Sports broadcaster Allie LaForce and former Major League Baseball pitcher Joe Smith raised $600,000 at their 2023 HelpCureHD gala in Houston | Wikimedia Commons
The 2023 event also gave families who had received assistance an opportunity to meet the donors and supporters behind the programme, with CultureMap reporting that the couple had helped more than 135 couples pursue the goal of having a child free of Huntington’s disease. Their young son, Jacob, who was born in November 2022, also attended the gala. HelpCureHD provides grants to eligible families pursuing preimplantation genetic testing with in-vitro fertilisation, commonly called PGT-IVF. The process allows embryos created through IVF to be tested for a specific genetic variant before an embryo is selected for transfer, and for families at risk of passing on Huntington’s disease, the approach can help them have a child who does not carry the disease-causing variant. The treatment can be expensive and may require more than one IVF cycle, and the foundation’s financial assistance is intended to reduce that barrier for families who might otherwise struggle to afford the process. The charity also supports efforts to raise awareness and fund work related to Huntington’s disease. The organisation’s public updates describe the foundation’s focus on helping families pursue fertility treatment and supporting efforts to combat the disease. Research may contribute to better treatments or, eventually, a cure, but the foundation’s IVF grants address a more immediate concern for families who want to reduce the chance of passing the disease to their children. Genetic testing does not treat Huntington’s disease in an affected person; it is used in this context to inform embryo selection during fertility treatment. LaForce has spoken about the physical and emotional demands of IVF, including the repeated procedures involved in fertility treatment, and the couple’s public advocacy has drawn attention to the choices faced by people who have a family history of an inherited disorder and want biological children.
That simple,” as she described her goal of raising $1 million at the next event after the 2023 gala raised a record $600,000 for Huntington’s disease research and fertility treatment support, according to CultureMap Houston. Smith and LaForce established HelpCureHD in 2017, and their work started with Smith’s mother being diagnosed with Huntington’s disease in 2012 and dying in August 2020 after an eight-year battle with the condition, which his grandmother also died from. A 2021 report by the Houston Chronicle described how the couple launched HelpCureHD to provide financial and emotional support to patients and families, as well as help cover the costs of fertility treatment.
Allie LaForce summed up the purpose of the HelpCureHD gala with the words, “More money, more families. The sports broadcaster, along with former Major League Baseball pitcher Joe Smith, directed attention and funding toward families affected by Huntington’s disease. The annual event brings together professional athletes, donors, medical specialists, and families who have received help from the couple’s foundation, which supports research and helps eligible families access fertility treatments that are designed to prevent the inherited disease from passing to their children. It also documented their own experience with preimplantation genetic testing and in-vitro fertilisation.