“It doesn't get better than Donor Nexus..."

“I was trying to conceive for one year and ultimately decided to turn to IVF in the hopes that I would become pregnant right away. I went to another agency and completed my first round of IVF and unfortunately my embryos did not make it. I waited approx. 6 months and tried another round of IVF again, using my own eggs and my husband’s sperm. Again the IVF was a failure and I was disappointed. At that time I decided to weigh my options and several months later I decided I would use donor eggs. My search took several months and was very frustrating to say the least. I contacted several agencies and was given the run around over and over. I also was never given a clear answer as far as pricing. I spent numerous hours online searching and it was very frustrating as I felt I was getting nowhere fast.

I happen to stumble upon Donor Nexus online one day. I was contacted via email right away by Mackenzie. She was very attentive to what I wanted and checked in on me almost every day to assist my search for a compatible donor. I was hesitant to get a donor for the eggs but Mackenzie assured me I would feel as if it were my very own. This was a huge help and lifted the weight off my shoulder. She did not give up until we found the perfect donor. Once I chose my donor, Mackenzie helped me with all the paperwork and explained everything to me in detail. I never doubted her expertise and knew I was in good hands.

I started my protocol in January with the help of my nurse Natalie, she was very polite and helped me with all my medications. In February I completed my IVF with Dr Ghazal. Dr Ghazal was very professional and kind and I felt at ease with her immediately. In early March I received the news that I was pregnant. I was beyond excited and could not be happier! I am now carrying a happy and healthy baby boy that is due in November!!

My experience with everyone at HRC and Donor Nexus was amazing. I could not have asked for a better team of people to work with. I miss all them dearly and would highly recommend them to anyone looking to start their journey into motherhood. Having the right support team makes a huge difference and it doesn’t get better than Donor Nexus! I truly appreciate the personal attention I received from everyone. I could not have done any of this without the help of Donor Nexus and Mackenzie!”

– Sandy Z., Orange County, CA

"I always wanted to be a mother..." »

My name is Mary & I am a new Mom of a little boy named Jaxon. He is the best thing that has ever happened to me and everyday I have the pleasure of taking care of him I am reminded how big and powerful God is. Jaxon is absolutely a miracle and living proof that they do happen.

I always wanted to be a Mother since I was a little girl.

Unfortunately, I did not have good luck with the men in my life. Every relationship I became involved in always ended up not working out. Throughout my 20’s and 30’s I was a free spirit dating different people and had a few long term boyfriends. Nobody was good enough to have a child with nor was I fit to be a Mother at that time. So I kind of just let the idea of having a baby go.

When I turned 39 I had a big wake up call as I discovered a lump on my left breast.

It turned out to be breast cancer and I suddenly found myself fighting for my life.

At that I time, I was heartbroken because I knew that the chemotherapy and radiation treatments would make my body infertile. I had no time to freeze my eggs because my cancer was triple negative the most aggressive type of breast cancer. By the Grace of God the treatment was a success and I was cancer free. I had a full mastectomy and breast reconstruction surgery. I went through several surgeries and many complications but by the time I was 42 I looked like myself again and felt even better. All of my doctors warned me about going into early menopause after chemo but that never happened. I had a normal cycle every month. It gave me a glimmer of hope. I never gave up in my mind. I knew I survived cancer for a reason and that I had a purpose as cliché as this may sound, I knew in my heart something bigger than myself was working in my life.

I began to exercise regularly and eat right. I quit smoking. Eventually I quit my party lifestyle altogether and moved away from the town I was living in to start a fresh new life. I settled by the beach and got a good job and enrolled in nursing school. I was so proud of myself that I got my stuff together but still felt like something was missing. On the 4th of July, my parents came over to visit me. Out of the blue my Mother looked at me and asked when I was going to give her a grandchild. She informed me that her and my Dad have all this money and nobody to leave it to when they die. I glared back at her in disbelief and told her that I was sorry but that baby ship sailed a long time ago. She shot back at me defiantly and said “I want a grandbaby so look into it!” I had just read about an actress that gave birth to her daughter at 54 years old. I was 46 and 6 years cancer free. It made sense to me to inquire further. I googled infertility treatments near me and HRC came up (specifically Dr. Michael Feinman) in Westlake Village. I decided to write him an email and told him about my situation. I also looked at the website and for the first time read about embryo adoption.

