PHOTO BY ZACH ADAMS
Amanda and Courtney Pingleton of Springfield were one of 20 couples nationwide, out of a field of 700 applicants, who received a grant from the Baby Quest Foundation. Courtney, right, is now undergoing IVF treatments in the hopes the couple will be able to start a family.
Amanda and Courtney Pingleton of Springfield hope to have a baby through in vitro fertilization (IVF), thanks to a grant from the Baby Quest Foundation. The nonprofit is based in Los Angeles and works with people nationwide, but the founder has a Springfield connection.
Pamela Hirsch, who grew up in Springfield and now lives in Los Angeles, founded Baby Quest in 2012 after witnessing her daughter’s agonizing experience with infertility. Hirsch returned to Springfield in 2019 when she was inducted into the Springfield High School Hall of Fame.
Baby Quest recently awarded 20 grants totaling $360,000 from a field of nearly 700 applicants. Hirsch is pleased that one is for a Springfield couple.
Baby Quest provides financial assistance for people who cannot afford the high costs of procedures such as IVF, gestational surrogacy, egg and sperm donation, egg freezing and embryo donation.
“Infertility doesn’t discriminate,” said Hirsch. Treatment is expensive, and insurance doesn’t cover very many people. “It is so meaningful to change a life and give people hope,” said Hirsch. The organization is inclusive and acknowledges all types of families, awarding grants to heterosexual and same-sex couples and singles.
Amanda is from Carlinville and Courtney from Litchfield. They met in middle school, started dating in 2012 and got married Aug. 5, 2021, in Rocky Mountain National Park. “Our shared love for hiking, nature and travel made it the perfect place to say ‘I do’,” said Amanda.
“Courtney and I dream of raising our child in an environment filled with adventure, curiosity and unconditional love,” Amanda wrote in their application. “We are ready to pour our hearts and souls into parenthood, just as we have in every aspect of our lives.” They are grateful for the Baby Quest grant, as IVF was not an affordable option. Without the grant, they would still be saving money for the procedure.
Amanda served six years in the Illinois Army National Guard prior to working the past eight years as finance manager with Prime Auto Finance. She earned two associate’s degrees and is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in public and nonprofit administration from University of Illinois Springfield. She received a $2,000 Chrysalis scholarship this year from Illinois Women in Leadership, which is for a woman from Sangamon County who is advancing her education after being out of high school five or more years. IWIL scholarship chair Angie Acakpo-Satchivi said Amanda’s application was stellar, demonstrating leadership, perseverance and a desire to make the world a better place.
After graduating from high school in 2012, Courtney worked with adults with intellectual disabilities. Six years ago, she began working at Silverleaf Children’s Academy in Rochester, caring for toddlers. She loves her job and the kids and says working there has built her confidence that she can properly care for a child.
Paula Klickna has seen that love firsthand. She has three boys at Silverleaf, ages 6, 4 and 2. Her oldest was in Courtney’s class as a baby and now her youngest has Courtney. Klickna says she never has to worry because she knows her child is well-taken care of and loved.
“I admire Courtney’s determination and strength in the face of adversity,” said Klickna. “Courtney will go out of her way to make others feel understood, loved and sincerely cared about. I admire her courage to be herself in a world that often demands conformity.” She also appreciates Courtney and Amanda’s volunteer service with Illinois Special Olympics.
Courtney and Amanda began their journey to have a child with Courtney having intrauterine insemination (IUI) three times, which involves placing sperm directly into the uterus. It is more affordable and less invasive than IVF and often the first step for people with infertility issues. However, the success rate is typically low. Courtney got pregnant but miscarried a week later.
Courtney is now undergoing IVF which involves retrieving her eggs, fertilizing them with sperm in a laboratory and transferring the resulting embryo into her uterus. The grant, totaling approximately $7,000, is paying for all the medications, the sperm donation and expenses for the SIU Medicine Fertility and IVF Center. Amanda and Courtney praise the SIU fertility clinic staff saying, “They truly go above and beyond to make us feel seen, heard and comfortable. It’s clear how much they love what they do, and it means the world to us during this journey.”
Courtney had 13 eggs retrieved. Five fertilized successfully, and they are hopeful that the first implant will be a success. If not, they will try again with the other embryos.
Selecting the sperm donation was a major decision. Good friends offered to be a sperm donor, but Amanda and Courtney didn’t feel comfortable doing that. They reviewed options for sperm donation banks and selected Cryobio, located in Columbus, Ohio. Then they examined more than 100 sperm donor profiles, reviewing characteristics including education, ethnicity, height, family and a myriad of other information in the database, which does not include the sperm donor’s name. They intend to be transparent with their future child. A determining factor was selecting a donor who is willing to be identified once the child is 18.
Baby Quest Foundation is a nonprofit that depends upon donations. Grants are awarded twice yearly subject to funding availability. Hundreds of people apply, and the process is rigorous to select the most deserving who have a good prognosis for positive results. Applicants submit a lengthy application with financial information and a personal story and must be under the care of an accredited fertility facility in the U.S. The multiphase selection process involves medical doctors, fertility specialists, financial advisers, surrogacy attorneys, clinical psychologists and others who have personally dealt with infertility. Grants are for expenses not covered by insurance and paid directly to the fertility clinic or provider, not to the individuals.
Since 2012, Baby Quest has awarded over $3.6 million in grants for people all over the U.S., resulting in 203 babies. Given the complicated issues involved, not every grant is successful. For Amanda and Courtney, the grant is a step forward in helping them fulfill their dream of building a loving and stable home for a future child and sharing the magic this world has to offer.
For more information about Baby Quest, go to https://babyquestfoundation.org/.
Karen Ackerman Witter is on the Springfield High School Hall of Fame selection committee. She first learned about the impressive work of the Baby Quest Foundation in 2019 when founder Pamela Hirsch was inducted into the SHS Hall of Fame.