Help Katie & Will Have a Baby!

 

My name is Taylor Martin, and I’m fundraising for my cousin Katie to be able to realize her dream of having a child.  At this point, after battling colon cancer, her only option is via a gestational carrier (surrogate) which is very costly and not something she ever anticipated. She is a very private person, and definitely wouldn’t ask for this herself, so as her much louder, less private, cousin, I’m here to ask on her behalf! Some of you know the story of her past year, some of you don’t… so here goes.

 

In August of 2021, Katie went to the gynocologist with stomach pain and her doctor ordered a scan to investigate what was causing it.  The scan revealed a mass that would need an MRI. To make a long, devastating story short, after visits to several doctors, Katie was diagnosed with colon cancer at the age of 35.  She was told by her oncologist that the treatment would be aggressive because of her age: several rounds of chemo and a major surgery to remove the mass. She was also warned that both chemotherapy and the surgery could potentially impact her future fertility.  As devastated as Katie was about the cancer diagnosis, the idea of not being able to have children was honestly an even harder blow.  She and her partner, Will, had been planning to start a family just as she got her diagnosis.

 

And unfortunately, during treatment, her worst fears were realized.  After several rounds of chemo, a surgery date was set for November. When doctors went in, they were concerned the cancer had spread and removed her ovaries and uterus to make absolutely sure they got everything.  With that removal, it became impossible for Katie to carry a child.

 

Luckily, in all of this, there was a silver lining.  Prior to beginning treatment, Katie had a short few-week window where she was able to freeze her eggs.  And thankfully, her egg retrieval went extremely well.

 

So this is where you all come in: friends, family, friends of friends, random strangers — Katie and Will still have a chance of having a biological child as they planned, but they need a gestational carrier.  When you add it all up, they are looking at a grand total of ~$150,000. (There is a link to an example cost breakdown below.)  So far, all Katie’s treatments have been successful.  So with a few months of chemo left, I wanted to jumpstart this process for her and Will as finding a surrogate match can take awhile.

 

Katie never asks anything of anyone and hates to be a burden, but I, along with the rest of our family, are committed to helping make this happen. Any donation will mean the world to her and Will.  And in a crazy, amazing dream scenario where they collect more than they need, any additional money will go straight into a savings account for their child.

 

Thank you so much for reading this and to reiterate, any donation, no matter how small, will make a difference!

 

Love,

Taylor

 

Cost Breakdown for Surrogacy:

https://www.circlesurrogacy.com/parents/how-it-works/surrogacy-cost