down with him to review your case and review recommendations 152 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:37,560 Speaker 4: for next steps. 153 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: The clinic is run by doctor him Vasquez, a licensed 154 00:09:43,320 --> 00:09:47,959 Speaker 1: Board certified OBGYN. He's originally from Chile, where he also 155 00:09:48,080 --> 00:09:52,319 Speaker 1: received his medical degree before completing his residency and fellowship 156 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: in the US. His resume looks impressive. He had published 157 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: peer reviewed research, authored medical textbook, and held faculty positions 158 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: at Vanderbilt Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and the University 159 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:11,680 Speaker 1: of Wisconsin Hospital in Madison before eventually opening his own 160 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:15,880 Speaker 1: fertility clinic in Nashville. 161 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,360 Speaker 5: When you look around, you see all the other couples, 162 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 5: and in that moment, I was just curious, like, what 163 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 5: point of their journey are they in. 164 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: I wasn't in Sydney's waiting room at the Center for 165 00:10:29,720 --> 00:10:32,720 Speaker 1: Reproductive Health that day, but I have spent a lot 166 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,360 Speaker 1: of time in similar waiting rooms at other IVF clinics, 167 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,079 Speaker 1: and I can tell you that while none of our 168 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:43,439 Speaker 1: stories are identical, the big emotions that arise inside these 169 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: rooms are pretty universal. It's a complicated mix of anxiety, fear, 170 00:10:49,520 --> 00:10:50,280 Speaker 1: and excitement. 171 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:54,080 Speaker 4: With fertility, you're told from the get go that like, 172 00:10:55,000 --> 00:10:55,959 Speaker 4: we really don't know a. 173 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:56,640 Speaker 2: Lot about it. 174 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:58,240 Speaker 6: It's all just kind of a shot in the dark, 175 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 6: and you're like, all right, well, I get I'll pay 176 00:11:01,040 --> 00:11:01,840 Speaker 6: you to keep shooting. 177 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:06,040 Speaker 2: We were, of course, as I was approaching forty, started 178 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 2: to feel the pressure a little bit more and trying 179 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:10,520 Speaker 2: to say, okay, what is. 180 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:13,480 Speaker 5: The fastest route to some create the cheapest route. 181 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:15,880 Speaker 6: First, we started off pretty excited. We were like, they're 182 00:11:15,880 --> 00:11:18,360 Speaker 6: going to offer more testing, They're going to research a 183 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:19,960 Speaker 6: little bit more than what I already had, because right 184 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:21,719 Speaker 6: now we don't have anything. You know, right now we're 185 00:11:21,720 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 6: considered unexplained to fertility. They don't know why you're not conceiving. 186 00:11:26,160 --> 00:11:30,760 Speaker 3: I have been married to my wife for seven years now, 187 00:11:30,960 --> 00:11:35,000 Speaker 3: and we wanted to grow our family, and obviously we 188 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:41,600 Speaker 3: required assistant reproductive technology. We were just so hopeful. We 189 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:45,760 Speaker 3: looked into all the different fertility centers here in Nashville 190 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:48,760 Speaker 3: and landed on Center for Reproductive Help. 191 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,360 Speaker 1: Sydney doesn't know the other women, the other couples who 192 00:11:54,360 --> 00:11:57,560 Speaker 1: have passed through this waiting room before her, but she 193 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:02,319 Speaker 1: feels a connection with them. While their fertility journeys are individual, 194 00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: they're all entrusting the Center for Reproductive Health with their futures, 195 00:12:07,280 --> 00:12:10,679 Speaker 1: and for that reason, she feels a flicker of optimism, 196 00:12:11,240 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 1: like she's in the right place. 197 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:16,600 Speaker 5: I was also hopeful still that you know, it would 198 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 5: just be, oh, a quick, easy fax. You know, we'll 199 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:23,960 Speaker 5: come here and do this and we'll have a baby. 200 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:28,600 Speaker 1: At Sydney's first appointment, doctor hime Vasquez explains that he'd 201 00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:32,560 Speaker 1: need to perform a laparoscopic surgery to examine her remaining 202 00:12:32,559 --> 00:12:36,679 Speaker 1: filopian tube, the one not damaged by her ectopic pregnancy. 203 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:43,400 Speaker 1: The surgery confirms severe endometriosis throughout her reproductive organs. He'd 204 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,760 Speaker 1: had to cauterize her remaining filopian tube. If Sidney wants 205 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:50,720 Speaker 1: to get pregnant again, she will have to undergo in 206 00:12:50,840 --> 00:12:51,959 Speaker 1: vitro fertilization. 207 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,000 Speaker 5: It was extremely hard. It's okay. I feel like that 208 00:12:55,120 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 5: took me probably six months to wrap my head around 209 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,520 Speaker 5: and be able to accept the reality of the situation. 