Dear Prospective Surrogate,

Our dream is to be old and gray, sitting in our recliners, next to our high school sweetheart, and have 20+ grandkids running around on Christmas Eve. Our large family, all together, under one roof. Just pure CHAOS. We just can’t picture anything else. Creating a life full of memories, traditions, and togetherness. That’s where you come in, our sweet surrogate. Thank you for helping us not bring an end to our story.

S (intended dad) and D (intended mom) have been together since freshman year of high school where we met. (20 years this year!!) We got married 13 years ago in November.

I (D) was just 18 when I became a Registered Nurse, after graduating high school early at 16! I started out doing the overnight shift on a cardiac unit, then 8 crazy years in the Emergency Room. Once Covid hit and times got weird in the hospital, I finally took the opportunity to pursue her dream job: a Labor & Delivery nurse! I felt a sense of joy and pride helping mothers bring new life into the world! After a total of 13 years as a bedside nurse, I finally got to fulfill her true dream of being a “stay-at-home-mom”, 2.5 years ago!

Six months after getting married, S finished his college baseball career and graduated with a degree in accounting and then an MBA. He was offered an entry-level analyst job at a local headquartered tech/info services company here in Jacksonville. 12 years later, he has worked his way up and now leads a corporate finance and commercial operations organization for this Fortune 500 company with employees reporting up to his division across the world.

We always dreamed of having a big family and got started right away. We were so fortunate to be able to get pregnant quickly and easily and I carried all 3 babies! I was now 28 years old with 3 kids under the age of 4 and was in the “thick” of it. Sleeplessness, fatigue, and a condition that caused me to have painful, heavy, prolonged menstrual bleeding every month. My OBGYN recommended a procedure to eliminate these issues before the condition would have caused the need for a hysterectomy. It sounded like a win-win but did come with the warning that it would be difficult (if not impossible) to ever carry a child again.

The kids got older, their activities got busier, but the thought of continuing to grow our family more started weighing on our hearts. After a lot of thought & prayers, we sought expert opinion at a local fertility clinic to see if maybe this could still be possible for us. D had 3 hysteroscopies and the doctor felt confident she could carry a baby in her uterus. They then started the IVF process of making embryos, which resulted in 8 (yay!) and 1 was transferred fresh on day 5. That transfer did not take, and they were disappointed of course, but ready to jump right into round 2 but the doctor then said he thinks we should consider the use of a gestational carrier. Not willing to give her a second chance. What a heartbreak. All this time and money spent being told everything was looking good and then just let down without warning.

Not ready to give up, we traveled to Boston to get a second opinion from a doctor who specializes in Asherman’s Syndrome. He did another hysteroscopy and agreed that the tissue inside did not look normal or healthy and it would not be advised to carry. We began to accept this fate. Our faith allows us to hold onto the hope that our struggles are not the end of our story. We have it in our hearts to have another baby and we believe the right surrogate is out there to help us with that. Possibly even more excited than us, are our 3 beautiful children: K, A, and E. They are aware of everything going on and are SO excited about their future baby brother or sister to add to the chaos! With both of us being born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida we are surrounded by friends and family. Both grandma’s are very involved with our children’s lives. As a family we love to go to the beach, family lake house, and enjoy time outdoors. Our kids keep us super busy with competitive dance, cheer, tumbling, and our son plays baseball, football, and is obsessed with fishing! They also participate in their school’s cross-country program, which D is a volunteer coach for!

S is an avid runner, weight lifts and is a blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu. I love to workout at “Burn Boot Camp” and “Club Pilates” in my free time. We also keep our 3-year-old Irish-Doodle active and healthy by walking him a couple times a day!

To our future surrogate:

THANK YOU. Thank you for being brave and willing to help our family continue to grow. While we are confident in this process, we are nervous too. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this journey together. We would love to get to know you, and your family, and build a strong relationship if you so desire. We will be here to comfort you, support you, and walk this journey every step of the way together. We are SO grateful for you and please know that you will be forever part of our life and our story.

With Love,

D + S