Help Bring Jenni & Miles a Baby!

In June 2007, Jenni had a double-lung transplant for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis that literally saved her life at the ripe age of 22.  This was a huge blessing and our gratefulness to the lung donor and his family can never be fully or adequately expressed. 


We have been together since February 2010 and life has had its ups and downs over the past 8 years.  Jenni has gone through numerous surgeries and hospitalizations to correct:

- GERD as her persistent acid reflux caused acute and chronic lung rejection and her lung function is now near 30%,

- ovarian torsion in May 2012 which caused the loss of her right ovary,

- internal bleeding from a ruptured small intestine requiring 13 units of blood and 4 months in and out of many hospitals and about 8-inches of her small intestines removed,

- hiatal hernia with Collis-Nissen repair to again try and fix the reflux and lengthen the esophagus as the reflux has caused it to shorten over time,

- hospitalization for bronchospasm which caused chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 3 and caused her to immediately be put into type 2 diabetes overnight.


Jenni has really been a warrior throughout her life and we have yet another trial to overcome.

 We FINALLY got married in November 2015 and things have been going well ever since.  It has been a wonderful 8 years together and married life has been great!  We couldn’t be more blessed!


After facing so many trials over the last few years, we feel it’s time to bring a new light into the world and into our lives….a child of our own.  Nothing would bring us more joy at this point in time!

While this might not seem all that extraordinary to some, having a baby the good ‘ole-fashioned way poses life threatening risks to Jenni’s health, rendering this path impossible.  She knew prior to having a life-saving transplant that carrying and having children later in life would not be an experience she would ever have.  Jenni made it clear when we were dating that physically carrying and giving birth to a child would not be possible and that fact didn’t bother me as there are other options, thanks to science.  The daily anti-rejection medications (immunosuppressants) that she takes to prevent rejection of her lungs pose a threat to any child conceived because it is unknown if those medications would harm the fetus.  Plus, a physical pregnancy poses a severe threat of rejection to Jenni as well as pressure on the lungs.  For the cherry on top, she found out recently that she has polycystic ovarian syndrome (meaning getting pregnant herself is much more difficult).

After considering all of this and after extensive prayer and discussion, we have chosen to pursue the In-vitro Fertilization (IVF) approach to have our own baby. 

Since making this decision, we have consulted with countless doctors, lawyers and others to get ready for this and we are faced with a long and costly journey ahead.  This fundraiser would help make our dream of having a child of our own possible despite the odds being against us.

The costs involved in the process include:

- Court and lawyer fees for drafting up the legal paperwork

- Clinic fees for the fertilization physician to apply his skill and for multiple rounds of screenings and testing to make sure Jenni’s health is not compromised during the process

- Physical exams, testing and screening of our blood, genetics, and everything else you could imagine

- Expensive medications to force the production of eggs that will be transplanted later

- Testing of the fertilized embryos for genetic abnormalities and other health issues

- Storage of the embryos

- Medical and hospital expenses for pregnancy appointments, delivery on the big day, and follow up care and associated expenses.

We are wanting to start the process ASAP since we have already done the soul searching and decision making to bring us to this point.  We feel it’s time to move forward!

If we can do this, we will be achieving what we thought was impossible only a few months ago.  We would be forever grateful for any help we receive as a part of this!  God bless!