210 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: IVF is a foreign concept to Sydney. She'd heard of it, 211 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: of course, seen it dramatized on TV mentioned in Passing 212 00:13:12,400 --> 00:13:16,760 Speaker 1: by Acquaintances, but it had always belonged to someone else's story, 213 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 1: not hers. IVF, she soon learns, will not be an 214 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:29,640 Speaker 1: easy or quick fix. Instead, it will require months of injections, tests, appointments, 215 00:13:29,679 --> 00:13:32,679 Speaker 1: and a mountain of hope. All of it is a gamble, 216 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:35,480 Speaker 1: a deal with a doctor she barely knows. 217 00:13:35,880 --> 00:13:39,400 Speaker 5: I was extremely naive. IVF is one of those things 218 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:43,200 Speaker 5: that you don't truly understand the magnitude of it or 219 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,920 Speaker 5: what goes into it unless it's your reality. 220 00:13:49,080 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: A quick primer trying to conceive the old fashioned way 221 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 1: hinges on timing and luck. After sexual intercourse, spur must 222 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 1: find the egg at exactly the right moment, and everything 223 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,320 Speaker 1: inside your body, from hormone levels to the condition of 224 00:14:04,320 --> 00:14:08,239 Speaker 1: your reproductive organs has to be just right for fertilization 225 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,840 Speaker 1: to happen. If you've ever seen Look Who's Talking, the 226 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:15,560 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty nine comedy starring John Travolta and Kirsty Alley, 227 00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 1: that opening scene or sperm race to the Egg, as 228 00:14:19,720 --> 00:14:23,640 Speaker 1: the Beach Boys I Get Around plays. It's silly but 229 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:28,840 Speaker 1: also pretty accurate. In IVF, there's no blind race, no 230 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: sperm frantically trying to find the egg like a shot 231 00:14:32,000 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: in the dark. Instead, patients take medication that stimulates the 232 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:41,040 Speaker 1: ovaries to produce multiple eggs, which doctors then retrieve in 233 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: a procedure called an egg retrieval. Then the sperm is 234 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,480 Speaker 1: combined with the eggs directly in the lab. That's the 235 00:14:48,520 --> 00:14:53,160 Speaker 1: in vitro part of IVF Latin for in glass. Because 236 00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: eggs are fertilized and develop into embryos in a lab 237 00:14:56,160 --> 00:15:00,640 Speaker 1: dish instead of inside the body, from there can be 238 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: frozen for later or transferred into the uterus, offering a 239 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:08,800 Speaker 1: more controlled approach. Sydney would soon find herself in a 240 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:13,080 Speaker 1: cycle of daily pills and injections in preparation for an 241 00:15:13,120 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: egg retrieval. 242 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:22,000 Speaker 5: I remember just coming home with my large box of 243 00:15:22,080 --> 00:15:26,240 Speaker 5: medicine and sitting it down on my bathroom counter, and 244 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 5: you see all the sharp containers, you see all the needles, 245 00:15:30,080 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 5: you see all the medicine that you're gonna have to 246 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:35,560 Speaker 5: draw up yourself and do it home. And it was 247 00:15:35,640 --> 00:15:37,920 Speaker 5: just the thought of, like, Okay, am I gonna be 248 00:15:37,920 --> 00:15:38,520 Speaker 5: able to do this? 249 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,840 Speaker 1: I had the same question Sydney had when I went 250 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: through fertility treatments. IVF is unusual in that, as expensive 251 00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: complex medical treatments go, it's surprisingly diy to get ready 252 00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: for an egg retrieval. You need to take injectable drugs 253 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,280 Speaker 1: every day, sometimes twice a day, for about two weeks weeks. 254 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: Due to the frequency of the shots, it's two time 255 00:16:04,040 --> 00:16:08,240 Speaker 1: consuming to travel into a clinic to receive them, so instead, 256 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,960 Speaker 1: patients are instructed to do their injections themselves at home. 257 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: There's no nurse guiding you through each step, just you 258 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,080 Speaker 1: a pile of needles, a YouTube video and the hope 259 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: that you're doing it right. Beyond the pain of the shots, 260 00:16:23,960 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 1: the side effects are not fun. You spend two weeks 261 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:30,200 Speaker 1: feeling swollen, bruised, and incredibly emotional. 262 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,360 Speaker 5: The medicine makes you want to lay in bed all day. 263 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 5: When people say that if takes over your life, it 264 00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 5: does in a sense, because that's what I had to 265 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 5: do every single day, and I knew that if I 266 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 5: didn't do that, then that would change the outcome of 267 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:46,840 Speaker 5: my future babies. 