I would like to introduce you to my friend Chantal K. I have known Chantal for a little over 3 years since she became my office’s administrative secretary. I was immediately impressed by her positivity and how quick she was to learn the job! As I got to know Chantal I was shocked at how someone so positive has been struggling with stage 4 Endometriosis and was just diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, Endometrial and Ovarian Cancer/Uterine Cancer. I have been witness to Chantal’s strength and courage as she has been battling these two very scary and frustrating diseases. At the same time dealing with the never-ending doctor appointments and trying to understand all the information, she has been trying to keep her dream of becoming a mom alive. I can’t think of anyone more deserving of being blessed with the most important job in the world being a mother. At this time Chantal needs to think about surrogacy to make her dream come true. I am asking for you to read her story and help her become a mom.

A very close friend wrote this introduction for me, here is my story :

4 years ago, my Husband and I started this journey of trying to have a baby but 2020 had other plans for us. In November 2020 I was diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis. After many years of being misdiagnosed and being told that my pain was normal, it finally felt good to have a name for what was going on with me. I was told on my birthday that I would never be able to have a child naturally due to my endometriosis and my only option was IVF. One year later it felt like our world had been rocked one more time. The unexpected happened. I had a lump. A very uncomfortable lump. When I was going in for another surgery I asked my doctor if he would remove the lump and without hesitation he did. None of us expected the results to show that I had cancer, Nodular Lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NLPHL). I immediately decided to freeze embryos because I was unsure of the road ahead. I did my first round of chemotherapy and had the clearance to go through one embryo transfer and once I delivered I could go back to therapy but unfortunately, the transfer was unsuccessful. Right before we got the clear to try again I was diagnosed with atypical endometrial hyperplasia and which pushed me even further to my next transfer because it needed to be treated. We did another round of chemotherapy since my transfer date was pushed and was trying to get cleared again for another transfer but my doctor couldn’t clear me because not only was the hyperplasia still appearing in my uterus, I had a new and unexpected cyst that started to grow on my ovary and the NLPHL cleared in one area but moved to another. The cyst was growing fast and my doctors believe that it was cancerous and if it is attached to my uterus as suspected, my doctor will have to remove my uterus as well. My surgery was scheduled for Aug. 29th, 2023. A date I will never forget because when I woke up from my surgery my doctor informed me that yes, the cyst was cancerous and I had to have a full hysterectomy. Immediately after surgery, I started chemotherapy for the 3rd time and this regimen wasn’t like the others. We did 3 rounds of RICE (Rituximab + Ifosfamide + Carboplatin + Etoposide) chemotherapy but unfortunately, my fight isn't over. Not yet at least. I am currently undergoing immunotherapy, Keytruda.

I try to stay positive because I know there is a reason why I’m going through this. I know that I can’t give up but I know it's time for me to look into other options since I can't carry a child on my own. I have started to look into other options such as gestational carrier. I am ready to do whatever it is that I need to do so that I can be healthy and hopefully soon celebrate being in remission but in the meantime would like to consider finding a gestational carrier. During this time, I have been surrounded by a strong great village of people who have helped me through this. Many have told me to give up the idea of having a child. I will never give up the hope of being a mother. I also believe that I have a long journey to go but, in the meantime, would like to start my family. Hiring a gestational carrier isn’t something my husband and I can afford at this time. We are a young couple who just purchased our first home but would like to fill it with so much love. Unfortunately, we are not in a situation where we can ask family and I decided to go this route to see if someone or anyone would be willing to help us build our family. We can’t allow cancer to win and destroy my dreams of having a child and being a mom.