Family Stories Lyndsey and Michael Growing 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 …
Family Stories Stephanie and Ezra As 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 …
Family Stories Tessa and Josh We 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 …
Family Stories Zhi and Casey We 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. 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 sperm count …
Family Stories Lexie and Jonathan My 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 …
Family Stories Jena and Molly Our 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 …
Family Stories Dana and Sam We 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 …
Family Stories Lauren and Sean Sean 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. We wanted to wait until …
Family Stories Cecilia and Manuel Our journey began in 2017 when I unexpectedly became pregnant. We were ecstatic at the thought of 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 …
Family Stories Kimya and Darryl Growing 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 …
Family Stories Victoria and Dumitru On 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 with children. After a year passed, we were very confused that we are not pregnant yet …
Family Stories Kayla and Evan Kayla and Evan started their journey to create a family in October 2018. Soon after, Kayla had to have 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 …
Family Stories Meetu and Aditya Aditya and I both grew up in Mumbai, a big city in India. Being from different areas in Mumbai, we 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 Matt When Dani (pictured to the right) 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 …
Family Stories Danielle and Steve When 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 …
Family Stories Ashley and Tareq Ever since Ashley and I have been together, we would talk about our future together. 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 …
Family Stories Danielle and Anthony Anthony 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 …
Family Stories Kimberly When I was young and people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always replied “a Mom.” I always thought that I would meet the person I was supposed to be with, get married and have a decent size family. I knew I wanted to be a Mom way before I knew what …
Family Stories Priyanka and Rupendra I met Ru when he came to visit his family in Nepal, after the earthquake, which affected most of Kathmandu. Later, we were married in a family ceremony in Nepal and I moved to Lisle, Illinois to join him. Both of us have always dreamt of having children together. However, it has been very challenging …
Family Stories Claudette and Darren We met 12 years ago on Match.com, which was pre -Facebook, -Zoom and -What’s App. It was a long-distance romance, with Darren living in the United Kingdom before he moved to the United States, nine years ago, when we were married. Being in our late thirties, we knew growing a family may take a bit …
Family Stories Katie and Sean Katie is a carrier of Alport syndrome, a hereditary disease related to a mutation on the X chromosome. The disease causes hearing loss, cataracts, and kidney failure, and although it is inevitable that the symptoms will develop, it is impossible to know when. This disease has had a major impact on Katie’s life; her father …
Family Stories Brittany and Matt While they had often discussed the possibility of adoption, Brittany and Matt’s journey really started this past March when they decided they were ready to start their family. Due to a flareup with Brittany‘s ulcerative colitis, the doctor told Brittany that it was not a safe time for her to become pregnant. Having given prior …
Family Stories Sabrina and Daniel My husband and I have been together for ten years this January. Half of those years have been spent trying, without success, to have a family of our own. We were diagnosed with unexplained infertility earlier this year. The realization that not only were we unlikely to conceive on our own, but also that our …
Family Stories Allison and David Our fertility journey began over six years ago, after trying to get pregnant on our own for over a year. We received the devastating news that David was sterile, and we would never be able to conceive on our own. We sat down and discussed our options, and decided that we wanted to pursue embryo adoption, to give …
Family Stories Sarah and Sean Sean and I got married 9–almost 10–years ago. We always knew that we wanted to start a family, the only question that came up was when. We started trying about six months into our marriage, hoping for a child. When nothing was happening, the frustration began to grow. We watched family members and friends begin …
Family Stories Emily and Mike We live in Chicago and have always wanted a family. But in 2017, Mike was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a form of Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Mike began an immunotherapy and chemotherapy regimen which meant we would have to stop trying to conceive naturally. In 2018, we began working with Dr. Jennifer Hirshfeld-Cytron at the Fertility …
Family Stories Chaka and Christian I am one of five in my family and the oldest at that…my father is an Army veteran and we had the privilege to grow up all over the world. Because my father was gone a lot, I had to help my mother take care of my four siblings. When we moved back to the …
Family Stories Christina and Benjamin We met in Houston in 2012, when we were both in graduate school. Music brought us together and has been at the center of our lives. Christina is a professional pianist, and Ben is a composer and pianist. We both adore children and have worked extensively with them as music teachers. We each come from …
