In 2016, after 8 months of trying and not being able to conceive, we found out we were unable to have biological children. We were absolutely heartbroken. After taking the time to grieve, we began to think through what the Lord would have for us next. We found Snowflakes Embryo Adoption and loved that it was like traditional adoption in the sense the placing family would be choosing us. We began our embryo adoption journey in March of 2017.
With the help of the Snowflakes staff, we went through each phase fairly quickly and that December, we received notification a family had selected us to adopt their five embryos. It was such a sweet, sweet moment for us knowing we had just said yes, Lord willing, to our future children.
In April 2018, our embryos traveled 2,000+ miles and arrived safely at our clinic. That day we got a call from the clinic medical director, letting us know that due to the device the embryos were frozen in, the probability of them surviving the thaw was small and they would not perform the frozen embryo transfer for us. We were told there was nothing we could do, that other clinics wouldn’t take them, and to call them once we had been matched again. We were heartbroken. We knew that we would fight for them until there was nothing left we could do. We boldly prayed that the Lord would move mountains for our precious embryos.
That next morning, we got a call from Snowflakes and were told that another clinic nearby would accept the embryos. We were blown away at the Lord’s kindness and reassurance. If we had known the first clinic we had chosen would not have accepted the embryos, we would not have matched with our placing family. But God had a bigger, better plan. The Lord in His goodness made a way for us to be these precious babies' parents.
Our first transfer took place in July 2018. The whole process was surreal. We had no idea if this transfer would take, but we prayed and hoped. We received a call from our doctor several days later, letting us know the transfer was unsuccessful. We had lost our precious baby—our child who was so graciously and sacrificially given to us, the child we had waited years for. We were reminded why we chose embryo adoption: to give each of the embryos we adopted a chance at life.
After taking the time to grieve and allow my body to rest, we went in for our second FET. When we arrived at the clinic, we were told they had to thaw two embryos that morning. Unfortunately, the first embryo fell apart upon thawing and was not viable. Again, heartbroken, we knew we would need to process this news. But due to our third embryo already being thawed and viable, we were motivated to move forward with the FET.
In September 2018, almost two years since we received the news that biological children were not an option for us, we got the call that we were pregnant! Words we never thought we would hear. We were in love with this sweet baby already and just in awe of the Lord’s kindness in matching us with this family. Our daughter was born May 25, 2019, which was 8 years to the month she was frozen as an embryo. We look back and we can see the Lord’s faithfulness over and over again. Even though we didn’t see it at times—He met us in mourning, in crying out, in the desperation, when we doubted, and when we celebrated and rejoiced.
We can’t imagine the emotions which have come with the sacrifice our daughter’s placing parents have made. We cannot adequately describe the gratitude in our hearts for the gift they have given us. We had a bracelet made for her biological mother, engraved with forever grateful on the front and five individual snowflakes inside—representing the five precious babies they gave us. Our prayer and hopes is this bracelet would be a daily reminder of the gracious sacrifice they made and their obedience to the Lord.
Our little girl is an absolute miracle and we thank God for her daily. We can’t wait to tell her the story of how the Lord made a way for us to be her parents. We pray the Lord would prepare her heart to hear it. We still hope and pray our two remaining embryos will transfer successfully and she will have genetic siblings in our family, in addition to the genetic sibling she already has who is being raised by her placing family.