Family Stories Tieanna and ChristopherMy husband and I met in Florida through a mutual friend. We decided to start trying for a baby as soon as we started dating as we were into our thirties, plus I am a military service member and time apart seemed longer than time together. We got married merely weeks before I had to leave for …

Family Stories Sam and PhilWe have been together for 20 life-changing years, delighted to be married for 17 of them and aching to build our family for the last 12 to share our love of children, family and traditions. Unfortunately, our path to parenthood has not been one without strife. Time after time we were wrought with unforeseen family obligations, simultaneously …

Family Stories Theresa and PeterHello! Our names are Peter and Theresa. We are so grateful to be awarded the Family Building Grant. We met at a bar that no longer exists in Evanston, Illinois. Introduced through a mutual friend, the way we began dating was slightly different and comical in some sense. Fast forward five years and we were married in …

Family Stories Penelope and RobertPenelope and Robert were fortunate to meet later in life and after a few years, they decided that they wanted to start a family together. Unfortunately, previous fertility planning decisions caused a roadblock, and their project would now require a bit of help. Luckily, they found wonderful doctors that revealed the fascinating and miraculous world of assisted …

Family Stories Michelle and JasonWe met as teenagers while working a summer job and began dating the following year. Nine years later we got married, and this year marks our sixth wedding anniversary. We always knew we wanted kids but never thought we would struggle with infertility. After being diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at the age of 18, we …

Family Stories Megan and BobEver since I (Megan) was a little girl, I dreamed of becoming two things: a nurse and a mother. My entire nursing career thus far has been dedicated to the care of women and children. While I have had success meeting my professional nursing career goals, I have not been successful in fulfilling my second childhood dream. …

Family Stories Jamie and RichardWe have been struggling to get pregnant for several years. After going through three years of unsuccessful intrauterine insemination (IUI) procedures, it was clear we needed to go down a different path if we wanted to become pregnant. It took some time to mourn the idea that we were not going to be able to get pregnant …

Family Stories Erin and Joe Our plan of having a family started when we were married in 2016. Last summer, after years of trying to conceive we found out I was pregnant. We were over the moon! Unfortunately, we lost our dream. After the miscarriage, we sought out fertility specialists. The doctors explained to us we are part of the 33% …

Family Stories Crystal and SydneyMy wife and I have been together for 13 years and married for 7. We have always discussed having children and knew that it was something that we truly wanted. In early 2021, we finally felt ready and stable enough in life with a house, vehicles, and stability in our careers (myself as a firefighter/first responder and …

Family Stories Ashley and JacobThree years ago, my husband and I were blissfully unaware of the concept of infertility and the journey it encompasses. When we found out we were pregnant for the first time in August of 2019, it never occurred to us that we would never get to hold our tiny baby. We would never get to hear their …

Family Stories AshleyFor as long as I could remember I always wanted and dreamed of being a mom to a lot of children; even in high school. I think I was the only student in my early childhood education classes to be very excited about taking home the practice baby doll. After high school, I continued my education in early childhood …

Family Stories Ana and AurelianIn the fall of 2020, we celebrated six years being together and decided we were ready to become parents. After multiple tries, our doctor advised us to try in vitro fertilization (IVF). Because of the expenses we were not ready financially. We discussed our options with our doctor and that is how we got this opportunity. We …

Family Stories Shimra and JonathanWe got married five years ago. We had and continue to dream of building a family together. When we began trying, we never expected that our journey for a child would span over multiple years. After a year into our journey, our frustration started to grow. Friends and family were having children, and something just wasn’t working …

Family Stories Lyndsey and MichaelGrowing up as an only child, it has always been my dream to have at least two kids. I was fortunate to get pregnant with my daughter on our first try (with my ex-husband). I had an easy pregnancy, labor and delivery, and my daughter is healthy and happy. After going through a divorce, I started dating …

Family Stories Stephanie and EzraAs a queer couple who does not have sperm in our relationship, we have encountered a significant amount of medical, psychological, and spiritual barriers to starting our family building journey. Miraculously, the first time we tried to get pregnant (via IUI), Stephanie conceived. It truly felt like a basheret (meant-to-be) moment. Sadly, Stephanie miscarried at 10 weeks, …

Family Stories Tessa and JoshWe have been planning our family since three months into our relationship. Discussions about how many kids we would have and what to name them were happening before we had ever even spent our first holiday together! While we did broach the topic of adoption (if need be), we never imagined we’d be having the discussions we …

Family Stories Zhi and CaseyWe met each other in 2012 as I was exiting the United States Marine Corps after 13 years of service. We started dating and blossomed into marriage for seven years. We both always wanted to have kids and have been trying since marriage. However, we had no luck and came to find out I had low a …

Family Stories Lexie and JonathanMy husband, Jon, and I are high school sweethearts. We have been married for five years now, however our first couple years of marriage we were dealing with fighting off cancer. Jon was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in September of 2015. We were engaged during this time but we were not going to stop cancer from ruining …

Family Stories Jena and MollyOur journey together began in 2016 when we met through a dating app. It didn’t take us long to meet in person and we quickly became friends. After just being friends for several months, we stopped fighting the inevitable and began dating in 2017. Like most couples, we began discussing our future, and thankfully we both envisioned …

Family Stories Dana and SamWe married in 2017 and knew that we wanted to start our family as soon as possible. When two years spent trying had passed without any success, we scheduled an appointment with a reproductive endocrinology and infertility specialist. That first evaluation would help diagnose Dana with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and Hypothyroidism. Finally, we had some clues to …

Family Stories Lauren and SeanSean and I met over 20 years ago and are high school sweethearts, we bonded over our love of music and art. We always talked about starting a family, we knew we wanted to be parents and were excited at the idea of getting married and starting our own family. We wanted to wait until after we …

Family Stories Cecilia and ManuelOur journey began in 2017 when I unexpectedly became pregnant. We were ecstatic at the thought of us becoming parents. Everything seemed to be going well but, a little over two months after finding out I was pregnant my doctor realized that my HCG levels were higher that expected and decided to send me to do some …

Family Stories Kimya and DarrylGrowing up I was the oldest grandchild in our home. I grew up in a big family home—grandparents, mother, aunt, uncle, and cousins. I am my mother’s only child. At one my point, my aunt and cousins moved away and that moment I knew I would have more than one child. My mom passed away in 2004 …

Family Stories Victoria and DumitruOn October 13, 2021 we celebrated our 11th anniversary together, my husband’s 30th birthday, and our 3rd year of infertility. We started to actively try in October 2018 and bought a house in May 2019 hoping to fill it whit children. We were very confused after a year passed that we are not pregnant yet and decided …

Family Stories Kayla and EvanKayla and Evan started their journey to create a family in October 2018. Soon after, Kayla had to get surgery to remove ovarian cysts. During the surgery, it was confirmed that Kayla has endometriosis throughout her abdomen. Although it can be more difficult to get pregnant, they decided to keep trying naturally. The dream of having their …