268 00:16:47,280 --> 00:16:50,680 Speaker 1: In February twenty twenty four, a few weeks after Sydney 269 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 1: begins her daily injections, doctor Vazkez performs her egg retrieval, 270 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:59,680 Speaker 1: He takes twenty five eggs from her ovaries in a 271 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:03,400 Speaker 1: lab just down the hall. An embryologist, someone trained in 272 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 1: the science of reproduction, fertilizes the eggs with Sydney's husband sperm, 273 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: and then the couple waits for the next week. The 274 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,880 Speaker 1: embryologist watches closely to see which of their embryos will 275 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:19,120 Speaker 1: grow and which ones won't make it. 276 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:25,160 Speaker 5: So when they originally had told me that they harvested 277 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,119 Speaker 5: twenty five eggs, like, I was like, oh wow, like 278 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,119 Speaker 5: this is a great number, you know, I didn't realize 279 00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:36,520 Speaker 5: at the time, like how few make it past each stage. 280 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,160 Speaker 1: In the end, six embryos develop and are sent off 281 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:45,600 Speaker 1: for genetic testing. The test called PGTA isn't required, but 282 00:17:45,680 --> 00:17:50,680 Speaker 1: it's commonly used. It screens for chromosomal abnormalities that could 283 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:55,399 Speaker 1: lead to miscarriage or failed implantation, helping patients avoid the 284 00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,760 Speaker 1: heartbreak of transferring an embryo unlikely to thrive. 285 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:02,640 Speaker 5: Later, they called us and told us that we had 286 00:18:02,840 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 5: three healthy embryos that had made it past the PGT testing, 287 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:08,040 Speaker 5: and they were all girls. 288 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:12,280 Speaker 1: The next step is the embryo transfer, when doctor Vasquez 289 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:16,399 Speaker 1: will place one of the embryos into Sydney's uterus. If 290 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:20,320 Speaker 1: all goes well, the embryo will implant, begin to grow 291 00:18:20,600 --> 00:18:24,479 Speaker 1: and eventually become a healthy pregnancy, a baby. 292 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:28,200 Speaker 5: We had the date on our calendar, like this is 293 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,600 Speaker 5: our transfer day. We were counting down the day. But 294 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:32,359 Speaker 5: it's kind of the light at the end of the 295 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 5: tunnel because you know this is your chance, like this 296 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:39,440 Speaker 5: is your chance that you can get pregnant. 297 00:18:42,920 --> 00:18:45,000 Speaker 1: Your baby sister is frozen. 298 00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:51,959 Speaker 5: Well, I she's in a tube. What both colone pas? 299 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:57,040 Speaker 5: She's like frozen in a tube and a big job refrigerator. 300 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:02,880 Speaker 5: I'm so serious, ye you weirdy weirday. 301 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:08,919 Speaker 1: That's Sydney explaining IVF to her young daughter. She posts 302 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 1: the video of them talking to TikTok and. 303 00:19:11,880 --> 00:19:14,320 Speaker 5: Then one day the doctor is going to get her 304 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:16,119 Speaker 5: out of the tube and he's gonna put her in 305 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:20,719 Speaker 5: my belly and he's going like the eyes though the doctor, 306 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,440 Speaker 5: and you're going and hear the baby with him. He's 307 00:19:25,440 --> 00:19:26,440 Speaker 5: gonna keep her safe. 308 00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: Sydney shared some of her IVF process online as a 309 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:33,840 Speaker 1: way to feel less alone, and by March twenty twenty four, 310 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:37,160 Speaker 1: it feels like the finish line is near her embryo 311 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:38,640 Speaker 1: transfer is coming up. 312 00:19:39,240 --> 00:19:42,840 Speaker 5: So when you're going through IVF, the transfer, that's the 313 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,440 Speaker 5: big part. It's like we've worked this hard. Anybody in 314 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:49,080 Speaker 5: their AVF journey, like the word transfer is just like 315 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:51,400 Speaker 5: they know what that word stands for. 316 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:55,080 Speaker 1: Just like the egg retrieval. Getting ready for the embryo 317 00:19:55,160 --> 00:19:59,480 Speaker 1: transfer involves taking specific drugs at specific times of the 318 00:19:59,560 --> 00:20:02,800 Speaker 1: day for a few weeks, and regular check ins at 319 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:03,320 Speaker 1: the clinic. 320 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:08,480 Speaker 5: It's basically doing everything so that your body is just 321 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 5: one hundred percent ready to get pregnant keep a pregnancy. 322 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 5: I was taking shots and I was wearing three or 323 00:20:19,040 --> 00:20:24,840 Speaker 5: four patches a day on my stomach. Was so tired, 324 00:20:25,359 --> 00:20:26,880 Speaker 5: I didn't hardly get out of bed. 325 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:32,560 Speaker 1: Embryo transfers aren't guaranteed. Success rates depend on the quality 326 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: of the embryo and a range of other factors, but 327 00:20:35,840 --> 00:20:41,080 Speaker 1: Sydney has a good shot and she's hopeful. On April fifth, 328 00:20:41,119 --> 00:20:44,320 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four, she goes to the Center for Reproductive 329 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:48,159 Speaker 1: Health for a routine monitoring appointment. It's just two weeks 330 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:51,760 Speaker 1: from her embryo transfer, and she arrives around nine thirty 331 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:55,720 Speaker 1: am for her ultrasound and blood work. Today is a 332 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 1: little special though, because her mom's with her. 333 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 