Joann and Sean are a young professional couple living near Washington, DC. They have been married for three years. In August 2002, while attending her best friend’s wedding, Joann was suddenly overwhelmed with a desire to start her own family. Neither Sean nor Joann had any medical history of infertility. In fact, Sean has a son, Ryan from a previous marriage. After trying for two and a half years, Sean and Joann are about to start their first cycle of in vitro fertilization. They are very fortunate to have medical insurance that covers up to three cycles of IVF.

Wendy and Rodney are a successful young couple living in suburban Maryland. They have been married for four years. Right before they got married, Wendy had surgery on both of her ovaries. Wendy and Rodney started trying in September 2002, exactly a year after their wedding. Three months later, Wendy got pregnant. Unfortunately, it was an ectopic - tubal - pregnancy. In order to save Wendy's life, the tube with an embryo growing in it was removed. With only one remaining tube and problems with Wendy's ovaries, the couple was advised to try in vitro fertilization. In addition to being covered by insurance, Wendy and Rodney bought a shared risk plan from their clinic. For a fixed price, the plan allows them to go through up to three cycles of IVF to achieve pregnancy. They did their first cycle of IVF in December 2004. It was unsuccessful. They are about to start their second cycle.

Nora and Eric are an artistic young couple living in Virginia. They got married in 2000 and immediately began trying to have a child. In 2001, Eric became very ill. He was diagnosed with a very rare type of vasculitis - an auto-immune disease which is treated with chemotherapy and other drugs. Because chemotherapy impedes reproduction, Eric froze his sperm specimen prior to starting treatment. At the same time, Nora was diagnosed with endometriosis, a condition that can lead to scars and adhesions in the uterus and prevent pregnancy. Because of these medical issues, Nora and Eric decided to try in vitro fertilization. They did three cycles of IVF, paying out of pocket (with the help of their families) each time and becoming more and more emotionally, financially, and physically depleted. They are about to start their fourth and final IVF cycle.