05-02-2025
Pennsylvania couple welcomes baby boy after struggling with fertility
CENTRE COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) – One Lewistown couple can now call themselves parents after they were once told they couldn't do so.
Brittany Longwell & Michael Erhart wished to become parents but were struggling. They took a trip to Geisinger in Danville and Brittany was told she was not ovulating and would need assistance to become pregnant.
'It was heartbreaking because being told that you can't have a child on your own is devastating,' Longwell said.
She immediately began testing, taking medication, and seeking treatment to assist but kept finding no results. The two then moved from Danville to the Geisinger Healthplex State College. They were referred to Lydia Shively, PA-C, who specializes in reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Longwell and Erhart spent two years attempting with no results but after working with tests, medications, and an eventual intrauterine insemination treatment, the couple had a successful pregnancy.
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'I cried, I can't put into words like it was mind-blowing going through two years, I've gone through fertility and knowing that I'm a mom, all the hard work and now I have a baby,' Longwell said.
On November 21, 2024, their son Zaiden was born in the Lewistown hospital, weighing 6 pounds 11 oz and 20.5 inches.
'It's hard seeing her going through what she did. And I was always telling her it's always positive, don't think negative,' Erhart said.
The struggles and frustration the family faced are more common and more difficult than many may realize.
'Normal chances of conceiving each month with a healthy couple with no issues is about 15 to 20%. So it's much lower than what most people expect,' Physician Assistant Lydia Shively said.
Shively says any couple struggling should get examined as Geisinger has the tools and technology to diagnose and recommend treatment.
'People think it's easier than it should be, and it isn't always the case. And if it's not, then it's okay. We have the tools to evaluate what could potentially be impacting chances of success. And then we also have the tools to kind of improve those chances and help people reach that kind of life goal of having a family,' Shively said.
And if the results are not what you are looking for, Longwell says to keep trying no matter how stressful times can get in the end every second and penny is worth it.
Longwell said the bill for the pregnancy was a steep one, she added that in total the bill came out to over $30,000.
'In the future, I will tell my baby that he was an expensive one but sitting here now it doesn't matter because no amount of money can change the life that we brought into this world,' Longwell said.
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