Sam and I got married in December of 2016 in Minnesota. It was cold! But we were warm with love and excited about our future. We knew we wanted kids, but I wanted to finish my master’s degree first. Once I graduated, we started trying for a family in the summer of 2019. We quickly became discouraged, and something in my heart was telling me things were not right.
The summer of 2020 brought fertility testing, which showed that I have diminished ovarian reserve (DOR). We tried clomid, IUI, and eventually IVF. During 2020-2022, we did three egg retrievals and five embryo transfers with zero pregnancies. We were feeling defeated and heartbroken.
We prayed about what we should do next. We researched traditional adoption, but something about it did not feel like the right fit for us. I had always dreamed of being pregnant, and Sam wanted the nine months to bond with the baby before he/she arrived. We considered donor eggs as well, but something about that didn’t sit well with us either.
When we learned about embryo adoption, it felt like an answer to our prayers. These embryos were already created and simply waiting for their chance at life! And I would be able to carry them, so we would be able to bond with them from the very beginning.
We were thankful to find a Christian adoption agency in Nightlight to give us peace that the placing families would have the same values and faith as we do.
Our placing family is so amazing, and we were so blessed to adopt six embryos from them! Sadly, our first transfer ended in miscarriage in 2023, but our second transfer gave us sweet Leona Ruth, born in March of 2025!
We are so blessed to finally have our sweet baby girl and to have the hope of four more babies in the future! Leona is the sweetest and happiest baby and has filled our lives with so much joy! We could never have imagined such an amazing journey to finally start our family. God is so good!
We are hoping to do another embryo transfer in the spring of 2026. We have built a special relationship with our placing family, and it’s been so fun for them to be able to watch her grow and for us to see what her siblings looked like at the same ages.
We are so thankful for the Snowflake Embryo Adoption Program!
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” -Isaiah 55:8
