Rachel DeLano Schwartz
Lafayette, PA
At 27, Rachel was diagnosed with cancer and needed radiation. Because of the area of the cancer, Rachel first had surgery to move her left ovary behind other organs to protect it from radiation. She faced the possibility of infertility without a significant other in her life. She decided against harvesting eggs to be fertilized by volunteers (there were several).
Rachel knew that she wanted to have children...she also knew it might be a difficult road. After finding the man of her dreams, they immediately started "trying". Her doctors told her she probably wouldn't conceive and might not even be able to produce eggs viable enough to harvest. Rachel changed her lifestyle. She quit her high-stress career, changed her diet to mostly organic and tried lots of Eastern medicine including accupunture. The results - she was able to produce eggs to fertilize with her husband's sperm and implant in a surrogate (Rachel's sister Deb). When Deb was three-months pregnant with Rachel's baby, Rachel and Danny realized another miracle - Rachel was pregnant! They announced the news on Rach's 35th birthday - with her sister a month away from delivering Rachel's baby.
Rachel now has a baby girl Emma 17 months old and Jake will celebrate his first birthday on April 26.