After struggling with infertility, Susie and Tony Troxler are excited to become parents in the latter half of their lives.
“It’s really, really, really surreal,” she said of welcoming a daughter at age 50. “I’d been unmarried, I’d been a wife and now the idea of being a mommy, it still hasn’t sunk in I don’t think.”
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The Troxlers had wanted a baby since they were married 13 years ago, but were never able to naturally conceive.
But 3 years ago when Susie went in for her annual exam with a new-to-her OBGYN at Cone Health, a North Carolina-based health care network where Tony had recently been hired in the security department.
“At the end of the appointment, she asked me a question nobody else had ever asked me: ‘Is there anything else, any concerns or questions?,'” Susie Troxler recalled. “Because she asked it, I mentioned that we hadn’t gotten pregnant, and she said, ‘OK, we can work on that.'”
Dr. Carolyn Harraway-Smith, Cone Health’s chief medical officer for women’s health, referred her to a fertility specialist.
“Typically, if someone was younger and had a longer period of time to conceive, I would start the work-up for infertility,” said Harraway-Smith. “Because of her age, I knew we had a short window, so I referred her to a reproductive endocrinologist.”
The reproductive endocrinologist diagnosed Susie Troxler with fibroids, and in January 2019, Susie got surgery to remove the fibroids. However, she was told she and her husband would still not be able to get pregnant naturally, due to her age and because of health complications on her husband’s side.
The Troxlers underwent several rounds of IVF, but after not being able to produce a viable embryo, they turned to egg donation.
Susie underwent the first embryo transfer in late 2019, but it did not take. And then in the spring of 2020, the coronavirus pandemic forced the couple to put their plans for a family on hold due to pandemic restrictions.
So in February, the Troxlers decided to try their last viable (and frozen) embryo which they deemed their last chance.
A few weeks later, their struggle with infertility ended when they discovered Susie was pregnant.
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“I don’t even have words for it,” she said of her reaction to the pregnancy.
“It was amazing and surreal,” Tony said of learning he would be a dad.
Fast forward to September 29, 2021, the day Lily was born to the Troxlers.
“It’s really, really, really surreal,” she said of welcoming a daughter at age 50 after battling infertility. “I’d been unmarried, I’d been a wife and now the idea of being a mommy, it still hasn’t sunk in I don’t think.”
“Even now I find myself just staring at her,” said Tony. “Before she was born, she had me wrapped around her pinky finger.”
Added Susie, “I’m of the belief that kids come when they’re supposed to come, regardless of the age of the parents. We look at it as this is exactly how it was meant to be. She’s our miracle baby.”