Family Spotlight: How the Extons Found The Silver Lining In Their Fertility Journey

jessicalionrogalski

December 11, 2025

Cryobank America is honored to share the Extons’ remarkable story — one defined by heartache, courage, extraordinary resilience, and the light they found at the end of their fertility journey with the help of one of Cryobank America’s donors. We’re proud to highlight Kristin Exton’s story and share Zach Exton’s heartfelt message for couples who are beginning or considering a similar path to parenthood.

Kristin Exton: We've been together 11 years. Neither of us felt strongly about having children until early 2022. We considered and applied for state adoption, but before the last step of the application process was complete, we decided to pursue having a child naturally first.

Unfortunately, in mid-2022, we learned my husband had testicular cancer and wouldn't be able to father children.

After the worst of that misfortune was over, we decided to consider the donor sperm route. I still wanted to experience the full spectrum of motherhood, including pregnancy, and my husband still wanted to be a partner through that experience.

We worked with a local fertility clinic to do an unmedicated IUI and got pregnant on the third attempt (after a biochemical pregnancy on the second attempt). My daughter was born in August 2023. She's 14 months now and brings us so much joy every day.

We're so thankful that options like Cryobank America exist. Despite our personal tragedy, we were able to fully experience pregnancy, birth, and beyond, and ended up with an extraordinary little baby girl.

Family Planning

Cryobank America: Did you always know you wanted kids?

The Extons: Sort of. Throughout the first 10 years of our relationship, we mostly talked about adoption. We desired to be parents and raise children, but did not have a strong compulsion for those children to be biologically "ours." Being parents to children in need seemed like an especially noble pursuit. It was not until we began the adoption process that we started to consider whether we wanted to experience pregnancy - Kristin carrying a growing child in her belly, giving birth, etc., and me (husband) being a partner to her through it all, which we'd miss with adoption. Very shortly after we decided to move forward with a natural child (and adopt as well, but later) we discovered my testicular cancer and believed the opportunity for Kristin to carry a child was lost to us.

Cryobank America: How many kids do you hope to have?

The Extons: Four.

Vial Type and Quantity

Cryobank America: How many vials did you purchase, and what type?

The Extons: We purchased 10 vials, Premium IUI, and IUI ART.

Cryobank America: Did you purchase extra vials in anticipation of siblings?

The Extons: Yes.

Insemination Procedure

Cryobank America: Which procedure did you use?

The Extons: IUI (intrauterine insemination).

Cryobank America: Were you required to take any medications? Were there any side effects?

The Extons: No.

Cryobank America: How was the IUI procedure overall?

The Extons: IUI is barely invasive, and very quick, painless. I would share that most people don't begin their journey as prospective parents expecting to conceive via a medical procedure. It can feel deflating and unfair, and the feeling can hit suddenly when you're waiting for the doctor to arrive. "This is not what it was supposed to be like." And after the procedure, you have information most people conceiving naturally don't - you know the exact day of conception, you know what the procedure cost, you know when you "should" show pregnant. It can feel like a lot of pressure compared to the traditional method of conception. Must try to remain calm, and positive, and appreciate that this opportunity exists to give parent(s) a chance to be pregnant that they otherwise would not have. When you reach the end of the road and have that baby, the pain you felt along the way won't matter anymore.

Ovulation Tracking and Fertility

Cryobank America: Did you take any special steps to boost your fertility?

The Extons: Mother was healthy and not the source of the infertility problem, so no pharmaceutical products. Healthy, nourishing diet. Supplemented DHA Omega-3.

Cryobank America: How did you track ovulation?

The Extons: Pre-Mom app and LH urine testing strips.

Cryobank America: How long did you track ovulation before insemination?

The Extons: Four months. This was a good amount of time to develop a good understanding of the personal hormone cycle, what to look for, what the real "peak" of LH looked like.

Pregnancy Journey

Cryobank America: Were there any standout experiences during pregnancy?

The Extons: It's a unique journey for every mother, but certain things are typical and expected. We had a lot of fatigue, some food aversion, and light nausea in the first trimester. Presumably, the body was busy building the infrastructure to grow the baby and couldn't be bothered with digestion. Second trimester was the golden times - digestion much better, baby still small, feeling great! The third trimester is when the physical toll of having a little human inside another human starts to present, and the belly starts making things a challenge, including sleeping. Pregnancy will be wonderful, but don't expect it to be wonderful all of the time. Overall, we were fortunate that it was a pleasant experience in the moment most of the time, and we look back on pictures from that time very fondly!

Cryobank America: How long did you wait to share the news of your pregnancy?

The Extons: Not long at all - probably shared the news sooner than people who conceive in the traditional manner would because we had certainty about the date of conception and blood tests confirming pregnancy. Good or bad, we wanted our close friends and family involved. There is no need to be any more alone in this than one has to be. I would encourage anyone to let the people who care about you care about you.

Donor Conception

Cryobank America: Do you plan to tell your child they’re donor-conceived? If so, how and at what age?

The Extons: Yes. As soon as we think she is old enough to understand. It's a lot more complicated than conveying, "I'm your dad, and that's that," but it's our reality, and I don't think she benefits from keeping it from her.

Final Thoughts and Shared Inspiration

Cryobank America: If you could do anything differently in your journey, what would it be?

The Extons: It's tempting to think, "well, it might be nice not to have had the cancer," but even if I could go back in time and change that, I wouldn't. I would not change anything that could result in not having our little girl in our lives.

Cryobank America: Do you have any words of encouragement for others who are beginning their fertility journey?

Zach Exton: I think it's important to be honest about this - I don't think any male-female couple engages with a facility like Cryobank America for fun. We exclusively seek help from this facility for various reasons, but all of those reasons land on the spectrum between "unfortunate" and "tragic." It can be devastating to find oneself in need of these services. It was for us. In our situation, I had to accept that I wouldn't be the biological father of our child, and my wife had to accept that her chosen partner would not be the biological father of the child she would carry. Selecting a donor was very difficult for both of us. How do I pick someone else as the father of my child? How does my wife pick someone other than her husband? Reading answers to questions or hearing the voice of prospective donors… Ugh. It was supposed to be ME. This part of the process is tough. The here-and-now in those moments is painful. You can work through it. You CAN survive it.

As the father of a girl who is not biologically mine, I can tell you that this never crosses my mind when I'm holding her. The biology is the easy part. Men become biological fathers by accident all the time. I was there through my daughter’s growth in my wife's belly. I was there when she was born, held her when she was moments old, and have been there every day of her life since. It's not a delusion - I know I am not her biological father - but I truly do not care. Just ask her, and she’ll tell you, in every way that matters, I am her “Dada.”

What I would say to anyone coming to Cryobank America is, first, I’m sorry. This is probably not the way you envisioned beginning the process of becoming a parent. It was supposed to be easy. Couples get pregnant by accident all the time, right? People have babies they don’t even want! It really isn’t fair. It SUCKS you have to fight so hard to be a parent, and it’s reasonable and healthy to recognize that, but also recognize the fight isn’t over. This isn’t the end, it’s a different beginning. If you can get past the sucky part, you still have a chance to be a Mama or Dada. You can still be a parent in every way that matters. I hope that if that day comes for you, you will not think about how hard you had to fight – you’ll hold your child and be so, so, so glad that you didn’t give up.

Thank you, Kristin and Zach, for sharing your inspiring story with us! Your strength and resilience will undoubtedly encourage others who are searching for hope and their own silver lining in their fertility journeys.

Happy, Healthy, Families begin here...

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