ILLUSTRATION BY MARTIN GEE; THIS PAGE: COURTESY OF DESIREE BUCKINGHAM-RAMIREZ
Desiree Buckingham-Ramirez was
22 years old, and on the birth
control pill, when she got pregnant with her son. She had forgotten to take one, maybe two,
of the pills, which she had been
prescribed to help regulate her erratic menstrual cycle. So getting
pregnant, she said, was a “huge,
wonderful” surprise.
Buckingham-Ramirez fell in
love with motherhood, and when
her son turned 2, she and her husband started trying for another.
Months passed. BuckinghamRamirez, now 26 and a stay-athome-mom, saw her doctor, who
diagnosed her with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition
that affects women’s menstrual
cycles and ability to have children.
She began taking Clomid — a drug
that stimulates ovulation — and
“Every twinge you feel, you
think, ‘Is this a pregnancy
symptom?’. I go online and
put my information in those
due-date calendars they have,
which is so embarrassing.”
worked with her doctors to track
her cycle. But two years later, the
couple has still had no success.
“Every twinge you feel, you think,
‘Is this a pregnancy symptom?’”
she said. “I go online and put my
information in those due-date calendars they have, which is so embarrassing … I love my son more
than anything, but our family just
feels like it’s missing someone.”
Estimates by the National Center for Health Statistics suggest
Desiree
BuckinghamRamirez
poses with
her son.