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SALT LAKE CITY — Camille and Palmer Hawkins met at Utah State University, fell in love and were married. Since then, they have been through a lot.

"We decided we wanted to start having kids about a year after we were married," Camille said. "We soon learned that we would struggle."

They went through a number of fertility treatments, including two rounds of in vitro fertilization (IFV).

"Both of those were unsuccessful," Camille said. "I asked Palmer, 'If this doesn't work, can we get a dog?'"

Still, they wanted to be parents.

"Every month, when you're dealing with infertility, is a roller coaster," said Shawn Gurtcheff, a endocrinology and infertility specialist at the Utah Fertility Center.

"Probably the most invasive and aggressive thing that we can do is called in vetro fertilization," Gurtcheff said.

The procedure takes a toll physically, financially and emotionally, she said.

The Hawkinses faced a question many couples dealing with infertility ask themselves: When does IFV become too much?

Physical toll

Kathryn May Brown hasn't been able to answer that question.

"We were given very low chances of ever having a child," Brown told KSL News.

She always wanted five or six children. After five rounds and multiple other procedures, she and her husband, Kurt, welcomed a son.

"We had to work really hard for it, and we went through a lot to get him," Brown said. "Physically, it's hard putting all of those medications into your body every month."

Gurtcheff said infertility treatments can be physically uncomfortable.

"Women are giving themselves daily injections for sometimes two to three weeks at a time," she said.

"Those hormones are really, really strong," Brown said, adding that headaches, nausea, swelling and bruising were common in her experience.

Financial toll

It's also no secret that IFV costs thousands of dollars.

If I think about all the things I could have done with that money — buy a house, nicer cars, go on vacation — I'd rather have (my baby).

–Kathryn May Brown, new mother

Camille said she and her husband were able to qualify for a money-back guarantee program for their first round of IVF, which they put toward their second treatment.

"We just were able to do it with the help of our family members and with savings," she said.

"You really only get one shot at this journey of life, and so figure out what it is you want most and go after it," Palmer said.

Brown said she never thinks about how much she's spent on treatments.

"If I think about all the things I could have done with that money — buy a house, nicer cars, go on vacation — I'd rather have him," she said.

Emotional toll

But both couples agree the hardest part isn't physical or financial stress.

"I think probably the bigger thing that I see couples struggling with is the emotional toll," Gurtcheff said.

"We had so much hope, you know?" Camille said.

"I was pretty frustrated," Palmer said, "and I remember Camille being at the breaking point emotionally, where we just had to do something else."

The couple said they began grieving the loss of not having biological children.

"Once we started that, we realized that we could adopt and it would be a wonderful thing," Camille said.

On Dec. 16, 2014, that's just what they did.

"It was amazed at how … quickly we fell in love with her," Camille said of her daughter.

"The question about when is enough, enough — I don't know that I can answer that for anyone," Gurtcheff said.

But Brown said she's not ready to stop.

"Next week I will go through my 14th egg retrieval," she said. "I love being a mom. It's the greatest thing on earth, and so going through in vitro is just so worth it."

Contributing: Nadine Wimmer