17 Jun Look Who Came for Father’s Day
A Father’s Day Blessing Arrives Just in Time!
Congratulations, Julie and Rob!
Allison Marie Amelia
Born June 13th 5:49 AM
4 Pounds 7 Ounces 17 inches long
“Allison is such a precious miracle, we feel blessed to have her as our daughter. She was born a little early but is strong and doing well. Our older daughter is thrilled to finally be a big sister! Words cannot express how thankful we are to the donating family (Brad and Jennifer) and Embryo Adoption Services of Cedar Park, for allowing our family to grow. Allison is such a beautiful gift from God!”
Julie & Rob– Proud parents!
Allison (Allie) was a little early, but all is well. Allie was born on her big sister’s birthday. What a joy they will have to share birthdays, and more, all their lives.
Born into a loving family, by the Grace of God. He has great things ahead for you, Allison. We send our very best wishes to you all!
Look what the Lord has done!
UPDATE! Kristina and Sam with daughter Hannah
Read all about their embryo adoption
journey, and parenthood!
LINK to Sam and Kristina’s journey
Kristina has written this insightful blog for you all to enjoy.
“From Conception to Birth”. We wanted to share this, it is very well done, and inspiring video done by none other than NG.
Enjoy the video!
Embryo Donation for Adoption
What Does the Catholic Church have to say about this?
Recently, I attended an on-line webinar that discussed the Catholic Church, and the moral position on human embryo adoption. The Catholic Church is opposed to IVF, however, a clear ruling regarding embryo adoption has not been definitive. Catholic families can, at this point, can do an embryo adoption and still be within Catholic doctrine and guidelines. You can now listen to doctors and ethicists discuss this topic in this enlightening presentation.
Our view, is that every embryo in the freezer is a human being, with a need for a mother to be born. With that in mind, we have committed ourselves to the most ethical and moral means of making embryo adoption available to loving families.
– Maria Lancaster, Director
Trials to Triumph
BABIES EVERYWHERE!
From Barren to Blessed
Colleen & Matt’s “Bumpy Road to Parenthood”
Our story begins in 2005, when we started ‘trying’ to create a family. We were both athletes with good careers and assumed the ‘family’ part of our lives would just fall into place. When it didn’t, we were devastated. The years from 2005 till mid-2010 were overwhelming and exhausting. I was poked and prodded in every way. We tried several clomid cycles and several IUIs – all unsuccessful. We were so broken and lost, but doctors made promises that IVF would work. I was only 32 at the time and very, very healthy. Of all the 3 IVFs, we only made 1 embryo. 2 of the IVFs were cancelled due to ‘poor stimulation.’
Our doctor (and a couple other doctors for second opinions) called it quits and told us that having ‘biological’ children was not happening for us. It took a few months to mourn for the baby that would never be. We were beaten up and emotionally worn out. I was determined to be a mom and I wasn’t going to stop ‘trying’ based on a doctor’s diagnosis.
We turned to traditional adoption. Our adoption counselor told us the process from infertility to adoption is like ‘jumping from one frying pan to another.’ They wanted us to know it was a very long process with a lot of bumps along the way. And again another night of crying and feeling hopeless. We had just finished our home study when a friend mentioned ’embryo adoption’.
After a little research, I was hooked. We found a couple who wanted to donate their embryos to us, but it didn’t work out…..the failures to become parents were piling up around us and making us feel more defeated. Then I found ‘Embryo Adoption Services of Cedar Park’ and it all clicked. I talked to Maria (the director) and felt like I had known her my entire life.
Maria gave us hope again – something we hadn’t felt in a very long time. She was a miracle worker and I was in her care…this brought a sense of peace. Once the process with Maria began, things happened fast. I remember making our picture book for the donating families praying someone would pick us and THEY DID! The donating family was wonderfully similar to our own. It seemed Maria matched us perfectly. Not only did we look similar, but we also shared the same beliefs, values and morals (not to mention we both had extremely large families).
It was a perfect match. The embryos were shipped and on July 22, 2010 two embryos were transferred. The embryos had been frozen for 10 years so we were skeptical. We had all our friends and family praying for us. The nurse called on August 6 and we both listened on the phone. We heard the words ‘you are pregnant’ and we both collapsed to the floor in tears. That was the happiest news of our lives. We called our parents, Maria and a couple close friends to tell them the news, but it was mostly crying on the phone.
Fast forward a couple months and finding out the news that we were having TWINS – we were truly blessed. The donating family is never far from our thoughts. We would not have children without the grace of two people. Our language is without a word or phrase that captures gratefulness on this level. People devote their lives on earth to the service and worship of God, and this in some manner is how we say ‘thanks’ for the things only made possible through Him. That’s how people say ‘thanks’ for blessings like children. So no word or gesture in any moment or string of moments will ever be enough to communicate our gratitude for our children.
Our girls are now 15 months and keeping us on our toes. We love every minute of it and feel so lucky that God blessed us with so much. Another huge announcement is we are expecting again – a spontaneous pregnancy that doctors said would never happen. The girls are super excited to meet their baby sister and we are beyond thrilled with our big family (can’t wait until our first Christmas all together – imagine the chaos!).
We went through a long 6+ year war to become parents but in the end all the battles were
worth the wait.
With love,
Colleen and Matt
Madigan & Campbell