An April Blizzard

"On April 1, 1997, records were broken as the Boston area received more than 24 inches of snow. The April Fool's Day blizzard made it virtually impossible for anyone to travel.

For Roseann and Howard of Everett, however, staying at home that day was not an option. A patient of MGH Fertility Center, Roseann was scheduled to undergo an egg retrieval in the hopes of becoming pregnant.

"All I ever wanted my whole life was to have a baby," Rosann said. " I wasn't about to let a snowstorm stop me."

Roseann’s doctor had left his home early that day and made it into the MGH without too much difficulty. The storm, however, impeded the journey of one of the most vital members of the healthcare team: the director of the MGH Embryology Laboratory, was snowed in at her Wellesley home.

"There is a very short window of time for egg retrieval," says her doctor. "When I received the call to say that the director of our embryology Laboratory couldn’t make it, I told her she had to get here. She was going to perform a fertilization procedure known as ICSI (intracytoplasm sperm injection), which involves a direct, single sperm injection into a single egg. We needed her."

Roseann called the Wellesley Police and explained the situation. Assisted by a series of police caravans through neighboring towns, the embryology director finally arrived at the hospital, where she performed the delicate procedure.

Nine months later, on Christmas Day, Jonathan was born at the MGH. His parents could not be happier. "The holiday was perfect," says Roseann. "I thank God every day for my son. And now, snowstorms have a whole new meaning for me."