Their story

In October, 1999, shortly after graduating college at age 22, Andrea was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called Ewing's Sarcoma. The tumor was in her sacrum at the base of the spine and caused severe pain. The treatment entailed chemotherapy for one year with 5 different cytotoxic drugs along with radiation to the pelvis for 7 weeks of that year. The first day of chemotherapy, before the nurse was about to inject the first cancer-killing drug, the doctor told her, these drugs can cause you to become infertile. But, she was fighting for her life and didn't think twice about the after-effects of the treatments. Before the radiation began, her mother asked the doctor, "What can we do to save her chances of becoming a mother?" The doctors didn't see the big picture. They were so focused on saving her life at that moment, but forgot about the life that she had in her future. You see, her advocate, her mother, had read about a surgery that can move the reproductive organs away from the damaging radiation beams. That is what they did. A first of it's kind by this surgeon, he even wrote a medical journal article on it. Unfortunately, the mix of drugs and radiation damaged her ovaries so badly that they no longer are functioning and she is in premature ovarian failure. Luckily, the doctors thought enough to move the uterus out of the way of the beams, and now she has a healthy "basket" with "broken eggs".

In 2001, Andrea decided to become a nurse to give back to society a portion of the love and care she had received in her journey to health. During her schooling, she met Bradley. In 2004, Brad asked Andrea to marry him. In 2005, they bought their first home together. And now they have 2 dogs, Lacey and Bear, whom they love very much.

In July 2008, after many tests and procedures, Diana, Andrea's sister, decided to donate her own eggs to Andrea and Brad and through in-vitro fertilization (IVF) they could create an embryo that could be implanted into Andrea's womb with similar DNA from her sibling. However, after extracting only 3 eggs from Diana and attempting fertilization, the embryos failed to grow in-vitro and never had the chance to be implanted into Andrea. This procedure was not covered by any medical insurance. The medications required to be taken by the egg donor and the mom-to-be are very costly and also not covered by insurance. In total, everything to this point, without even getting their chance to try implantation, cost $11,000. This money was saved in cash after working many overtime hours in the hospitals by Andrea and Brad. For months they focused all their energy on this hopeful procedure. Obviously, they were emotionally, physically and financially wiped out when the doctor told them it was not going to work. It should go without saying that this unconditional gift of love from Diana will always be appreciated by Andrea and Brad. Now, they must move on to their next option. An anonymous egg donor to provide an embryo that Andrea could carry and potentially give birth to their own child. This procedure costs $20,000 because they pay the egg donor for their service. None of the procedure is covered under insurance even though Andrea's infertility is a direct result of medical treatments. IVF is covered under some insurances and mandatory in some states to be covered. However, egg donor is not. That is why we are coming together to make Andrea and Brad's wishes come true. Andrea was shy by just a few years to get a "wish" from the "MAKE-A-WISH Foundation", at age 22. So, that is why we have started a quest to grant Andrea her wish to become a mother.

On this site you will find a link to donate through "paypal" and any updated events that we will be planning for fundraising. Also, you will find updates about Andrea and Brad and a place to send them a message.

During her treatment, Andrea kept a blog of her emotional journey of surviving cancer at www.caringbridge.org/page/andrea. This blog allowed her to vent her emotions while staying connected and receiving encouragement from family and friends. That unconditional support allowed her to be strong enough to survive even the darkest days. We hope that this site becomes a place where the couple can receive that same love that allows one to believe in the human spirit.

If you feel more comfortable sending a donation via mail, please send a check or money order to:

Main Line Health Federal Credit Union
Bryn Mawr Hospital
130 S. Bryn Mawr Ave
Bryn Mawr, PA 19010

Write check out to: Andrea Weist
In memo, write: A. Weist-032 Special
The money will go into a special savings account set up for the couple.

Thank you so much. Your kindness, prayers and generousity mean more than you even know!