For over two decades, the dream of holding my own child has been the North Star of my life. Since I was very young, I dreamed of the simple joys of parenthood—the bedtime stories, the first steps, and a home filled with the laughter of a child. I married at 22 and spent years pouring my heart, my hope, and my savings into starting a family. I navigated the grueling cycles of IUI and IVF, but despite every effort, I experienced the devastating heartbreak of miscarriage. It is a silence that stays with you. A Road Full of Hurdles Life eventually brought health challenges that I never saw coming. In my early 30s, I battled unexplained medical issues that led to severe anemia and the need for iron transfusions. To reclaim my health, I ultimately had to undergo an endometrial ablation and tubal ligation. While those procedures gave me my quality of life back, they closed the door on my ability to carry a pregnancy. That was 13 years ago. Our Final Door: Surrogacy Today, I am blessed to be with a loving, supportive partner who shares this dream of family. We have the love, the stability, and the home ready for a child—the only thing missing is the means to get them here. Because of my medical history, gestational surrogacy is our only remaining path. As many of you may know, surrogacy is a daunting mountain to climb. The financial barriers are significant, involving agency fees, legal protections for the surrogate, medical transfers, and insurance.