Doctor and uterine cancer survivor hopes to become mom through surrogacy

BOSTON — A local doctor whose in vitro fertilization plans were shattered by uterine cancer is hoping to begin the journey to motherhood through surrogacy as her community rallies around her.

Dr. Jamie Adler, 41, is a beloved emergency room doctor for Beth Israel Lahey Health, working at hospitals in Needham and Boston as well as urgent cares. Her position is a job she dreamed of as a child.

“I think, as long as I have had a dream of being a doctor, I’ve also had the dream of becoming a mom, since I was a little kid,” Adler said. “I had an incredible mother growing up who was my best friend, my mom, my teacher, my rock for my entire life. And she died very unexpectedly, and so, there’s a big part of me that wants to be able to carry her legacy on.”

Before becoming an attending, Adler had focused so much on training that she hadn’t had time to meet a partner and, therefore, decided to freeze her eggs in 2018 with later plans for IVF.

But when the time came, her mother’s death, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and finally a devastating endometrial cancer diagnosis delayed the process.

Adler spent nine months enduring fertility-sparing hormone treatments with the hope of resuming the IVF process when complete. She continued to work through much of her treatment.

“It was awful, and I felt so sick every day,” Adler said of the treatments. “For me, being a doctor is a part of who I am. So, I couldn’t imagine just not taking care of patients anymore.”

When her treatments were complete, Adler’s doctors gave her the go-ahead to try to use her embryos. But just before the process could begin, a surveillance biopsy again showed cancer.

Adler would have to make the heartbreaking but life-saving decision to have a hysterectomy, preventing her from ever getting pregnant.

“I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it. It was just the next step I had to take,” Adler said. “I didn’t really process it until afterwards, and it’s obviously been a very difficult thing to come to terms with.”

After surgery, a healthy Adler, having beaten cancer, began researching surrogacy, becoming excited to have a baby in a way she had never considered.

She quickly discovered there was a lot of demand for surrogacy but not many resources. She would also learn the very expensive process would need to be covered entirely out-of-pocket.

“The process is well over $200,000, and I do have a great job, and I have a house and I have the resources that many people don’t, but still this is so far beyond my ability,” Adler said.

Adler’s friends decided to launch a GoFundMe account with the goal of $150,000 to cover her surrogacy journey.

Former patients and community members had raised more than $24,000 by Friday, with several sharing how Adler had touched their lives.

Donor Jesse H. explained how Adler and her team resuscitated him in 2022 after he suffered an aneurysm near his spleen that ruptured and filled his abdomen with blood.

“Were it not for each of the particular decisions that Jamie made that evening, followed by the work of an all-star critical care team in Boston that Jamie first set in motion, I would not have survived to witness the birth of our younger daughter Maya seven months later,” Jesse wrote.

Another donor and fundraising team member Myra Pieri, who suffered an emergency brain clot in 2018, wrote of Adler, “From my perspective, as a person who is alive today because of her, Jamie Adler deserves all the help we can provide… Jamie spends her life caring for all of us. Now it’s time we help take care of her.”

“Obviously, that’s very emotional to read,” a thankful Adler said. “It’s been really interesting to see how many people have come forward and wanted to help.”

As Adler continues to save and plan for surrogacy, this week, she was matched with a surrogate, making her dream of motherhood finally feel real.

“The excitement is tremendous, because now it feels so much more real, because I’ve met the family that will bring my baby into the world,” Adler said. “And so, it feels like something I thought was lost now is back to being something in my future.”

To donate to the Adler’s journey to motherhood, click here: Fundraiser for Jamie Adler by Patty Griffin : Jamie’s Journey to Motherhood via Surrogacy (gofundme.com).

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