Susie Troxler, a 50-year-old woman from North Carolina, became a first-time mother after experiencing years of infertility.

Troxler a psychologist in High Point, North Carolina, and her husband, Tony Troxler, 61, who works in security, became the parents to Lily Antonia Troxler on Sept. 29 at Cone Memorial Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina.

"We're doing great. Like I would tell people … sleep-deprived but totally worth it," Troxler said to FOX Television Stations. Troxler married her husband in 2008 and assumed she would eventually become pregnant. However, the couple tried multiple times to conceive for a decade with no success. 

Troxler and her husband never sought fertility assistance or treatments merely because it was not an idea they gave thought to, nor did they know what options existed.

"When we got married, we just assumed we'd get pregnant, and then it didn't happen. But we're both very old-school, and when we grew up, nobody even talked about or discussed IVF [in-vitro fertilization]. It wasn't even a thing," Susie said, according to ABC News.

Three years ago, when Susie went to her OB-GYN at Cone Health, she was diagnosed with uterine fibroids, which she had surgically removed in Jan. 2019.

"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?'" she said. "Because she asked it, I mentioned that we hadn't gotten pregnant, and she said, 'OK, we can work on that.'"

The OBGYN, Dr. Carolyn Harraway-Smith, Cone Health's chief medical officer for women's health, promptly sent her to a fertility specialist.

"Typically, if someone was younger and had a longer period of time to conceive, I would start the workup for infertility. Because of her age, I knew we had a short window, so I referred her to a reproductive endocrinologist," Harraway-Smith said.

Susie was told she and her husband would not be able to become pregnant naturally, considering such factors as her age and the health problems on her husband's side. Women over the age of 35 are considered "advanced maternal age," a classification used in the medical community. Being older contributes to the difficulty of becoming pregnant and increases the probability of complications like gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, as well as premature birth and birth defects, the March of Dimes
stated.

Despite the mountain of obstacles, the Troxlers signed up to undergo several rounds of IVF but were not capable of producing a usable embryo. The couple then considered egg donation.

Susie's first embryo transfer occurred in late 2019 and it was not fruitful. A year later, when the coronavirus pandemic was on a steady rise in the United States, the couple had to wait a year before they could resume the procedure.

In February, the Troxlers had one last frozen embryo and decided to take another try, even though this could be their last chance. Thankfully, a few weeks later, Susie found out she was pregnant.

"I don't even have words for it," Susie said in response to the miracle of her pregnancy. 

Her husband is still taking in all the joy of this momentous turn of events in his life.

"It was amazing and surreal," Tony said.

Susie was fortunate that her pregnancy was void of any difficulties. She delivered her child via a scheduled C-section, overseen by Harraway-Smith.

"It was a beautiful and exciting and peaceful moment. Everyone in the room was excited and she came out healthy and happy and was just a beautiful baby," Harraway-Smith said of the delivery and she recalled that Susie was humming a gospel song.

The Troxlers have now welcomed the lack of sleep that come with caring for a newborn.

"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," Susie said.

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