5: I was actually so excited. My mom lives in Kentucky, 334 00:21:02,119 --> 00:21:05,000 Speaker 5: which is where Austin and I originally from, so she's 335 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:06,879 Speaker 5: about a two and a half hour drive from me, 336 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:09,000 Speaker 5: so I don't get to see her as much as 337 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 5: i'd love to. Since we were gonna be in Nashville, 338 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:13,800 Speaker 5: we were just gonna make a day of it. We 339 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,160 Speaker 5: were gonna go get my levels checked, and we plan 340 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,119 Speaker 5: to get lunch. You go to the malls. Honestly, just 341 00:21:19,800 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 5: have a girl's day. I was really looking forward to 342 00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:25,200 Speaker 5: it because you just enjoyed that time with your mom. 343 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:28,520 Speaker 5: We were just talking the whole way up to the office, 344 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:33,159 Speaker 5: having a good time. Got on the elevator, hopeful. We 345 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:36,520 Speaker 5: were talking about how close my transfer actually was, and 346 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:39,000 Speaker 5: like she was just giving me reassurance, like you know, 347 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,359 Speaker 5: you've came this far, it's gonna go great. 348 00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:46,919 Speaker 1: Based on previous visits, Sidney knows how it's supposed to go. First, 349 00:21:47,119 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 1: phlebottomus will take her blood. Then a tech will perform 350 00:21:50,920 --> 00:21:55,000 Speaker 1: a transvaginal ultrasound, looking inside her uterus to see if 351 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,600 Speaker 1: it's an ideal environment for an embryo. At this point, 352 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:01,119 Speaker 1: Sydney could go through the river mole in her sleep, 353 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:05,840 Speaker 1: check in, pay the receptionist, sleeve up for lab work, 354 00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:10,080 Speaker 1: Undie's down for ultrasound, and done, see you again soon. 355 00:22:13,480 --> 00:22:16,919 Speaker 1: But when she walks into the clinic this time, the 356 00:22:16,960 --> 00:22:21,680 Speaker 1: typical routine is off kilter. To start, the receptionist doesn't 357 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:23,720 Speaker 1: seem to want to charge her for the visit. 358 00:22:24,119 --> 00:22:26,560 Speaker 5: I did pay out of pocket for all of my 359 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:30,040 Speaker 5: fertility costs because our insurance doesn't cover any of it. 360 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:32,919 Speaker 5: So I knew when I showed up that day that 361 00:22:33,040 --> 00:22:35,080 Speaker 5: I owed them two hundred and seventy five dollars that 362 00:22:35,119 --> 00:22:37,720 Speaker 5: would cover my lab work and my ultrasound for the day. 363 00:22:38,320 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 5: So when I walked in, I already had my debit 364 00:22:40,840 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 5: card out, and she looked at me and just kind 365 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:49,359 Speaker 5: of looked back down and she's like, actually, just wait 366 00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:53,239 Speaker 5: a second, let me go see and i'll see if 367 00:22:53,280 --> 00:22:55,800 Speaker 5: you owe anything today, you know, just go have a 368 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:57,639 Speaker 5: seat and they'll come get you in a minute. My 369 00:22:57,720 --> 00:23:01,359 Speaker 5: mom asked what just happened, and I said they didn't 370 00:23:01,400 --> 00:23:04,120 Speaker 5: want my money, but I don't really understand. She said, 371 00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:07,880 Speaker 5: they'll be out here. Maybe it's just a miscommunication. Sydney 372 00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:13,280 Speaker 5: and her mom, Wait, I was getting antsy because I 373 00:23:13,320 --> 00:23:16,879 Speaker 5: was hungry. I hadn't ate before I went, and I 374 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:20,880 Speaker 5: was kind of just That's when it started feeling weird, 375 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:23,560 Speaker 5: like why is it taking so long again? I just 376 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:26,640 Speaker 5: kind of brushed it off to they're busy. I've worked 377 00:23:26,680 --> 00:23:28,879 Speaker 5: at a hospital before. I know how it's like to 378 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:32,919 Speaker 5: get behind. You know, it's okay, they're my fertility clinic. 379 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:34,760 Speaker 5: They're going to give me a baby. I'll be patient. 380 00:23:35,640 --> 00:23:39,520 Speaker 1: Something feels off, though, and it isn't just that day. 381 00:23:39,680 --> 00:23:43,240 Speaker 1: The clinic had started to feel different. In the last 382 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:47,959 Speaker 1: few weeks. Sydney had started noticing small changes. The friendly 383 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:52,360 Speaker 1: nurses and assistants should come to know had quietly disappeared. 384 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:54,879 Speaker 5: When you go to fertility clinic all the time, you 385 00:23:54,960 --> 00:23:57,960 Speaker 5: become life family to these people. So there were multiple 386 00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,040 Speaker 5: workers who had I had been at it on Facebook 387 00:24:01,080 --> 00:24:04,959 Speaker 5: because they were following me. I was following them well. 388 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,440 Speaker 5: I started to realize that they weren't working there anymore. 389 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 5: Like the faces the medical assistants and nurses. They were different. 390 00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:17,800 Speaker 1: Sydney had told herself it was normal. Clinics get busy, 391 00:24:18,200 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: doctors retire, staff move on to new jobs. It didn't 392 00:24:22,760 --> 00:24:23,520 Speaker 1: mean anything. 