Gift of Parenthood
Help Luke and Amy start a family.

Help Luke and Amy start a family.

Organized by Amy Tanner.

$14,842

of $20,000

64

donors

$5,158

to go

Their story

Dear Friends, Family and Kind Strangers,

Our names are Luke and Amy Tanner and we would like to share with you a bit about our journey together, our life and longing to start a family together.

We fell in love during high school and got married right after Amy’s graduation. We started trying to have a baby not long after we were married, but almost eleven years later— it still has not happened.

A few years ago, Amy was diagnosed with PCOS (Polycyclic Ovarian Syndrome), which is a condition that can cause a wide variety of health problems, including infertility. Though it should not be impossible to get pregnant with PCOS, as many women do, it can make it extremely difficult. When Amy was diagnosed we felt a sense of relief, believing that a diagnosis could finally provide an answer to the infertility. One common symptom of PCOS is ovulatory dysfunction. Our doctor believed this was our main issue preventing pregnancy, and in 2021 put Amy on a medication called Clomiphene for 6 months (this is a estrogen modulator, which essentially means that it forces ovulation). Unfortunately, even this was unsuccessful and it was heartbreaking. This treatment was the last thing we could try before our doctors could no longer help us due to our medical insurance’s limitations for fertility treatments. 

Amy has been to many doctors over the years and had countless tests done, but we have yet to find the answers we need. Therefore, with our medical insurance being used up, our next step is to see an “out-of-pocket” fertility specialist. Fertility treatments are very expensive, even consultations and tests to determine a treatment plan alone can be thousands of dollars. IVF is the most widely used treatment plan, but at more than $10,000 per treatment, and requiring an average of 3 attempts; financially this just hasn’t been an option for us to go forward with. 

We have always loved children, and over the years we have found so much joy in pouring our love into our nephews and our friend's children, but we long for the day that we can share all of the love we have with a baby of our own.

We have been in love for almost fifteen years now. We have gone through so many stages of life together; great joys as well as painful hardships, but we have grown tremendously as individuals and as a couple through them all. Now, all we want is to be able to have a family together— we believe that we are ready for that to happen now more than ever before.

This fertility journey has been the hardest thing we’ve ever gone through, the pain truly feels unbearable at times, but we know that once we finally hold our baby in our arms, it will all be worth it.

Anything you can give, even the smallest amount, is so appreciated. If you can’t give anything right now but you’d still like to help, you can share this fundraiser.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read our story and be a part of our journey.

With love,

Luke and Amy

64 believers

Newest first
  • Anonymous$0
  • Anonymous$100
  • Pat Olsen$150
  • Carolina Wallace$300
  • Albert Zehr$300
  • Lauren Caldwell$100
  • Heather Papendieck$50
  • Brenda Nestibo$200
  • Anonymous$200
  • Anonymous$100
  • Anonymous$100
  • Uncle Tim and Aunt Lori Pelton$100
  • Anonymous$100
  • Anonymous$100
  • Brad Bodenman$500
  • Albert Zehr$200
  • AnonymousTop donor$2,000
  • Tracee Anne Loosle$111
  • Michele Taliaferro$500
  • Anonymous$145
  • Kerry Champagne$100
  • Anonymous$140
  • Diane Tanner$100
  • Anonymous$50
  • Jonathan Backer$200
  • Anonymous$140
  • Anonymous$150
  • Karen Zheng$555
  • Lydia Backer$1,000
  • Celine Baker$50
  • Anonymous$130
  • Wayne Pelton$300
  • Janet Bizjak“Thank you so much, we are so grateful! ♥️”$50
  • Julie King$50
  • Patricia Devenish$30
  • Carolina Wallace$1,000
  • Cheryl DeVoe$100
  • Alison Rolf“Thank you so much. We so appreciate it! ?";s”$25
  • Naomi Metzler$111
  • Tiffany Tornay“Wow, thank you so much, we are incredibly grateful! ♥️”$125
  • Molica Hsu$200
  • Andrayakatrine Legaspi“Thank you so much! We are incredibly grateful.”$100
  • Vincy Abraham$50
  • Anonymous“Oh my gosh, thank you so much Paul and Mary. This is incredibly kind and generous of you and we feel so blessed. We are so, so grateful. We love you both!”$500
  • Brenda Nestibo“Wow, thank you so much Daryl & Brenda. We are so, so grateful. Love you back!”$200
  • Sheena Tranter$60
  • Noah Pelton“Thank you so much Noah. We are so grateful and we love you!”$50
  • Malcolm Petch“Wow, thank you so much Malcolm. We are incredibly grateful!”$100
  • Lauren Caldwell$100
  • Schrepel Stephanie$50

