JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The overturning of Roe v. Wade Friday has those who are thinking about in vetro fertilization (IVF) or are currently in the process of it living in fear of what could happen next.
Samira Valdez and her husband Bobby are one of those couples. They knew early on they wanted to start a family. Their daughter, Sienna, was imagined long before she was welcomed into the world sixteen months ago.
"We were wanting to have kids right when we got married but we kind of knew that there may be some issues," Samira said.
Bobby is a transplant recipient. His medications took their toll on his body.
"We tried for over a year and unfortunately it just couldn't happen," Bobby said.
After trying to conceive the natural way they enlisted the help of Dr. Samuel Brown with Brown Fertility. He has decades of experience helping couples like the Valdez's create a family.
After a missed miscarriage they conceived and Sienna was born a happy, healthy baby.
They have three embryos left and are thinking about trying again, but with Roe v Wade overturned they're adjusting their timeline.
"In my head, I thought that we would wait until Sienna was like two or three. But I think that now, with everything going on, we will definitely have to make some sooner choices," Samira said.
In his decades of experience, Dr. Brown never thought he would see the day when Roe v. Wade and IVF were linked together in the same sentence. Especially given he's in the business of creating life. What once was a Frankenstein science, as Dr. brown said, is now hope for families.
"Now, in the United States, one out of every twenty babies is an IVF baby. So, 2-5% of the population is now from IVF," Dr. Brown said.
That hope has now been clouded with concern. Dr. Brown is fielding calls from patients about the uncertainty of their future.
"Our concern is you know with the debate over Roe V Wade if it gets redefined at the state level how will the state handle that information," Dr. Brown said.
He said it comes down to the question of when does life begin, The egg, the embryo?
"It's really after it attaches to a human uterus. Starts to have a heart beating and it's not a cancer like a molar pregnancy and it's not something called an ectopic pregnancy then you can consider that a normal life. Before those stages it's questionable," Dr. Brown said.
Questionable, like the future for IVF families.
For the Valdez's, they are focusing their energy elsewhere. Bobby is already imagining another girl and Samira is imagining life with another love.
