|
 |
The Acorn Camarillo Acorn Moorpark Acorn Simi Valley Acorn Thousand Oaks Acorn |
 |
|
|||||
|
Award-winning essay describes woman's struggle
Garfield's essay, "The Gift of a Child," depicts her triumph over cancer and infertility. Garfield wrote that she never imagined that she could have children because of her medical history, but with the help of Huntington reproductive endocrinologist Dr. Michael Feinman and the Gar-fields' surrogate, Shelly, and infertility treatments, she and her husband, Christian, became the parents of a now 2year-old boy, Hayden. Now they are expecting twins, once again with Shelly's assistance. The pharmaceutical company's contest celebrated births made possible through Ferring's infertility treatments. The firm has awarded $25,000 in education funds to 12 winners from around the country, for a total of $50,000 in education funds awarded over two years. "I am so pleased that one of my patients has been selected as the grand prize winner. Ferring's generous scholarship fund is a great start to planning for Hayden Garfield's educational future," said Feinman. "It has been a joy to have been able to help the Garfields achieve their dream." "I feel so lucky and grateful to have been chosen as the grand prize winner," Garfield said. "I still get chills when I think that I have won this money for my son's education. It is such a generous gift from Ferring. My son now has a start for his future education and this has taken a huge burden off of me and my husband. I will be forever grateful and remember this for the rest of my life. Thank you," said Garfield. Emilee Garfield's story At age 4 Emilee was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare cancer between her bladder and uterus, and was treated with adultstrength chemotherapy and radiation. Since the treatment could affect her ability to conceive later in life, her physician moved her ovaries into her abdomen. Two years later, the tumor was removed. But at age 21, precancerous cells were found on Emilee's cervix, and she had a partial hysterectomy. After Emilee married, she and her husband consulted Feinman to find out if they could have children. He prescribed treatment with Bravelle and Repronex, and soon was able to retrieve and fertilize three of Emilee's eggs. Through the help of their surrogate mother, the Garfields welcomed Hayden into their family on April 24, 2003. Emilee repeated the treatments and her surrogate is now pregnant with twins. In her essay, Emilee speaks of expecting Hayden and the twins: "The journey was extremely emotional for my husband and me. We were excited, scared and nervous all at the same time and were amazed at the turn of events. We had accepted that we wouldn't have children and all of a sudden we were preparing to welcome a baby into our lives. "A couple of years passed and we had the urge to have another baby. (Our surrogate) was willing (to help) again and Dr. Feinman was up for the challenge, too. We were blessed with yet another batch of fertilized embryos. However, only one . . . looked promising, so all three were transferred," said Emilee. "On the day of our first ultrasound, fortune came our way again-we discovered that we were pregnant with not just one baby, but twins. This is the greatest possible ending, far beyond my wildest expectations, for someone who thought she would never have her own children." The Ferring Group specializes in the research, development and commercialization of compounds in general and pediatric endocrinology, urology, gastroenterology, obstetrics/gynecology and infertility. For more information, call (888) FERRING or go online to www.ferringusa.com or www. ferringfertility.com. |
 |
||||
