Against the odds,
baby makes three

By Tom Waring
Times Staff Writer

Tom and Stacey Drake have been together for 13 years, including four years of marriage, and wanted to start a family.
After trying and failing to conceive, the couple went to doctors to see if a medical issue was the problem.
Tom, a Northeast native who lives in Levittown, was diagnosed with Klinefelter’s syndrome, a rare congenital disorder in males caused by the presence of an extra "X" chromosome and characterized by sterility.
The Drakes were told they would not be able to have children.
"We were a mess," Stacey said.
After the initial disappointment, the couple thought about their options. They could adopt, or Stacey could undergo in vitro fertilization treatment, with an anonymous sperm donor.
Those options were OK, but the couple held out hope that the doctor was wrong — that they could conceive.
"We wanted to see if there was any way we could have our own kids," Tom said.
So, Tom underwent a testicular biopsy. A doctor removed and preserved six sperm on his tissue.
Meanwhile, doctors prepared Stacey for the in vitro procedure, performing blood work and ultrasound tests.
As it turned out, two of Tom’s six sperm were mature enough to be used for the procedure.
But the couple were cautioned that they still had less than a 1 percent chance of conceiving. They were given the option of an anonymous donor, whose sperm would have a much greater chance of producing a child.
The procedure and the preparation leading up to it cost $12,000. If Tom’s sperm did make his wife pregnant, the process would have had to start all over again.
It was a chance the Drakes were willing to take.
"We both agreed that we wanted to use mine to see if it would take," Tom said. "We didn’t want to go through life saying, ‘Could we have had our own child.’ "
Dr. Jacqueline Gutmann performed the in vitro fertilization in April 2006 and told Stacey afterward to consider herself pregnant.
A week later, a test confirmed the pregnancy. During follow-up ultrasounds, the couple could see that the baby was growing and had a heartbeat. Stacey eventually began to "show" that she was expecting a child and stayed under the care of Dr. Richard Turner, her obstetrician.
Finally, on Jan. 8 Stacey gave birth to a girl, Samantha Joy Drake, who weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds, 11 ounces.
"We went through so much, I cried; I was so excited," Tom said.
"We all cried. I think even Doctor Turner cried," recalled Stacey, who kept repeating, "I’m a mom. I have a baby."
Robin Clark, Stacey’s mom, thought the feel-good story should be told to a national audience. So, about six months into her daughter’s pregnancy, she contacted A Baby Story, a half-hour weekly program on The Learning Channel cable television network.
Show producers loved the story and decided to follow the couple’s path to parenthood. They interviewed the couple by phone leading up to the big day and set up a camera in the baby’s room for the would-be parents to share their thoughts. The network made plans to videotape the birth, then pay a follow-up visit to the Drake’s home.
Last week, the Drake family’s story appeared on the show. Don’t worry if you missed the episode. It’ll be replayed this Friday at 9:30 a.m.
The Drakes — she’s 29; he’ll be 29 in November — were ecstatic to have been chosen for the show and are hopeful that others in their predicament will not give up their dream of having kids.
"I want guys who have this (Klinefelter’s syndrome) to know that they have a chance to have children," said Tom, who grew up on the 2700 block of Tremont St. and graduated from Father Judge High School in 1996.
Added Stacey, whose pregnancy was complicated by Graves’ disease, a thyroid disorder: "I don’t want other couples to feel that it’s the end of the road. It can happen."
Today, Samantha is 8 months old and has sparking blue eyes. She’s the first grandchild of Rick and Robin Clark and Tom and Cookie Drake.
"Tommy and Stacey are determined people," said Cookie Drake, who still lives on Tremont Street. "I knew they would do everything they could to have a child of their own."
Samantha loves playing with her toys and watching Little Einsteins, an animated television show on the Playhouse Disney cable TV network. She’s starting to clap and trying to walk and crawl.
Both parents work. He’s a dock supervisor for USF Holland, a trucking company in Bridesburg. She’s a medical assistant for the Asthma Center. Stacey’s mom is the baby-sitter.
The day that Samantha was born was not without drama. Stacey was supposed to be induced at 7 a.m. but started having contractions sometime after 1 a.m. She was able to get a shower and eat breakfast.
By 6 a.m., the couple dropped off their toy fox terrier, Angel, at Stacey’s grandmother’s house. That’s when the pain of the contractions intensified.
The Drakes collected their belongings at home, then rushed to St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne. The TLC crew, which was coming from New York, told Tom to videotape all he could in case the baby came early.
That proved to be a good call, since Samantha was born at 6:53 a.m. Tom videotaped in the hospital parking lot, elevator and hallways, while a nurse videotaped the actual birth.
The tape was fine, but the TLC crew asked for a re-enactment.
"We all looked at each other and said, ‘What?’ " Tom said.
Nonetheless, Robin Clark and Cookie Drake held Stacey’s hands while Dr. Turner and Tom urged her to push, just for the cameras.
After all the Drakes had been through, the re-enactment was fun to do.
The couple, who will celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary on Sept. 27, are grateful to Gutmann, Turner and two other doctors — Dr. Irene Haralabatos, Tom’s asthma doctor, and Dr. Irvin Hirsch, a urologist.
It’s doubtful that the Drakes can have another child of their own, but they’re hoping medical breakthroughs can make it happen. They could still opt for adoption or an anonymous donor.
For now, Samantha is their world.
"No matter how bad a day I have at work, when I get home, I pick her up, and it’s all worth it," Tom said.
Added Stacey: "Every baby is a miracle, but she’s a true miracle." ••
Reporter Tom Waring can be reached at 215-354-3034 or twaring@phillynews.com