393 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:25,880 Speaker 5: I worked at a small hospital, so I was wondering 394 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:28,000 Speaker 5: if maybe he was getting bought out. I knew that 395 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,359 Speaker 5: he was older, so in my head I was trying 396 00:24:30,359 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 5: to rationalize it that he might be selling his practice to, 397 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:35,240 Speaker 5: you know, somebody else. 398 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:41,000 Speaker 1: Still today is taking a long time. Finally, a woman 399 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:44,640 Speaker 1: Sydney doesn't recognize comes out and calls her name Sydney. 400 00:24:45,080 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 1: Sydney and her mom both follow the woman down the hall. 401 00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:50,760 Speaker 5: I thought it would be neat for my mom to 402 00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 5: see kind of what we go through, because she's never 403 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:56,840 Speaker 5: dealt with infertility or anything, so this is all new 404 00:24:56,920 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 5: to her too, and she kind of wants to be 405 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,439 Speaker 5: able to understand it more to be there for me. 406 00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:06,040 Speaker 5: I'm literally just excited, so I'm almost skipping down the 407 00:25:06,080 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 5: hallway behind her. But then we don't even make it 408 00:25:10,119 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 5: three rooms down the hallway and she stops and she 409 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:18,120 Speaker 5: opens this old door, and when she opens it, it's 410 00:25:18,119 --> 00:25:21,679 Speaker 5: like this dimlt office with a bunch of papers. 411 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:24,600 Speaker 1: The room that the woman ushers Sydney and her mom 412 00:25:24,640 --> 00:25:28,560 Speaker 1: into appears to be some sort of storage space with 413 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:29,439 Speaker 1: a desk in it. 414 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:31,600 Speaker 5: And I like looked at her because at this point 415 00:25:31,680 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 5: I'm like, this is really weird. I've been going here 416 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:37,240 Speaker 5: for two years. I've never been in this office. She 417 00:25:37,359 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 5: just tells me and my mom to sit down, and 418 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:43,080 Speaker 5: she then proceeds to grab a chair and pull it 419 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:45,359 Speaker 5: up in front of me and my mom and just 420 00:25:45,440 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 5: sits there for a second and like crosses her legs 421 00:25:47,840 --> 00:25:49,960 Speaker 5: with her hand on her lap, and like I could 422 00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 5: tell at that point that she was anxious, that she 423 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:57,200 Speaker 5: she was freaking out, And of course, in my mind, 424 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,199 Speaker 5: I'm like, what in the world is I couldn't I 425 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:04,560 Speaker 5: didn't grasp what the possibilities could be. She's like, I 426 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:07,680 Speaker 5: don't know how to tell you this. Our clinic is closing. 427 00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:12,560 Speaker 5: We'll be closing. We won't be here after today. I 428 00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:15,240 Speaker 5: felt like I was unpunked for a second going to 429 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:21,120 Speaker 5: lie I literally feel my heart just dropping and I'm 430 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:22,960 Speaker 5: in tears at this point. You have to keep in 431 00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,479 Speaker 5: mind to I'm two weeks away from a transfer, so 432 00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:29,159 Speaker 5: my hormones were extremely high. 433 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:33,399 Speaker 1: Sydney is spiraling, but she forces herself to concentrate on 434 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,000 Speaker 1: what the employee is saying about doctor Vaskaz and the clinic. 435 00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 1: The woman explains that the staff hasn't been paid and 436 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:43,040 Speaker 1: the clinic is apparently trying to come up with the 437 00:26:43,080 --> 00:26:44,920 Speaker 1: money to keep operations going. 438 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:49,080 Speaker 5: She starts to go into detail that they had received 439 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:53,679 Speaker 5: an email from Elena Vasquez that morning, which is his daughter, 440 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:56,160 Speaker 5: stating that he did not have the funds to pay 441 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,919 Speaker 5: them and that they would not receive a paycheck for 442 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,600 Speaker 5: the previous two weeks that they had already worked, and 443 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,240 Speaker 5: that he also not only owes his employees now, but 444 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 5: he owes the embryologist money he never paid her for 445 00:27:09,880 --> 00:27:14,440 Speaker 5: making our embryos. She had the worst look of fear 446 00:27:14,480 --> 00:27:15,119 Speaker 5: on her face. 447 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,359 Speaker 1: Sydney tries to make sense of it all, but the 448 00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:22,560 Speaker 1: information is coming fast and it's overwhelming. 449 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:26,600 Speaker 5: I felt like at that momently everything in the past 450 00:27:26,640 --> 00:27:29,600 Speaker 5: two years that I had been working so hard for 451 00:27:29,800 --> 00:27:32,159 Speaker 5: and I was so excited, like I felt in that 452 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 5: moment that the carpet was just pulled completely out from 453 00:27:35,960 --> 00:27:39,440 Speaker 5: underneath me. My mom finally looked up at her and said, so, now, 454 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,600 Speaker 5: what do we need to do? And so she said, 455 00:27:43,760 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 5: if I was you, I would get everything I could 456 00:27:46,800 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 5: out of this office today. 