Welcome to our adoption journey!
We are in the process of a kind of adoption we're betting you've never heard of… embryo adoption. The short version is, we get the amazing privilege of adopting 2-5 embryos from a couple who successfully completed their family through the IVF process and still had remaining frozen little created lives. They prayerfully decided that the best option for those unique creations was to put them up for adoption to a couple like us!
See the FAQs below for more details.
Most people would be surprised to know that even this type of adoption can cost up to $25,000 not including typical costs of pregnancy and birth. That is why we have chosen to fundraise part of that amount through this site. And also to bring awareness to this incredible scientific process and marvelous wonder of God!
Thank you for partnering with us in this journey.
Andrew Paul was born at 36 weeks gestation in October 2022. We had a C-Section scheduled, as he was breech, but he decided to pick his own birthday and my body went into labor a week prior. He spent under 48 hours in the NICU, but graduated quickly as a champ!
In October 2023, we celebrated his first birthday with an adventure-themed party because what a wonderful adventure we’ve all been on together!!
He is a busy, curious, happy, smiling, singing, playful little guy. He looks and acts JUST like his Daddy, to which we always say, “only God can do that!” knowing his story.
As part of our adoption education we learned how important it is to tell your child their story right from the beginning. I wrote this poem and created a little book that we read together often:
Created.
Frozen.
Adopted.
Chosen.
Carried.
Grown.
Birthed.
Nursed.
Always known.
Always loved.
That TWW (two week wait) was loooonnnnngggg. (See previous update about embryo transfer).
I had told myself I was not going to take any at home pregnancy tests during the wait. I was going to wait for the official blood draw test at the clinic with actual numerical results, called a BETA, on the levels of HcG, the pregnancy hormone.
The blood draw was done on a Monday at my local MN clinic, but the results would be sent to the IA clinic who conducted the transfer and they would be notifying us. I had requested they not call me on Monday since I wouldn't be home and didn't want to take that call without Kevin. In the past, I had received all the calls, all being news that I was not pregnant, and since this process had much more on the line than our previous treatments, I knew I wanted us to receive the news together no matter what. I had given them the option to email the results instead so we could read it together. When Kevin got home from work, we sat down, ready for whatever was to come.
No email.
Now what?! We were all geared up emotionally! Well, there's always the low-tech way.... so we walked across to the CVS and got a pregnancy test. I was chugging water the whole way. 5 minutes after getting home, I grabbed the stick from the counter, covered it up, brought it to the couch and we read it together: PREGNANT.
What?! REALLY!? Tears, joy, excitement, disbelief, more joy, and huge smiles! Oh, Lord, what a sweet blessing that You orchestrated even this little moment so that we could receive this news in this special way. Pregnant!!!!!! Little embryo #1 stuck!
The added blessing of finding out this way, was that I was much more prepared to hear the BETA numbers the following day in a phone call from the clinic. In the fertility world, women hope and pray for a strong first number, but in all honesty numbers vary by a lot and the more important number is the follow-up to that where you want to see a "doubling" of your BETA after about 48 hours. So a 300, which is what I was hoping for, would be 600 after a couple days. But a woman with a BETA of 40 can have just as successful a pregnancy if her numbers continue to rise properly. (See, there's a lot going on in the mind of women during all stages of fertility). My clinic had said they would report anything over a 5 as a positive.
The nurse on the line said, "Well, your BETA is 2,407. Congratulations, you are VERY pregnant!"
2,407 --??!! -- that is LITERALLY OFF THE CHARTS -- my charts of numbers and correlations to full-term healthy pregnancies, stopped at 2000. WHAT?!!
Lord, Jesus, Your goodness is overwhelming!! Hallelujah is all I've been able to say throughout this entire process! He whispered, "Colleen, I don't want you to worry. This number is my gift to you."
And remember that little wink to Kevin from the picture of the hatching embryo and how that meant there really wouldn't be twins? Yes, we are pregnant with just 1 baby. ;)
If our little blessing #1 had not survived the thaw --- God is good.
If our little blessing #1 had not implanted -- God is good.
If our little blessing #1 does not carry to full term -- God is good.
Yet, He is taking us on this journey of a successful transfer. Our FIRST transfer. Those odds don't stack up in the fertility world. I don't say that lightly because there is a LOT of hurt and pain that comes with unsuccessful fertility tries and losses. I say that because God is above statistics. God is in control of every embryo's destiny. He has a plan for who, when, where and why. God is in control of every human life. Mine. Kevin's. This baby's. Yours. That is our belief behind our motto "Created by Design."
Every life is created on purpose, with purpose, for a purpose.
And now this little babe gets to be knit together by The Creator in my womb. I am blessed. We are thrilled. All praise and glory to Him!!
On March 1, 2022, exactly one year to the date that we began the embryo adoption process, we had our first embryo transfer! There was about 6 weeks of medical prep beforehand to get my body ready to receive this embryo and begin pregnancy. Although we have gladly invited many into our journey and so many have been praying for us along the way, we also chose to keep this transfer date somewhat quiet and private to walk through the experience together. There's a whole range of emotions and many unknowns. We knew we'd come to a time where we could share more publicly no matter what happened.
This was our first ever frozen embryo transfer (FET), so it was very special! The embryo was thawed that morning, and we received a photo of it under the microscope -- an action shot! Our little embryo was caught in motion hatching out of it's "shell"! What an exciting little miracle to witness and to begin our journey! There's no guarantee on anything and God is in full control of the outcome no matter what, but at the time, we took this as a little sign that babe was looking ready to enter the world, and a little wink to Kevin that truly there wouldn't be twins.
And then began what is known in the fertility world as the TWW-- two week wait. The longest two weeks ever for waiting, wanting parents-to-be. No matter how hard anyone tries, it's difficult to not overthink every little symptom or lack thereof until an official pregnancy test can be done.
Another fertility acronym (there are a lot) is PUPO -- pregnant until proven otherwise. That's the mindset couples take during this wait, and I had silicone rings made for us with this on it. Our prayers at the time were:
1) Live -- answered because our embryo survived the thaw!
2) Be rooted in the womb, implant and "snuggle in."
3) Grow.
One added blessing was that my 45th birthday fell in the PUPO window, so no matter the outcome I was pregnant for my birthday!!
