Journey To A Family 9 Months Star Aims To Spread Infertility AwareNess By Jessica Humphrey-Cintineo
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loods of holiday cards framing picture-perfect families arrived in our mailboxes daily last Christmas. For many, it’s “the most wonderful time of year,” however, there’s equally as many that welcome the season with a renewed sense of isolation and loneliness. “During Christmas, when everyone was sending the Christmas cards, I could not open the envelopes,” shared a slightly embarrassed Dominique Racanati Macri. “I couldn’t open them and see all the families – something I wanted so badly.” Macri, 33, of Lyndhurst, is just one of the many women throughout Bergen County and beyond that is experiencing infertility. She’s also part of the three-fourths of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America’s participants that reported feeling more anxious and/or depressed during the holiday season. Last Christmas she was gearing up for her fourth frozen embryo transfer after recently completing an endometrial receptivity analysis (ERA), a test that evaluates over 200 genes that play a role in the endometrium becoming receptive, thus determining the optimal time for embryo transfer. After 4 years of trying to conceive naturally juxtaposed with her in vitro fertilization (IVF) journey, Macri finally received a diagnosis other than “unexplained.”
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