457 00:27:52,200 --> 00:27:54,639 Speaker 1: The woman goes on to tell Sydney that if she 458 00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: was in her shoes, her first priority would be to 459 00:27:58,040 --> 00:28:02,920 Speaker 1: get her medical records. Complete, accurate records would be essential 460 00:28:03,080 --> 00:28:07,360 Speaker 1: in transitioning to another fertility clinic. So Sydney rushes back 461 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:10,480 Speaker 1: to the front desk and starts filling out the paperwork. 462 00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:13,200 Speaker 5: The girl at the front desk released my medical records 463 00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 5: right there. 464 00:28:14,200 --> 00:28:18,719 Speaker 1: And then Sidney's mother asks the big question, the million 465 00:28:18,760 --> 00:28:22,320 Speaker 1: dollar question, the one that Sydney, in her state of shock, 466 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:24,080 Speaker 1: never thought to ask. 467 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:28,720 Speaker 5: My Mom's like, well what about your embryos? 468 00:28:32,840 --> 00:28:35,920 Speaker 1: Standing in the waiting room at the Center for Reproductive Health, 469 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:40,200 Speaker 1: Sydney is struck by a new realization. She now has 470 00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:43,560 Speaker 1: her medical records, which she'll absolutely need to have any 471 00:28:43,680 --> 00:28:47,200 Speaker 1: chance of changing to a new clinic. But to perform 472 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:51,120 Speaker 1: an embryo transfer, you need an embryo. 473 00:28:51,680 --> 00:28:53,640 Speaker 5: In that moment, I was so worried about this cycle, 474 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,800 Speaker 5: and I didn't think for a second that this clinic 475 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 5: is also the one that my embryos are being stored at. 476 00:29:00,160 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 5: This clinic doesn't have an off site storage. These embryos 477 00:29:02,760 --> 00:29:05,880 Speaker 5: are stored in their facility there. 478 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:11,040 Speaker 1: Sydney's three embryos are inside a cryogenic tank at the 479 00:29:11,080 --> 00:29:15,520 Speaker 1: clinic right now. They're submerged in liquid nitrogen, stored it 480 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:19,440 Speaker 1: negative three hundred and twenty one degrees fahrenheit. She can't 481 00:29:19,480 --> 00:29:20,880 Speaker 1: just walk out with them. 482 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,360 Speaker 5: One of the girls that had been upfront, she came 483 00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 5: back with the post it note and it said Fertility 484 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:28,800 Speaker 5: Couriers and it had a number on it. She said, 485 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:32,680 Speaker 5: there's a guy named Ta. He is who reuse at 486 00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:36,680 Speaker 5: Center for Reproductive Health to move our embryos, so he's 487 00:29:36,720 --> 00:29:41,520 Speaker 5: familiar with us. You need to call him. And I'm like, okay, 488 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,080 Speaker 5: and say, what what am I supposed to say? 489 00:29:45,640 --> 00:29:49,560 Speaker 1: Sydney goes to her car and calls the courier ty, 490 00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: explaining what she has just learned, that the Center for 491 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:57,520 Speaker 1: Reproductive Health is collapsing and if she wants access to 492 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:01,120 Speaker 1: her embryos, she needs to get them out asap. 493 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 5: At first, I think he thought I was crazy. Honestly, 494 00:30:05,680 --> 00:30:07,600 Speaker 5: he probably thought I was insane because I was like, 495 00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:10,719 Speaker 5: please go get my embryos now they're closing. And then 496 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:14,240 Speaker 5: he said his first answert was so, who's watching the tanks? 497 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,960 Speaker 5: And that part hadn't even crossed my mind. And so 498 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:20,800 Speaker 5: then that hits me that if it's all the staff 499 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:23,200 Speaker 5: walks out, who is watching the tanks? 500 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 1: The tanks that embryos are stored in don't run on autopilot. 501 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:33,440 Speaker 1: They need to be monitored regularly by trained staff. Temperatures 502 00:30:33,480 --> 00:30:37,080 Speaker 1: must be checked and locked. Liquid nitrogen must be replenished. 503 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: If the tanks are neglected, the embryos can be lost 504 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 1: and all the possibility that they carried gone. Ty tell 505 00:30:46,000 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 1: Sydney he'll do whatever he can to get her embryos out. 506 00:30:49,440 --> 00:30:51,560 Speaker 5: And then Tas says, so where we taking them to? 507 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:54,680 Speaker 5: And I'm like, I don't know. I'm still in the 508 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:58,400 Speaker 5: parking lot in my car, and I said, I don't 509 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:02,360 Speaker 5: know where. And I'm like, well, where do you, like, 510 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:05,160 Speaker 5: you know, do you have a suggestion? And he said, well, 511 00:31:05,240 --> 00:31:08,680 Speaker 5: I actually know that Nashville Fertility Clinic is right down 512 00:31:08,720 --> 00:31:11,960 Speaker 5: the road from where you're at right now. So I said, okay, 513 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:14,880 Speaker 5: let me see what I can do. At this point, 514 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:18,200 Speaker 5: my mom and I walk to Nashville Fertility Clinic from 515 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:21,960 Speaker 5: the Center for Reabtective Health with my manical records, and 516 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:24,440 Speaker 5: I'm bawling. 