I was fascinated by the concept and instinctively knew that this was the beginning of my journey to Motherhood. Dr. Feinman wrote me back and let me know that I had no chance of becoming pregnant on my own because of my age and cancer treatments. I argued with him at first because I was still menstruating regularly. He said I could try IVF with my own eggs but I would be wasting valuable time and money and very likely end up childless. I accepted the reality of my situation and was ready to move on and discuss the embryo implantation process. He referred me to the agency he worked with closely called Nexus. He told me to contact Lucy and she would get me started. I went home that day and did what I was told. Lucy got back to me immediately and helped me get logged into their website and there I was looking for an embryo to adopt. It didn’t take me long to decide who I wanted.

It’s hard to explain the feeling I got when I saw the young lady in the picture. Not only was she beautiful but a good person that was willing to donate her eggs to help somebody in my situation.

Donor Nexus made it so easy and hassle free. Once I decided on the embryo, I was well on my way. I hit one more delay during an examination with Dr. Feinman. I had benign fibroids in my uterus I had to get removed before becoming pregnant. I had that surgery in October and by January 18th I had the embryo implanted via IVF at their Encino office. It took the first try and I found out I was pregnant January 29th 2019.

I was so excited I screamed “I’m Pregnant!” in my nursing class. Everybody started clapping. It was such a glorious feeling.

I called my Mom the minute I left class and when she answered I asked for Grandma. She started to cry and so did my Dad. They suggested I sell my condo and move closer to them and offered to buy a house for myself and the baby. In the meantime I could live with them. I had no problem with any of it since my school was much closer to them than me and moved in with them.

During an ultrasound it showed that I had twins but one was missing. They called it Vanishing Twin Syndrome I ended up miscarrying the fetus and was put on strict bed rest for months. I was terrified when I saw the blood but reassured when I heard a strong heartbeat inside me the next day. I made the decision to quit nursing school until after I gave birth and my school said I could come back whenever I was ready. Everything went well for us after that. I no longer was on bed rest but got weekly ultrasounds throughout the rest of my pregnancy.

On October 2nd 2019 my beautiful, incredible, adorable son came into the world and God truly Blessed my family that day. Jaxon has completed me. There is no longer an emptiness within my soul.

My Father is going through kidney disease and Jaxon in the force that keeps him going forward. My Mother is the happiest I have ever seen her. This baby is not only wanted but truly adored. I am lucky that my parents have provided the means to secure his future so it takes a lot of stress off my shoulders. I just feel so lucky and my heart sings when I look into his eyes. He is healthy and vibrant and the greatest gift I could ask for. I am so grateful to my doctor and especially Donor Nexus for making all of this possible. I cannot thank these people enough. When Jaxon is old enough to understand his circumstances I will support him on finding his biological parents and siblings. I want him to have everything his heart desires. I also want for whoever is reading this to know that you too can have what your heart desires as well if that desire is to have a child of your own. It is never too late and please do not give up no matter what kind of circumstances you are under. Follow your heart and believe in the process. May God Bless all of you.

– Mary

“Deepest gratitude and highest recommendation for Donor Nexus...” »

“Oh okay…okay…” head nodding, blank stare… That’s the initial reaction we get 99% of the time when someone finds out Cori’s pregnant, and we say, “Yes, she is pregnant! Yeah, we adopted our baby.” Of course, we know it’s not clicking for them, so we save face and keep explaining. Soon enough, their expression starts to cringe as their eyes betray their bewilderment, and they exclaim, “Oh! Wait, you did what??” Then it hits them. “Oh wow, I have never heard of anything like that before! That is truly amazing!” Next thing you know, they’re in tears, telling their family, contacting us again for more details, and so on.

Destined to Adopt
Since before Cori and I (David) met, we each had the passion to adopt, having both travelled the globe ministering to orphans and outreach programs. Cori herself reaches out in genuine empathy, as she was double-orphaned at a young age, having lost both her parents to cancer. Ever since we met in 2004, everything about our relationship together has always pointed to our prioritization on marriage first, then immediately on our children second. As psychologists, we feel that good parents for children are those who are good spouses for each other. We immediately saw how compatible we were, not only for each other, but to raise children together, and nothing would be more fulfilling than to be able to both bear a child and adopt a child. Thus, it seemed logical that we would at least have two children, one natural and one adopted. And so, for the first 6 years of our marriage, we’ve enjoyed watching our nieces and nephews, ministering to orphans, counseling young couples as they prepare for marriage and parenthood, etc.

