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 …

Family Stories Meetu and AdityaAditya and I both grew up in Mumbai – a big city in India. Being from different areas in Mumbai, we both did not know each other growing up. Being a bright/naughty kid in school with a keen interest in science/engineering, Aditya came to the United States to pursue his undergraduate studies. Aditya belongs to a close …

Family Stories Dani and MattWhen Dani was seven weeks old, she began having difficulty breathing and was rushed to the hospital. Upon arrival, a team of doctors and nurses immediately started working on Dani who was in complete cardiac collapse. Dani spent three and a half weeks in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit fighting for her life. After being put on …

Family Stories Danielle and SteveWhen we began discussing marriage and then children, it was very difficult to say to Steve that I was unable to get pregnant without medical intervention. At five years old I was diagnosed with Turner Syndrome, and at the age of twelve told that I would not conceive children without fertility treatments. At the time I was …

Family Stories Ashley and TareqEver since Ashley and I have been together, we would talk about our future together and every dream started with building a family. Several months into dating, Ashley informed me about her rare genetic disease—Fabry. This is a hereditary disease related to the mutation of the X chromosome, meaning whether we had a son or a daughter, …

Family Stories Danielle and AnthonyAnthony and I are high school sweethearts, who met in English class our sophomore year. We continued our relationship into adulthood and went on to eventually attend the same college. We were both saddened by the news that I had been diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer at the age of 22. A few years after my …