517 00:31:26,280 --> 00:31:29,880 Speaker 1: With tears running down her face. Sydney explains her predicament 518 00:31:30,000 --> 00:31:34,280 Speaker 1: to the Nashville Fertility Clinic. The employees seem as shocked 519 00:31:34,280 --> 00:31:37,600 Speaker 1: as she is, but they quickly confirm they will store 520 00:31:37,640 --> 00:31:41,000 Speaker 1: her embryos as soon as tie the courier can physically 521 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,800 Speaker 1: get them to the clinic. Still, the front desk person 522 00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:48,240 Speaker 1: needs her to understand Sydney won't be able to do 523 00:31:48,280 --> 00:31:52,080 Speaker 1: her embryo transfer in two weeks as planned. In fact, 524 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:54,720 Speaker 1: it could take months before she can try again. 525 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,560 Speaker 5: And she said, now, let me tell you, we will 526 00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 5: be more than happy to take you as a patient, 527 00:32:01,120 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 5: but we aren't going to just do your transfer. We 528 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:09,640 Speaker 5: are going to have to assign you to a doctor 529 00:32:09,800 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 5: and you're gonna have to go from there with what 530 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:15,720 Speaker 5: they want to do. So I kind of realized in 531 00:32:15,760 --> 00:32:18,800 Speaker 5: that second, like I'm starting over essentially. So then I 532 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:21,560 Speaker 5: just started crying again because I was like, I felt 533 00:32:21,640 --> 00:32:24,920 Speaker 5: so close and then all of a sudden, I'm so 534 00:32:25,040 --> 00:32:28,800 Speaker 5: far away again. I have my daughters to explain this to. 535 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:33,400 Speaker 5: I have my husband's family. Everybody's like ready for us 536 00:32:33,400 --> 00:32:35,320 Speaker 5: to have this transfer, and now I don't even have 537 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 5: a doctor. 538 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,640 Speaker 1: Sydney and her mom go home and try to digest 539 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:44,400 Speaker 1: the turn of events. There will be no embryo transfer 540 00:32:44,520 --> 00:32:48,480 Speaker 1: anytime soon. Sidney has to start again as a new 541 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:52,360 Speaker 1: patient at a different clinic. A baby is now even 542 00:32:52,520 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: further out of reach. Over the weekend, Sydney keeps waiting 543 00:32:57,080 --> 00:33:00,959 Speaker 1: for some kind of acknowledgment from the clinic. Something is wrong, 544 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:05,040 Speaker 1: that what the employee told her was true, that staff 545 00:33:05,080 --> 00:33:07,880 Speaker 1: hadn't been paid, that they were planning to stay home. 546 00:33:08,800 --> 00:33:12,520 Speaker 1: But online, the Center for Reproductive Health is presenting as 547 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:13,880 Speaker 1: business as usual. 548 00:33:14,760 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 5: And checking their website, you know, like did I miss something? 549 00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:20,760 Speaker 5: To look on their website and nothing's updated. 550 00:33:21,240 --> 00:33:24,840 Speaker 1: In fact, around the same time as Sydney's appointment, they 551 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:29,320 Speaker 1: post a cheerful message on Facebook congratulating an ultrasound tech 552 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:31,520 Speaker 1: on her three year work anniversary. 553 00:33:32,040 --> 00:33:34,640 Speaker 5: So then at that point I was like, Okay, maybe 554 00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:38,600 Speaker 5: it's maybe I'm blowing this out of proportion. This is 555 00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:41,680 Speaker 5: not actually happening, Like nobody's actually talked to doctor Vasquez. 556 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:43,640 Speaker 5: We don't even know if this is really going on. 557 00:33:44,480 --> 00:33:48,000 Speaker 1: Sydney wants to be wrong, she really does, but things 558 00:33:48,040 --> 00:33:51,680 Speaker 1: aren't adding up, and so, unsure of what else to do, 559 00:33:52,040 --> 00:33:56,320 Speaker 1: she posts about it on TikTok, hoping someone somewhere might 560 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:56,880 Speaker 1: know more. 561 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,520 Speaker 5: Okay, so normally don't get on here and talk or 562 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:05,880 Speaker 5: anything because slightly awkward, and I have been sharing my 563 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:09,279 Speaker 5: AVF journey this far. At this point, having a mental 564 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:13,280 Speaker 5: breakdown because I am approximately two and a half weeks 565 00:34:13,280 --> 00:34:15,919 Speaker 5: from when I should be having a transfer. Just trying 566 00:34:15,960 --> 00:34:19,600 Speaker 5: to stay positive because what else is there to do 567 00:34:19,680 --> 00:34:23,799 Speaker 5: at this point. Hopefully my lottery reacts well to just 568 00:34:24,200 --> 00:34:27,240 Speaker 5: cutting off these fratility medicines. I know it's not really healthy. 569 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 5: That's kind of an update for now. No IBF right 570 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:32,200 Speaker 5: now working on a new doctor. 