A woman’s commitment to fertility treatment and a positive outlook help her get her “million-dollar baby”

Dayy Payne vividly remembers the day she found out that she could not have children naturally after struggling with infertility.

“I had just gone through a very heartbreaking divorce that nearly broke my spirit,” recalls Dayy. “Dealing with that as well as the reality of being infertile was extremely difficult. I felt broken, almost beyond repair.”

Dayy, a caring and strong woman who built her career in social services, had always been passionate about providing care for others. She spent the majority of her years as a young adult serving as a foster parent to four children.

After her divorce, Dayy continued to save her money for in vitro fertilization (IVF), never giving up on her dream of building a family of her own, despite her broken relationship.

A little more than a year later, Dayy met a man named James and their relationship quickly grew. A retired veteran, James didn’t have any kids of his own but was okay with the possibility that they may never have children together.

“He was okay with the fact that I struggled with infertility, which is something that I just didn’t think that I would find. So oddly enough, it worked out,” says Dayy.

As the relationship continued, James and Dayy discussed the fact that she’d been diligently saving for IVF treatment for more than three years. Reaching her goal was more difficult because she was no longer saving with her ex-husband. But despite that, she was committed to exploring options that would allow her to create a family.

“James told me that he wanted to be a part of this journey with me, and he committed to saving with me,” says Dayy. “So we saved, together.”

“They cover IVF…”

Once Dayy’s foster children were grown up and moved out, she left her home and moved in with James. At this time, James decided to enter the job market after being medically retired from the military, having served for more than 15 years in the U.S. Air Force.

Once James found his first “civilian job,” Dayy, who had spent the past years working in healthcare benefits and social services, sat down with him to review and explain his benefits to him.

“I was explaining all of the benefits to him, you know, They cover this, they cover that, they don’t cover this, and I just stopped,” recalls Dayy. “Immediately James asked me what was wrong, and I just stopped and said quietly and in disbelief, They cover IVF…”

Amazed, Dayy couldn’t finish her sentence, but read on, realizing that James’ new insurance would cover up to $20,000 of IVF treatment costs. She was completely shocked because she’d never seen that before. With further review and after speaking to the healthcare insurance company, Dayy was reassured that she would qualify for the coverage.

A wonderful experience

Overjoyed and ready to start immediately, Dayy and James sought treatment from the Reproductive Science Center of the Bay Area (RSCBA) and had what they refer to as “a wonderful experience.” The RSCBA staff was patient and gave them practical and supportive guidance, including their insights on how Dayy and James could best stretch the $20,000 for procedures and medications.

During their year-long process Dayy, James and Dayy’s mother Audrey had regular appointments with Dr. Weckstein, the medical and IVF director at RSCBA.

“We are a lively and fun group, and Dr. Weckstein was so great, he would just chime in and joke right along with us,” says Dayy. “He’s been very supportive throughout this entire process and very honest. When we walked in initially, we didn’t really know what our chances would be, but Dr. Weckstein thought that our success rate would be good ­– and he was right.”

Currently, Dayy Payne is 16-weeks pregnant and thankful to be out of her first trimester. Dayy and James are expecting a boy for their family, which includes one of her adopted foster children, Jason.

“Dayy knew for a few years that she would need IVF in order to have a baby, fortunately she planned to do it at a young age when women generally have good quantity and quality of eggs,” said Dr. Weckstein. “After some initial testing, I knew that her chances for success were very good and we are so happy for her. She wanted a single, healthy pregnancy and we were able to support that by transferring just a single embryo.”

While going through her pregnancy, Dayy continues to lean on the support of Dr. Weckstein and the staff at RSCBA. At the 5-week mark, Dayy experienced some heavy spotting which immediately worried her. Dayy and James called RSCBA, and a staffer talked them through the process of going to the emergency room, getting an ultrasound and setting up an appointment at RSCBA for additional follow up.

“For us, it was just crazy how quickly things started to work out. Once the financial barriers were removed with James’ healthcare insurance benefits and we met Dr. Weckstein and staff at RSCBA, things just took off,” says Dayy.

“Now we’re expecting our baby boy and we’re so excited.” Dayy laughs, adding, “We call him our million-dollar baby.”