“Kids Like Connor is a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides support and financial assistance to families battling infertility in Central New York in honor of our miracle baby, Connor James. We work hand in hand with families to help them achieve their dream of having their very own kid like Connor. In addition, we advocate, educate and bring awareness to infertility and IVF treatment in the community."

Bryan and I have been together since July 2010, and being parents was always very high on the priority list. With Bryans history of pediatric cancer, surgeries and multiple rounds of chemotherapy, we never really knew if this was in the cards for us. Luckily after some testing we got great news that Bryan was cleared with a healthy fertility report. Fast forward to June 2018 when we decided to start trying naturally for a family. After 4 miscarriages, we decided to seek out some fertility care. We started working with Boston IVF the Syracuse Center in February 2022. After some extensive testing with all normal results, we decided to try medication and continue to try naturally. After 4 cycles and no luck, we moved on to Intrauterine insemination (IUI) treatments. 2 trials of this and still, no luck. On October 31st, 2022 we had our first egg retrieval, and retrieved 25 eggs! We were extremely hopeful and excited for this. At day 5, only 2 embryos made it to be sent out for genetic testing. While this information was not the best news, we were still hopeful. On Thanksgiving 2022, we received a phone call that we had one single healthy embryo. One chance at a successful in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment. On January 25th, we went in for our first embryo transfer with our one and only Embryo. After 10 days we went in for bloodwork and got a very low HcG number. 31. We were told the number should be much higher, and asked to come back a few days later to trend the number down until we got to. We were heartbroken and so defeated. That following Tuesday, we went back in for bloodwork and to our surprise and utter disbelief, my HcG was 316! Our number more than tripled! The doctors were shocked and so were we. We could not believe it. Then, we heard a heartbeat for the very first time. It was a moment and a feeling we will never ever forget. We were elated and started dreaming of what life with our boy would be like. When we call him our Miracle Baby, we really mean it. Throughout our journey, we realized that there is not a lot of support for families going through fertility treatments, both emotionally and financially. It can be a very lonely journey, one that is not spoken about enough. Being a pediatric oncology nurse, I see a lot of fertility issues from treatment that come up during survivorship. While on maternity leave, I expressed to Bryan how important this work is to me, and he pushed me and encouraged me to start up a nonprofit organization. I work closely with other organizations in our area, so I sat down with Sue Bertrand, President of Maureen's Hope Foundation, and she mentored me and helped me get started. After lots of hard work and research, I am so proud to announce the birth of Kids Like Connor! We are so excited to work with the community and bring support, education and miracle babies to the families, men and women of CNY!

Lauren Wilbur, President and Director of Kids Like Connor

Laurenwilbur@kidslikeconnor.com
315-506-8480