571 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:38,080 Speaker 1: Sydney doesn't have a big following on TikTok, but suddenly 572 00:34:38,320 --> 00:34:41,960 Speaker 1: her videos are getting attention. Other patients from the Center 573 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:45,719 Speaker 1: for Reproductive Health start finding her, people who are just 574 00:34:45,760 --> 00:34:48,600 Speaker 1: as confused and just as in the dark. 575 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 5: I've realized that people had appointments on Friday and they 576 00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:56,239 Speaker 5: weren't told they were seen, they were given bloodwork, they 577 00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:58,880 Speaker 5: had ultrasounds done, and they were sent home. 578 00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: And something ty the Courier said when she first called 579 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:06,040 Speaker 1: him keeps running through her mind. 580 00:35:06,680 --> 00:35:09,000 Speaker 5: He started, he said, well, this is a big deal. Like, 581 00:35:09,160 --> 00:35:12,000 Speaker 5: your embryos aren't the only ones there? What are they 582 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:15,040 Speaker 5: doing with the rest of them? 583 00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:18,720 Speaker 1: It is slowly dawning on Sydney that despite the terrible 584 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:24,200 Speaker 1: situation she's in, she's actually really lucky. It seems she 585 00:35:24,320 --> 00:35:27,280 Speaker 1: may be the only patient who got this quiet tip 586 00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:30,440 Speaker 1: off and the only one who got a head start 587 00:35:30,600 --> 00:35:34,400 Speaker 1: at moving her embryos to a new clinic, But she 588 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:37,600 Speaker 1: still has to get them out over the weekend. She 589 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:41,120 Speaker 1: remains in constant contact with Tye to coordinate the move. 590 00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:44,279 Speaker 5: So he taketed me that morning and said, you know, 591 00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:46,600 Speaker 5: today's the day. This is the time we plan to 592 00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:48,719 Speaker 5: pick them up. This is how long it takes to 593 00:35:48,760 --> 00:35:52,200 Speaker 5: get there. I sat and stared at my phone for 594 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:54,360 Speaker 5: the entire two and a half hour window. 595 00:35:55,080 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 1: Tye arranges for an employee of the Center for Reproductive 596 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:02,680 Speaker 1: Health to grant access to the closed clinic. The handoff 597 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:06,800 Speaker 1: goes as planned, and Sydney's embryos are whisked away in 598 00:36:06,880 --> 00:36:08,160 Speaker 1: a mini freezer tank. 599 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:12,360 Speaker 5: And as soon as they were accepted to Nashville Fertility, 600 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,520 Speaker 5: he did text me and let me know, like they've 601 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:18,880 Speaker 5: made it safely. I've you know, they've arrived. Everything's good. 602 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:24,440 Speaker 5: That was the biggest relief for me, was just knowing 603 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:28,560 Speaker 5: that I got them out. 604 00:36:29,360 --> 00:36:33,359 Speaker 1: Despite wondering if her doubts and urgency were really necessary. 605 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:39,719 Speaker 1: Sydney is ultimately right. The clinic never opens again. Sydney's 606 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:45,080 Speaker 1: embryos are safe, but there are still roughly twelve hundred 607 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:50,000 Speaker 1: others stored inside the now shuttered clinic. For the patients 608 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:54,000 Speaker 1: who own them, they will determine how many kids they have, 609 00:36:54,800 --> 00:36:59,200 Speaker 1: if they have kids at all, their future families hinge 610 00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:03,360 Speaker 1: on those embryos. Else what's going to happen to them. 611 00:37:03,920 --> 00:37:08,080 Speaker 5: At that point, it didn't occur to me what fight 612 00:37:08,200 --> 00:37:09,640 Speaker 5: was gonna come to follow. 613 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,880 Speaker 1: This season on what happened in Nashville. 614 00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:25,920 Speaker 4: Everything in IVF is a gamble. 615 00:37:26,120 --> 00:37:27,240 Speaker 3: We took this gamble. 616 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:29,399 Speaker 1: Then, while the wind is inside of me, she goes, 617 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:31,880 Speaker 1: I do you think that's your ovary? 618 00:37:32,400 --> 00:37:37,160 Speaker 5: Me and a couple others realized this is bad. This 619 00:37:37,239 --> 00:37:41,000 Speaker 5: is not normal. It's like okay, like there's no not 620 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:43,759 Speaker 5: going to be anybody left. Heard this clinic up like. 621 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:47,640 Speaker 3: It's going to fall, and I immediately was like, holy shit, 622 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:52,600 Speaker 3: Like that is my biggest fear confirmed now. So I 623 00:37:52,760 --> 00:37:56,160 Speaker 3: just had zero trust that this was right. 624 00:37:56,400 --> 00:38:01,320 Speaker 6: Like, you just feel disgusting, you feel violated, we feel manipulated, 625 00:38:01,640 --> 00:38:03,879 Speaker 6: like all of the emotions. You know at that point 626 00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:04,719 Speaker 6: you're deceived. 627 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:08,400 Speaker 5: We would just never accept this in other areas of medicine. 628 00:38:08,560 --> 00:38:11,560 Speaker 1: Unfortunately, people have figured out that this group of people 629 00:38:11,960 --> 00:38:17,440 Speaker 1: are easy to take advantage of because we're desperate. What 630 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:20,320 Speaker 1: Happened in Nashville is a production of School of Humans 631 00:38:20,320 --> 00:38:24,840 Speaker 1: and iHeart Podcasts, written, reported, and hosted by me Melissa Jelson. 632 00:38:25,280 --> 00:38:29,560 Speaker 1: Our producer is Etaly's Perez. Our senior producer is Amelia Brock, 633 00:38:30,200 --> 00:38:34,360 Speaker 1: with additional production by Emily Seiner and Carl Catele. Theme 634 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:38,440 Speaker 1: song by Jesse Nice Swanger, Sound design, scoring and mixing 635 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:42,000 Speaker 1: by Jeremy Thal and Jesse Nye Swanger. Fact checking by 636 00:38:42,000 --> 00:38:46,880 Speaker 1: Savannah Hugley and Austin Thompson. Our production manager is Daisy Church. 637 00:38:47,480 --> 00:38:51,960 Speaker 1: Executive producers are Jason English, Virginia Prescott, Brandon Barr, and 638 00:38:52,040 --> 00:38:55,719 Speaker 1: Elsie Crowley. If you're enjoying the show, tell everyone you know, 639 00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:58,200 Speaker 1: and don't forget to leave a rating in your favorite 640 00:38:58,239 --> 00:38:59,040 Speaker 1: podcast app