An Oxford Township woman is using her home-based business to help couples struggling with infertility by raising both funds and awareness.

“I just want people to know that they’re not alone in this because I personally felt so alone,” said Shannon Hughes, owner of Nine 16 Designs LLC.

She and her husband Matt were diagnosed with infertility in spring 2017.

Nine 16 Designs makes and sells t-shirts and tank tops for women and children (boys and girls). Each bears a witty message. The company also sells tumblers with messages on them.

As part of her business, Hughes, in mid-April, started Project One in Eight, the mission of which is to provide couples and individuals with some financial support as they undergo treatments, procedures and surgeries in the hopes of getting pregnant.

The name is derived from the 2006-10 National Survey of Family Growth that found 1 in 8 couples have trouble getting pregnant or sustaining a pregnancy.

Couples or individuals apply for Project One in Eight online at www.nine16designs.com, then every two or three weeks, Hughes selects a new applicant for the program.

This couple or individual receives a portion of the company’s sales for two weeks, along with any direct donations made through the website, in order to “help take some weight off their shoulders by paying down some of (their) medical bills or covering the cost of medications,” the website states.

“We’ve worked with six couples at this point. We’ve donated over $3,000,” Hughes said.

Qualifying for Project One in Eight is not difficult.

“As long as you’ve got medical bills (related to infertility) to pay off, you qualify,” said Hughes, who noted most insurance companies do not cover the cost of fertility treatments.

When asked how it makes her feel to be able to help these people, Hughes replied, “I don’t even know if there’s a word that can describe it.”

“It is extremely rewarding,” she said. “The responses I get from couples are so heartwarming. I just feel good about it.”

Hughes noted she was only able to give the first couple $96 and she was “so heartbroken (by that) because (she) wanted it to be so much more.” But then she received a note from them expressing their appreciation and gratitude, and this simple gesture really touched her.

In addition to raising money, Project One in Eight also helps spread awareness by sharing the selected couple or individual’s story via the company’s website and social media outlets.

This sharing of stories is particularly important, in Hughes’ opinion, because there’s often a social stigma and feelings of shame associated with infertility and this needs to be confronted and overcome.

“Infertility’s one of those topics no one ever talks about,” she said. “It’s embarrassing – no one wants to admit that they’re infertile or struggling to build a family.”

She knows firsthand what that feels like as she and her husband spent two years trying to bring a little one into the world before being diagnosed with infertility.

“The weight of it was so heavy on my shoulders,” Hughes said. “I was just an emotional mess every single day.”

“When I finally started opening up about it (and connecting with people)  . . . it changed everything,” she continued.

The road to pregnancy has been a long and difficult one so far for Hughes and her husband.

After being diagnosed with infertility, the couple decided to try In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). It’s “the most expensive” of  the fertility treatments, according to Hughes, but fortunately, the health insurance provided by her husband’s employer, Quicken Loans, covered it, “which is very, very, very rare.”

“We just jumped right to IVF because it gave us the best odds,” she said. “We had our first round last summer and it wasn’t successful. That knocked me down big time.”

That bad news was compounded by the fact that Hughes was then diagnosed with endometrial cancer – a type of cancer that begins in the uterus.

“They found the cancer almost immediately after (the IVF),” she said. “It was a shock to me.”

Fortunately, she said “they caught it very, very early” and the doctors told her “this is actually more common than you think and we can take care of it without having to go though any intense treatment.”

In April, her oncologist told her she was cancer-free.

“Everything’s gone,” Hughes said.

Since its founding in July 2017, Nine 16 Designs has helped Hughes cope with everything from the infertility to the cancer by providing her with a “distraction” that keeps her from over-thinking and over-researching “what’s going to happen next” in her life.

“It’s gotten me through a lot of rough days, I can tell you that,” she said.

When it comes to her business, Hughes doesn’t outsource anything. She processes the orders, prints and packages the shirts and ships them to customers.

“I’m the only person behind the curtain,” she said. “Everything is done by me and only me.”

To other couples or individuals dealing with infertility, Hughes offered this advice – “be patient” and “treat every single speed bump or obstacle as a blessing in disguise.”

“Because that’s truly what it is,” she said.

“When our first round of IVF didn’t work, I was devastated and angry and just couldn’t see past that,” Hughes continued. “But then, they found the cancer. And they would have never found that had that first transfer worked. And I most likely would have miscarried. That (pregnancy) didn’t happen for a reason.”

Every bump she’s “hit along the way” has taught Hughes to “hold on a little bit longer” and “keep trying.”

She urged others to not get discouraged.

“Eventually, you’re going to get your baby or get a family, even if it’s not a biological child,” Hughes said. “Be patient and take it (one) day at a time.”