Brandon and I met at our Church’s singles ward. We were both in our thirties and have never been married. We both spent a lot of years going to school and working. We felt so blessed to have met each other and immediately felt a deep connection. After about nine months of dating, we both felt very confident and excited to get married and start a family of our own.
After about a couple of years of unsuccessful attempts to start a family, we opted for seeking the help of fertility specialists and pursued an IVF treatment, which ended up in a successful pregnancy after the first attempt in 2009. Luckily, we also ended up with a couple of extra embryos that we froze with the purpose of implanting them in me a couple of years later. In June of 2010, we welcomed a beautiful baby girl into this world! We love her very much and are so blessed to have her in our lives!
In October of 2011 we returned to our fertility clinic to implant those frozen embryos and felt super excited to start an IVF cycle once again. Just a few days after having started the IVF cycle, I decided to go to my family doctor to have a small lump I felt on my left breast checked just for peace of mind. It did not occur to me that anything could go wrong. There was no way on this earth that it could be anything serious since I was feeling so strong and healthy. My doctor sent me to have a first mammogram followed by ultrasounds and biopsies that ended up in a breast cancer diagnosis in November of 2011. I remember so clearly the heart ache of such devastating news! There were so many thoughts going through my head, so many emotions, and fears that are almost indescribable. I turned to Brandon and told him, I don't know what hurts more, having received the news that I have cancer or having to stop the IVF cycle.
The next twelve months were followed by innumerable appointments with doctors, surgeries, a series of chemotherapy and radiation treatments that I never thought I would ever experience. But at the same time, I can say that this was the most humbling, most en-lighting, most strengthening time of my life. It made me feel so close to my Heavenly Father and increased my faith in Him. It has taught me innumerable lessons that I know I never would have learned otherwise. For that reason, I would not change a thing about it even if I could.
Now, a year and a half later, I feel very strong, healthy, and eternally grateful for my life, my family, and friends for the unconditional love and support they have given me through this difficult time. I am truly blessed and a believer of miracles! On the down side, this experience had left me physically incapable to carry a pregnancy again.
What do we do now? That was the question that Brandon and I asked ourselves many times! We have these two live embryos. Literally, two little unborn human beings in their very first stages of life. Should we let them die now because I am not able to carry them myself? That just did not feel right to us! God knows how much we would love to feel the joy and happiness of bringing another life into this world once again! Brandon and I started researching quite a bit about the surrogacy process and to make s long story short, it just felt right to us! We felt strongly that we should give this a try before considering an adoption.
As Brandon and I started taking the very first steps to start this process, a name and a face kept popping up into our minds, it was the wife of one of Brandon's friends and previous co-worker whom he has kept in touch throughout the years. I had the opportunity to meet her a few years ago and her sweetness and motherly demeanor had stayed in my mind. I was pregnant with my little K at the time. I remember so clearly her telling me how much she enjoyed each one of her pregnancies and how that was best time of her life. I never told her, but that thought stayed in my mind and made my own pregnancy even sweeter and more enjoyable through the next several months. A few weeks after Brandon and I had discussed how this particular person kept popping up in our minds, N, her husband, happened to call Brandon to discuss some work related issue. Brandon didn't waste any time and told N a little bit more about our lives and what we were planning on doing. To my surprise, he told Brandon that his wife had considered being a gestational carrier in the past. I couldn't believe that! Since then I just started to feel that things were starting to fall into place.
I truly believe that our Heavenly Father has been preparing us for this! Well, through the next few days, and after several phone conversations with Alvina, prayers and inspiration, I received another answer from Heaven and from this remarkable woman on earth giving me opportunity to embark with us on this amazing "service project", as she put it. I never could have put it in better words! We love you Alvina!
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