Group helps couples struggling with infertility

But as Go Ask Mom readers know, I like to feature local moms who are doing great things for their families, themselves or the community on Mondays. Lori Moscato, founder and chairman of the foundation, was an obvious choice. The foundation provides grants to couples who are struggling with infertility.

And just a couple of weeks ago, the group celebrated the birth of the first baby to a couple who received help from the group. Baby Kolson was born on May 2 in Greensboro, making it the best Mother's Day ever for his mom and dad, who had struggled for years to have a child.

"It feels great," Moscato tells me. "It's very moving to know that you've given somebody such a miracle of life."

Moscato and her husband Rob started the foundation in December 2008 after they conceived their daughter through in vitro fertilization. Sophia was born in 2007. They were able to conceive son Ryan on their own not too long after Sophia was born.

The couple had health insurance coverage for their IVF treatments, which can be about $15,000 per attempt. But many people in North Carolina don't have coverage, Moscato said, or the money it would take to pay for the treatments.

They wanted to pay it forward, so to speak, and help couples who can't afford the treatments.

The Pay It Forward Fertility Foundation has support and involvement from five North Carolina-based fertility clinics. The North Carolina Center for Reproductive Medicine, Carolina Conceptions, Duke Fertility Center, UNC Fertility and the Center for Reproductive Medicine at Wake Forest University are all represented on the board of directors and the advisory board.

The foundation holds an annual education seminar for the public in the spring and gala in the fall. So far it's given eight grants. Grant applications are considered quarterly.