Melanie & Paul�s Surrogacy Journey

As many of you already know, we have been working toward starting a family now for several years. We started out excited because we knew how ready we were to become parents. Unfortunately, the first hurdle occurred when we were told we would have to do IVF to conceive due to a male factor infertility issue. We began the process and were very optimistic because the egg retrieval was very successful. Melanie had 38 eggs retrieved and we ended up with 20 embryos! During the transfer stage to conceive, more obstacles occurred as the first two transfers did not take. Finally, the third transfer worked and Melanie was pregnant. After several weeks of being hopeful and excited, Melanie began to experience some troubling symptoms including ocular migraines, visual disturbances, facial numbness and severe nausea leading to an ER visit for stroke like symptoms and severe dehydration. What was at first such a joyous experience had become an absolute nightmare. After weeks of suffering and not being sure how to proceed, Melanie miscarried and ended up having to have a D&C procedure, which was the most devastating experience of her life. Despite the relief of not experiencing the symptoms anymore, there was immeasurable grief at the loss of our potential daughter. The months following were also very difficult, as Melanie struggled with severe hormone imbalance, continued difficulties with ocular migraines, as well as PTSD from the entire experience, leading her to have to take time off work for healing. Melanie is still working hard at recovery from the PTSD symptoms and luckily with the help of time and natural supplements her hormones have balanced out. After consulting with several doctors, it has been recommended that Melanie not attempt getting pregnant again, as the symptoms she experienced put her at risk for another miscarriage, early hospitalization, high BP and stroke in future pregnancies. This brought us to a crossroads to decide how we wanted to proceed. It was a difficult decision, but we have decided to pursue surrogacy since we have 17 embryos remaining. We feel that there is a reason we have as many embryos as we do and want to be able to use at least one of them to build our family. However, surrogacy is an expensive endeavor. A great deal of work goes into ethical surrogacy with an agency, not only with the burden placed on the gestational surrogate, but the hours of work the agency puts into ensuring a successful match and process. While we are doing everything to save and have secured some funding for the process, we are still in need of some financial assistance. This is not an easy thing for us to admit or even ask and it is humbling for us to even be in this position. If you are able and willing to help in any way, we appreciate it so very much. Another way to support our journey is by making a purchase through Melanie's online shop - www.shopfemmedebloom.com as this is one of the ways Melanie is working hard to raise money for the surrogacy process! Thank you all for reading our story and we appreciate any help that can be given!