Family Stories David and Matt Our family journey began in January 2018 when we were introduced by text from a mutual friend. We knew from early on we were a great fit for one another and were engaged six months after those first texts were exchanged. We compliment each other with our differences, and are united by our shared beliefs …
Family Stories Michelle and Thomas My wife and I have been trying for six years and we both have been diagnosed with infertility. We have been through depression, anxiety, frustration, and loneliness. My wife and I love volunteering and giving back to the community. We volunteer with our local forest preserve. We also volunteer at a center that helps low income …
Family Stories Jessica and Scott We are very thankful to be grant recipients. Our wish is to complete our family and this grant is giving us that opportunity. We look forward to starting this journey, and our goal is to help Jewish United Fund continue to provide this honor to other hopeful families dealing with infertility. Jessica and Scott are …
Family Stories Ariel and Benjamin Ben is currently a first-year Emergency Medicine resident in Chicago’s South Side and enjoys giving back to his community. Ari has recently started a women’s health telemedicine company and both are excited to move closer to our dream of starting our family! As a veteran, Ben has been active in organizations like Veterans Anti-Violence as …
Family Stories Rebecca and Justin Justin and I met in college and got married in 2015. We knew kids were in the future for us. However, we knew it wouldn’t be an easy journey as I had cancer twice as a teenager and was unable to carry a baby. After three egg retrievals, we were beyond thrilled when our only …
Family Stories Michelle and Mike Hi! We are Michelle and Mike, and we have been together for six years (married for three and a half years). We spent much time and money on dating websites, and then ended up meeting in person! Michelle was dancing for a DJ company (a second job) at Mike’s cousin’s Bat Mitzvah, and we have …
Family Stories Kynise and Keva It all started at a daycare in Peoria, Illinois, where we both worked. As time went on, Kynise and I became friends. Friends turned into best friends and that turned into a relationship that is seven years and counting! We moved to Chicago in 2018 to begin our family. While in Chicago, I became the …
Family Stories Andrea and Ryan We met just after college through some mutual friends. After five years of dating, we eloped at the Grand Canyon. Before starting a family, we had decided we would do all the “usual” things couples do: buy a house, save money, travel, get dogs, and enjoy just being a newly married couple. After our first …
Family Stories Trisha and Eli My husband and I got married in the summer of 2017. In the winter of 2019, we decided we were ready to start a family. Because we are Ashkenazi Jews, we knew we needed to do genetic testing, as we have a higher chance of having certain genetic disorders. Throughout the process, I kept thinking …
Family Stories Sarah I’ve wanted to have children for as long as I can remember. When I decided to move forward with becoming a parent, a family member unexpectedly fell ill, and my desire to grow a family of my own was put on hold. Now that my focus is back on family planning, I am thrilled to be able …
Family Stories Jasmine and Arjun Jasmine and Arjun met during their medical training in San Francisco. Aware of a strong family history of breast cancer, Jasmine decided to undergo genetic testing and discovered that she carried the BRCA 2 mutation. After moving to Chicago for fellowship—and in the hopes of soon starting a family—Jasmine and Arjun decided to pursue pre-implantation …
Family Stories Yesenia and Andrew My husband Andrew and I have been together for a little over three years. We are so grateful to have been awarded the life grant. Testing was nerve racking, but we are over the moon now that we can continue to pray for a successful IVF process. Yesenia and Andrew are recipients of a donated …
Family Stories Katie and Augie Hi, my name is Katie and I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) six years ago. Since my diagnosis, I have been doing a lot of research and trying everything that I could to conceive naturally due to the high costs for fertility treatments and adoption. I’ve tried medications like clomid and metformin, to …
Family Stories Devan and Eric My husband and I met during my sophomore year of college. Three years prior to this I was diagnosed with MRKH disease, which meant it would be impossible for me to carry a child of my own. The news was devastating but thankfully there were options to allow us to start a family and have …
Family Stories Erica and Dennis We started trying before our wedding in Jan 2014 and after about 6 months with no success we knew it was probably time to see a specialist. With our dual diagnoses of diminished ovarian reserve and male factor, we jumped straight to IVF. After five IVF cycles with three different reproductive endocrinologists, eight embryos transferred, …
Family Stories Jessica and Timothy We are Jess and Tim. We have been together for almost six years and married for two. Tim is a school counselor and Jess is a school psychologist, both in the same PK-12 school district. We share our love and home with Arlo, our great Pyrenees pup, and Lottie, our golden Pyrenees pup. Becoming parents …
Family Stories Jackie and Tommy Our journey together began in February 2010, while both in the Army. By September 2011, we were married. We always knew we wanted a family, so when our son came along in June 2013, we were elated to be first-time parents. We began trying for a second child in May 2015 on our own, and …