Stevens Family

Brad and Dawn Stevens were lucky; she became pregnant in their first attempt at in vitro fertilization, under the care of Steffen Christensen, M.D. (B.S. Med. ’71), reproductive endocrinologist, Fargo.  But it was a long and difficult road to get there.  

For at least six years, the rural Manvel, ND, couple tried to conceive, using standard drug therapies prescribed by a physician in Grand Forks.  Dawn would see teenagers and others facing unwanted pregnancy, hear news stories about child abuse and neglect, and feel frustrated, considering how much she and Brad wanted children and knowing they would make great parents. 

“As a patient, you can’t diagnose what’s wrong.  You’re just led to the next thing,” Dawn says,  remembering “just the let-down of not getting pregnant on your own; I personally was becoming bitter towards people who were pregnant.”

She thought, “Why can’t we?  I want that answer.”    

At the Reproductive Medicine Institute in Fargo, the care they received was “exceptional,” Dawn says.  “They are very compassionate and thoughtful of your feelings.”

“The staff does a good job of blending the two aspects of care,” said Brad, “the human side of it - what you’re going through, the empathy you need, and the scientific side of it,” what patients need to do, exactly when, how and why.

Since the birth of their son, Lane, now 3, the Stevens went through a second round of IVF, which was not successful, but plan to try again.  

It’s quite amazing, Brad notes, “when you see how complicated it is - even naturally - to conceive a child.  All the things that have to be in place...  For all the intervening, there’s still a lot that has to just happen.”

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