When I first joined USC Fertility in 2005, I set out to build a program that would provide discounted, expedited, and compassionate fertility care to women facing the diagnosis of cancer.

Now, 10 years later, the Fertility Preservation Program of USC has helped hundreds of women to preserve their fertility before cancer treatment and to pursue their dreams of having children after cancer treatment. Every day I am inspired by these women, by their strength and tenacity, and feel honored to join them in their fight against cancer. Recently, I was profoundly moved by a blog written by one of my patients who I first met in 2012. Emily was 28 years young when she was diagnosed with lung cancer – a college athlete, never smoked a day in her life, and was recently married to a wonderful guy named Miles. They froze their embryos before chemotherapy, and now, she is 2 years in remission and is getting ready to have her baby through gestational surrogacy. I asked her for her permission to share her blog here because it is so very powerful, and I think her words will inspire hope and courage in other women facing cancer. I am beyond excited to help Emily and Miles take the next steps in starting their family!

Here is an excerpt from Emily’s blog post, “Pause. Play. Baby!”

“Perhaps what loomed largest though was the opportunity to start a family. The first step we took after diagnosis was preserving our fertility. Those nine embryos became my motivation. I was no longer just fighting for myself. I was fighting for my future family. Each morning during meditation I would picture and see this family. Hold them, love them, imagine a life with them. It fueled me. It inspired me to fight harder. But, we were instructed not to consider a family until 2 years of clean scans, so that dream, like most things after diagnosis, was put on pause.

So a few weeks ago, as we sat there in the doctor’s room waiting for the results of my two-year scan, I could hardly control my emotions.

And then Carrie, our wonderful nurse practitioner, walked in and in her classic nonchalant way, looked at me and said, “You’re fine!”

I broke down. I sobbed. I fell into Miles and cried. I let years of frustration and fear out of me. He held me and then whispered in my ear, “You’re going to be a Mommy.” And I cried even more, but with the biggest smile on my face.”

To read the entire post, visit: https://embenkickscancer.wordpress.com/2015/04/04/pause-play-baby/