Our First Daughter
Early on, we felt God speaking to us about our future children, and one unforgettable word was that our firstborn would be a “miracle,” like one we’ve never heard of. In 2013, Cori got pregnant with our first daughter. After all our experiences loving other children, we were so excited to love one of our own, and we chose her middle name “Faith”. We changed our life around in preparation, but little did we know just how much the word “faith” would play out in this pregnancy.
The pregnancy turned into what seemed like an eternity of our faith being challenged, as our baby suffered mysterious health issues that stumped multiple doctors. Through our agonizing cries, we hoped perhaps this “miracle” we were waiting for would be the healing of our daughter. Cori carried our baby full-term, but before she was born, we lost her. We know she’s with God now and that she is healed in that sense, but no words can describe the excruciating pain and loss we’ve been feeling.

Pushing Forward
But God still had His promise waiting for us. After much prayer and tears, we decided to push forward to adoption, since this was already a dream we lovingly shared together. With a special place in our hearts for Asia (I myself am Asian) and the desire to have another daughter, we decided to pursue adoption of an Asian girl. But no matter what, after our past difficult experience of “faith”, we simply hoped for “peace.” Thus in 2015, Cori began the rigorous process of researching adoption, everything from A to Z, the methods, the agencies, the laws, the countries, etc. I even used all her information for a presentation in my social psychology class, and after many hurdles in the process, we also started our own adoption-counseling ministry to come alongside others pursuing it. As we started narrowing down our search for personal adoption, we held on to the dream of being able to raise at least two children, one that we chose and rescued, and one that we had through pregnancy and delivery. Once again, we would be mystified…but for good.

A New Hope
It was during this research that Cori happened to notice three little words amidst a big manual of adoption she had obtained: “Snowflake Embryo Adoption.” This was something we had never heard of, even after all the research. So on July 29, 2015, we were at an appointment with an agency regarding international adoption where we found out what this embryo adoption was all about. It surprised us the population of embryo babies being kept in freezers, over half a million in the U.S. It broke our hearts that so many of them are either destroyed or given over to experimentation. It blew our minds the new groundbreaking technology to save an embryo baby from such fate and give them a chance of life…through one’s own personal pregnancy. In other words, to both adopt and bear our child, the same child! This time, no words could express the hope we felt from this amazing, new concept.

Donor Nexus
Inasmuch that Cori poured into researching adoption, she then poured specifically into embryo adoption. Within a couple more months, we found ourselves at Donor Nexus, working with Mackenzie, (a relationship we’d quickly grow to cherish!), and looking through embryo profiles. Our hearts melted with joy when Mackenzie told us they actually had a healthy Asian Indian embryo girl ready to be adopted. Step by step, everything continued to be one confirmation after another in favor of us moving forward with this. We knew we wanted a fall baby, so in working backwards from there, December 18, 2015 became our transfer date, making October 9, 2015 our glorious date to commit. It was just a matter of finding $10,000 (to also cover any extra meds and checkups). Thank God, a mere 2 days prior to the deadline, our credit union randomly contacted us, saying that they pre-approved us for a personal loan of $10,000, no questions asked—perfect amount, perfect timing! We went in the next day and grabbed the check, and the day after that, took it straight to Mackenzie. On October 9, 2015, we walked out as happy, proud parents of our Indian baby girl!

The Hijack
The next couple of months were quite an adventure as we jump-started Cori’s body into pregnancy with numerous, various medicine and hormone injections. She trusted me to meticulously follow the injection calendar, making sure to put the right amounts of the right fluids in the right syringes, into her in the right spots at the right times on the right days. Gone were the days of waking her up each morning to kiss her before work. In were the days of waking her up, saying, “Sorry Baby,” as I drove another needle into her skin! Of course, Cori was the one dealing with these injections at ungodly hours of morning and night, in addition to other pills and creams on the menu. We’d laugh that nothing else would make a woman willingly go through such a hijack of medicines, symptoms and hormones, except for one reason: to save a baby’s life. And nothing else would make a man willingly hijack his wife with additional hormones, emotions and moods, except for one reason: to save a baby’s life!

Time to Wake Up!
December 18 2015 couldn’t have come any sooner, and we excitedly arrived at the clinic where they had our baby girl waiting. Every little hurdle was a huge prayer request—that Cori could get the acupuncture, that our baby would thaw successfully with healthy vital signs, that the procedure would go smoothly, that she and mommy’s body would accept each other… And that is exactly what happened. Everything went successfully from beginning to end that day, and what was extra special for us is that they gave us a picture of our daughter when she just woke up from the thaw. (To me, she resembled BB-8 from Star Wars, which just so happened to come out that day, so I affectionately refer to her as “my little Baby-8”). Besides being perfect timing for a fall birthday, this whole procedure was perfect timing for Christmas as we had family visiting. On New Year’s Eve, after 12 long days of praying, it was confirmed that she latched on to mommy, and mommy’s body accepted her! The next day, New Year’s Day, we had the best pregnancy announcement to tell our family.

