A MESSAGE FROM Jackie
"S*&t!!!"... was my reaction to my water breaking at 33 weeks with my twin sons Olney and Marty and again at 35 weeks with my son Henry. I knew it was too early, and despite my best efforts, I was about to give birth to babies who would each require medical intervention and spend time in the NICU. When I asked my doctor, "Why did I go into labor prematurely?" Her response was simply, "we don't fully know."
Brittney Crystal got a similar answer from her doctors after her daughter Iris was born and passed away due to prematurity at 28 weeks old. In the immediate days after, the family learned two fundamental things: 1) the stigma and isolation around this kind of loss is crippling, and 2) the basics of how a woman's body works during labor —full term and preterm— have yet to be understood. Not only do we not have enough effective interventions for high-risk
pregnancies, but the basic science of labor lags far behind advances in rare diseases.
To fill this gap, the Crystal-Aleman family established The Iris Fund to drive systemic change and bring parity to all mothers through investments in groundbreaking research, community mobilization and focused advocacy.
In just five years, and with only volunteer staff, The Iris Fund has built a team of over 2,000
supporters, including amazing women-led organizations, in 35 states and eight countries, and raised nearly $800,000 in catalytic funding. They have built a moonshot team across research specialties (OB-GYNs, physicists, engineers, mathematicians) and corporate partners, such as GE Healthcare.
They are working to accelerate the pace of research –and improve outcomes for mothers and
their vulnerable preterm babies. But there is so much more to do!
That’s why I am running the 2024 TCS New York City Marathon to raise funds to support this important and necessary work. No matter how much you give, every dollar will work hard, every day, to ensure that no family endures
the heartbreaking complications and loss due to premature birth. No donation is too small. Please consider clicking on the button to donate.
Thank you! XO