Updates

August 29

BIG Update

I\'m sure many of you have seen or heard our latest update through various social media platforms, but for our supporters who made it possible, we wanted to make sure to give you an update! Since we started this fundraiser, we\'ve seen more love, support and encouragement than we could\'ve hoped for. We have always had one goal in mind; to have a baby. We didn\'t know how it would happen, such as natural birth, adoption or IVF. We started with the dream and promise in our heart and took the first steps. We\'ve spent 10 years trying to communicate to doctors all of the health issues Amy had, even beyond not being able to get pregnant. We suspected a condition called Endometriosis, which is a very painful condition causing a plethora of issues. We were always told that what she experienced didn\'t sound like Endometriosis, but without being given any other answers. We knew we needed an expert that our insurance wouldn\'t provide. Once we started receiving donations, we committed to the first step; a consultation with a local fertility center. We needed to start with finding out what our options were. Fast forward to July 27th, we spoke to the fertility doctor and answered a series of questions about Amy\'s life, symptoms, etc. Within 3 questions, he was confident she had the condition, Endometriosis. All the symptoms she\'d been dealing with for more than 10 years were all classic signs of Endometriosis. We knew it could only be both diagnosed AND resolved through surgery but it was so encouraging to hear we weren\'t crazy! We worked with the fertility center to find out how to proceed, having doubts how we would be able to do this. We found out the surgery and pre-op appointment were almost exactly the amount we had from the fundraiser. We knew it was already an answer to prayer. Within 1 week we had everything set up for surgery on 8/26/22. We were ecstatic to be taking the next step so quickly after initiating this process. We\'d been trying to get answers for so many years that we couldn\'t wait another minute. On 8/26, we arrived at the hospital at 5:15am and were checked in promptly. The entire staff was super helpful, kind and you could just sense hope was there. We were both excited and in good moods despite being up at the crack of dawn (which hadn\'t even started yet). Amy was brave through the whole process, even right up until the moment they rolled her to the OR. I was so grateful they let me stay with her in the room until then. It was a 2 hour surgery with a 1 hour isolated recovery so I went home to get some rest. I got the call from the surgeon that she did, in fact, have Endometriosis and it was \'extensive\' and \'significant\'. He also confirmed the surgery was successful! I was calm and reserved but once I hung up I just thanked God for his hand in all this. We received further detail of the overall report and learned that the Endometriosis had formed in multiple places including the reproductive system, bladder and bowels. He was not able to remove the Endometriosis from the bowels without risk of damaging them but he removed everything that would interfere with getting pregnant, as well as some other painful symptoms she\'d had. He also went on to explain getting pregnant was not only possible, but likely, and in doing so could actually help remove the remaining Endometriosis! We\'ve been at home, recovering since and taking it one day at a time. We\'ve had multiple calls with the doctor and everything so far is looking good. There are still upcoming and likely unexpected expenses, so your continued support is so appreciated. I can\'t say this enough, but I am so proud of my wife. She has been so brave through this seemingly endless journey. She never gave up because it would\'ve been easier. She always did her research, continued pressing doctors for help and hoping it would happen somehow, someday. We\'re so glad to have you all along with us in this journey and look forward to giving you the ultimate update of what we\'ve been praying for. Until then... With love, Luke and Amy