Our Dream in One Minute: After years of infertility, cancer, and the loss of my ability to carry a child, Jeff and I are pursuing surrogacy to finally become parents together. Every donation—no matter the size—and every share brings us one step closer to meeting the baby we've dreamed of for so many years. Every Dream Has a Story... Here's Ours More than anything, we dream of hearing the words "You're going to have a BABY!" Hi, we're Jeff and Amber, and we are sharing our story with hope, love, and a dream we have carried in our hearts for a long time - the dream of growing our family. For the past seven years of marriage, that hope has often felt just out of reach. Today, we're reaching out to our family, friends, and community with hopeful hearts, asking for help as we pursue our dream of becoming parents. We've built a life together rooted in love, faith, and perseverance. We've been married for seven wonderful years, and throughout our marriage we've shared one dream above all else - to welcome a child into the world together! We have both imagined holding our newborn for the first time, getting to decorate a nursery, reading bedtime stories, celebrating all of the first milestones together, hearing that first little laugh that just makes your soul smile, and watching my older sons become big brothers in a new way. I have imagined watching my husband hold our baby for the first time and seeing that joy on his face—the kind that simply can't be hidden! The only kind of joy you get from becoming a parent, the kind of joy we have dreamed of sharing for so many years. Unfortunately, our journey to parenthood has been anything but simple. When I was just 24 years old, I had to undergo an emergency hysterectomy due to severe endometriosis. Although I already had two sons, I had always hoped to have at least one more child someday. The surgery took away my ability to carry another pregnancy long before I was ready to say goodbye to that dream. Today my boys are 16 and 18 years old, and while I feel incredibly blessed to be their mom, my husband has never had the opportunity to experience becoming a father. Watching him love my children has only made me dream even more about seeing him hold a baby that we created together. For years, we believed that dream would never become reality. The cost of surrogacy was simply beyond anything we could imagine affording. It felt impossible, and at times we lost hope. As if infertility wasn't enough, life brought us another devastating challenge. A year after losing my dad to melanoma, I was diagnosed with the very same cancer. Since then, over the course of three years I have undergone five surgeries and a year of treatment. I'm incredibly grateful to say that I'm finishing my final treatment on August 28th, 2026, marking the end of a long and difficult chapter. Becoming a two-time melanoma survivor has taught me that life is precious, that hope is powerful, and that miracles can happen even when the odds seem impossible. More than anything, it reminded us that tomorrow is never guaranteed, and we want the chance to build the family we've dreamed of while we have that opportunity. Now, for the first time in years, we are allowing ourselves to believe that our dream may still be within reach. Our next step is creating and freezing embryos before beginning the journey with a gestational carrier. Because I no longer have a uterus, surrogacy is our only path to having a biological child together. The reality is that this journey is incredibly expensive. Between IVF, embryo creation and preservation, medications, agency fees, surrogate compensation, insurance, and legal expenses, the total cost is expected to be between $160,000 and $200,000. You may notice our fundraising goal is $13,000. While our complete journey to building our family may cost as much as $200,000, we choose to set an initial goal that represents our first major milestone. As we move forward in this journey, we'll update our goal to reflect each step ahead. We'll continue saving, applying for grants, and exploring every possible avenue available to us as well, while taking each step as it comes. Asking for help is one of the hardest things we've ever done. We know these are difficult times for many families, and we understand that not everyone is in a position to give. If you're unable to donate, simply sharing our story with others would mean more to us than you know. Every contribution, no matter the size, brings us one step closer to becoming parents. If hundreds—or even thousands—of people each gave just a little, or simply shared our story, it could make an incredible difference. Small acts of kindness add up in extraordinary ways, and every donation, every share, and every encouraging word brings us closer to our dream. How your contributions will help: *Milestone #1 (IVF): Cost expectancy: $20,000-$25,000 -Fertility testing and genetic screening -Bloodwork -Ultrasound -Medical testing and psychological evaluations -Egg extraction -Embryo creation -Embryo preservation *Milestone #2 (Continued Embryo Preservation): Cost expectancy: $600 - $1,000 per year. This milestone covers the cost of preserving our embryos while we continue saving for the gestational carrier portion of our journey. *Milestone #3 (Gestational Carrier and Pregnancy): Cost expectancy: $135,000 - $175,000 -41% Surrogate Expenses -23% Surrogate agency Expenses -14% Legal Expenses -16% Insurance Expenses -6% Parent legal rights Expenses *Milestone#4: (Bringing baby Home, let's celebrate!) Cost expectancy: Priceless! We'll continue sharing updates throughout this journey so everyone who supports us can celebrate each Milestone with us. We know that somewhere in our future is a little one who will be deeply loved. A child who will grow up surrounded by parents who fought for every chance to bring them into this world, two older brothers who already can't wait to meet them, grandparents, family, and friends who helped make their story possible. That's the future we're working toward, and every act of kindness brings us one step closer. Thank you for taking the time to read our story, for believing in our dream, and for giving us hope when we thought this future might never be possible. From the bottom of our hearts, Jeff & Amber