Puzzled by Infertility...
My husband GQ and I
got married in March 2011.
We both knew then
that we wanted to have kids but I also knew that getting pregnant might be a
challenging for us. I've had problems since I was 12 years old and have had
multiple surgeries for various "girly" issues over the last (nearly)
two decades. I knew my odds would be low but I had a sprinkle of hope we could
do it, you know, make it happen!
Needless to say,
nearly three years into our marriage, we haven't been able to have a
baby.
We have everything
else. My husband and I have great careers we love, we both have Master's
degrees, I'm working on my PhD and GQ has big dreams and plans for himself, as
do I. We are such a happy, silly, loving, joyful, giddy, madly-in-love couple,
and I'm not just saying that--we rock as a couple! :)
BUT we also know we are missing someone!
While we have NO PLANS to cut short our dreams and goals,
our biggest dream (of being parents) is one we aren't ready to give up on
either. We are more than ready to make that dream happen despite the obstacles
in our way; that biggest obstacle being money.
Infertility is EXPENSIVE...so, so expensive! Every option left is EXPENSIVE!!!
So this is where we
need YOUR help.
First it might help
to know what we are facing, so here are a few quick facts on our situation:
1. We are aiming to try In Vitro Fertilization, it is indeed the most expensive option
but allows US to have a baby from
both GQ’s sperm and my eggs.
2. We do not qualify for the less-costly, Artificial Insemination, you can read our personal reason why here, although you may have heard other
couples who have tried it we are not candidates.
3. My baby-making stuff has always been a little
"off." I have had problems since I was 12 and I'm worried my body
isn't suited to carry a baby. Because of this, we may go the route of having a surrogate carry our baby. In order to determine whether this will be the
best option for us, we first have to come up with money to create an embryo and
then test both me, and said surrogate, to see who has the best "oven".
My AMAZING little sister has a pretty sweet oven and has offered to do this for
us if we need a surrogate. How amazing is that!?! Ambree, and my brother in law D-Hatch, are incredible for ever offering this to us! (An incredibly enough, they are not the only one's who have offered--I'm baffled by people's love and generosity).
4. If the above options do not work, we will consider
adoption. GQ and I both feel strongly that we want to try to have a baby of our
own first, but adoption is not out of the picture....
Needless to say,
no matter what we decide to do (have me carry the baby on our own or have my
little sister), we have to fork over quite a lot of money.
HERE IS WHERE WE COULD USE YOUR HELP!
We have THEE most
amazing family and friends in the whole universe. I can't begin to tell you how
many kind and encouraging emails, phone calls, letters, text messages and Facebook
messages we've received and SO many people have asked how they can help us
raise the money...we can't over-emphasize how lucky we are!
We
have purchased a puzzle; it’s a puzzle of a starry night (because I’ve always
wanted a star and moon themed nursery). Each of you can help put
our puzzle together by sponsoring a puzzle piece.
Each puzzle piece is
$20 (although if you can even donate $1, we would be so grateful) and there are
1,000 puzzle pieces total.
With
each donation of $20 (of course, you are more than welcome to donate multiple
pieces) we will put our puzzle together. By the time our puzzle is put
together, we will have raised the $20,000 needed to do IVF!
(FYI, totally stole this idea from a friend of mine).
For
each puzzle piece you sponsor, your name will be written on the back of that
puzzle piece so we can always remember who helped us make our dream a reality. The
finished puzzle will be framed and hung in our nursery for baby to see every
day.
Here’s
how you can sponsor a puzzle piece:
1. Go
to the PayPal link on the right side of this blog, or at the bottom of this
email, and make a donation to the Atkinson Infertility Fund. PayPal works with
all major credit cards and you can even link your bank account. In the subject line, be sure to write the
name(s) you want on your puzzle piece!
2.
You can send a check written out to Deja Powell
OR Lucas Atkinson (just email us at deja.powell@gmail.com
if you need our address to send the check to).
3.
You can make a cash or check donation at Dance
Biz in West Valley City.
4.
If you have a business, or company, that might
want to help, please consider doing so and we will add your company/business
logo to our blog page, right here!
5.
If you have any great fundraising ideas, in
addition to our puzzle, please let us know!
Our
goal is to have plans set in motion by next Christmas, 2014!
If
you can help us reach our goal, even if you can just donate a little each
month, you will help make one of our dreams a reality. In turn, we will keep
you updated on our infertility journey right here on this blog. We will also post
monthly photos of our puzzle in order to show progress and so you can see how
we are getting closer to our goal.
We
love you all for all you do for us & thank God every day for each other and
an amazing support group who is ALWAYS behind us all the way!
Cheers
to 2014, Oh, baby!
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