Gift of Parenthood
Help Karissa and Ryan start a family

Help Karissa and Ryan start a family

Organized by Karissa Jelens. Grand Rapids, Mi.

Be the first to help this family

Goal: $15,000

Their story

My husband, Ryan and I met in the summer of 2016 and quickly fell head over heals. After moving in together in 2018, we received some devastating news. I was diagnosed with Endometrial Cancer. After multiple tests, surgeries, and scans, it was determined my best course of action was to get a full hysterectomy, which I received at the end of 2018. Throughout all of this, Ryan was my rock, my caretaker and shoulder to cry on. When I found out I would never be able to carry his children, I told him I would understand if he wanted to move on. He never budged. I was declared cancer free after my surgery and we got engaged almost immediately after treatment. We planned a beautiful wedding at a theatre in my hometown but COVID had other ideas, and we ended up downsizing and doing a small wedding in my parents back yard. Since then we have bought a great house and added 2 dogs to our family dogs, but the thought of not having children of our own has been difficult. On Christmas of this year, my wonderful sister in law offered to be our surrogate! We were ecstatic! I currently only have one ovary so we are hoping for the best during our upcoming fertility journey! Thank you so much for taking time to read our story, any help you can give would be greatly appreciated :)

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