My name is Aubrey, and my husband Aaron and I have been trying to have a baby for eight years. I’m a wedding and elopement photographer in Lake Tahoe, which means I’ve spent my career documenting other people’s love stories and their growing families. For eight years, quietly, we’ve been hoping to start ours. In all that time, I have never seen a positive test. Not once, not even a faint second line. We did everything in the order you’re supposed to. When it didn’t happen on its own, we started testing, and the answers came slowly. There is a male-factor diagnosis that hasn’t budged, even after varicocele surgery. On my side, at 38, my ovarian reserve is quite low. The treatment our doctors believe gives us a real chance is IVF with ICSI, and it’s the one thing we haven’t been able to reach. We’ve already been through two rounds of medicated IUI treatments that didn’t work, and we’ve paid for all of it out of pocket. Here’s the hard part: our insurance doesn’t cover IVF. A single cycle costs more than we can pull together at once, and with my numbers, we may need more than one. After eight years, the thing standing between us and a real shot is the money. So we’re doing something that doesn’t come naturally to us, and asking. Any amount helps, and so does simply sharing this with someone who might care. If you’ve ever quietly rooted for us, this is the moment it would mean the most. Thank you for being part of our story. We’ll keep you posted, good news or hard news, every step of the way.