A Blessing and a Miracle
This pregnancy has been such a blessing to us, especially after our previous experience, as we have enjoyed so many “extras” beyond a normal pregnancy: we chose our baby, we knew her due date immediately (September 4, 2016), we had ultrasounds every other week and could see her develop every microscopic step of the way—and best of all, we have been able to live the dream of both bearing and adopting a child. Furthermore, we are her legal birth-parents, so she is 100% ours, through and through. And as an added bonus, I researched (yes, I did a little research too!) and learned that while a baby may have her own established set of DNA, she still uses the mommy’s proteins to interpret that DNA. So our little Indian girl will in many ways take after her English Basque mommy! Now, my precious bride Cori is a rockstar and supermommy and has definitely been undergoing her exaggerated share of sickness and pain. But every woman is different and every pregnancy is different. And after our previous experience, nothing cheers her up more than to hear her OB at each appointment say that our baby is healthy, right on track, and looking beautiful. That’s a good sign: mommy is so sick because baby is taking all the good stuff! And as of today, Cori is proud to say that she is 33 weeks pregnant with our healthy, adopted daughter.

Gotta Tell the World
Without question, another rewarding aspect about this is spreading awareness, inspiring others, and touching lives. After our past full-term loss, it was very emotionally difficult deciding when to start sharing. But then we remembered our greatest motivation through this whole time—we’re saving a baby’s life. Our minds went to the 500,000+ other lives on the line, in the freezers, waiting to be adopted, and we realized: How can we NOT tell the world as soon as possible?? So we began to talk—spreading awareness for this cause. We began telling everyone we could, and before we knew it, we were finding any and every excuse to steer conversations into this, whether at work, the store, the gym, etc. And to our pleasant surprise, we haven’t annoyed one person yet. If anything, we seem to have made “converts” of the cause, even across borders to people we don’t know. Countless reactions repeat, “Wow, this is so beautiful, I will definitely be telling others!” and “You definitely have my attention, I have never heard of anything so amazing!” Then there are those holding back tears, saying, “I wish I met you guys sooner when I was trying to have children. We will certainly be telling others, before it’s too late for them.” But what gets us most are the ones we never knew would be so touched, when a friend tells a friend, and that friend then bursts into tears because she was having childbearing problems, wanted to adopt too, but was about to give up on both. Our story brought her hope. And now, we are coming alongside 3 other households in their own embryo adoption process, hopefully with more to come. Furthermore, Cori’s baby shower is coming up with the theme “Thank Heaven for Little Girls,” and she is so excited to take a few minutes and share even more about embryo adoption.

Conclusion
We’d like to close with three major takeaways:
    – To those of you wanting to have children, whether you want to get pregnant or adopt, PLEASE consider embryo adoption. It’s the beautiful way you can enjoy both, and for much less the cost than IVF or traditional adoption.

    –– To those of you who have extra embryo babies from IVF, PLEASE donate them to be adopted. They are alive, two stages past conception, and deserve to be given the chance of life. You are the first step to their salvation, from being destroyed or experimented on.

    –– As for embryo adoption itself, it’s a wonderful picture of true commitment toward your child, because you chose them, much like the joy and fulfillment of choosing your spouse over an arranged marriage. And in the end, it doesn’t matter whether your baby came from your womb or another country or from a lab, your child is your child, and you were always meant to be theirs, and they yours.

“In closing, we must express our deepest gratitude and highest recommendation for Donor Nexus, for all their hard work and sensitive attention to walk us through this process since the beginning!”

Mackenzie has become a good friend to us, and we visit her as often as possible with updates, so she can enjoy the journey with us.

This journey is certainly one characterized by “peace” as we had hoped for, and one thing we know for sure of our daughter’s middle name (and baby room theme) is that it will be “Dove”, which stands for peace. As God promised us, this truly is a “miracle” pregnancy, one that we never heard of. So many people are telling us she’s going to do great things when she grows up. Well, we stand here today as proud parents to say that she’s already doing great things and touching lives, and she’s not even born yet!

Written by David and Cori Paltza

P.S. If you would like to contact us for any questions or know more about our story, we would be happy to share more and come alongside you in your journey. Please feel free to contact Donor Nexus for our contact info