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Maddie Collins is a step closer to achieving her dream of having kids.
The 22-year-old from West Melton has now been told her fertility treatment will be funded by the Government, after originally being told it would not be.
Collins, who has been battling kidney disease for 18 years and has had no kidneys since 2020, is still waiting to hear if she will be able to get a “life-changing” stem-cell operation at Stanford Medicine in San Francisco.
If successful, it would mean Collins would effectively have a normal life and not have to rely on haemodialysis to keep her alive.
The dual immune solid organ transplant (DISOT) being offered by Stanford involves transplanting a donor’s stem cells into Collins then a kidney transplant five to 10 months later.
As a precaution, Collins is getting fertility treatment to protect her eggs so she can have kids after getting the transplant.
“One hundred per cent I want kids, absolutely love them,” she said.
“It’s just a precautionary thing, to make sure all the treatments don’t damage [the eggs].”
Originally, the family was told Collins would have to self-fund the $15,675 fertility treatment.
But in a surprise twist, the majority of the cost has now been funded.
“We have no idea how it came about, we received an email saying it was funded,” Collins’ mum Sarah Manson said.
The family still has to pay to store the eggs.
They are currently going through the process to get funding for the DISOT. Stanford requires the New Zealand Government to underwrite it.