Help Nicole and Brandon grow their family

Hello friends, family and community,


We are Nicole and Brandon. The two of us met in high school and have been together since 2009. We always talked about the life we would build together; college, career, a house, getting married, having children. All things you talk about when planning a life together. We grew in many ways, moved many times, graduated college, got fur babies, started careers, bought a house and finally got married in 2018. At this point we had checked off all of the boxes except one, and we were both ready for the final one. We decided it was time to try to grow our family. Unfortunately things did not go as planned, and after almost a year without success, I went to my doctor and learned some of my hormone levels were not in the normal range.


We had suspected that something might be wrong but didn’t know what and honestly I think I was afraid to find out. The thought of not being able to have kids when it is all you can think about it devastating.  Ever since I can remember I’ve wanted to be a mom and have children of my own. I’ve been around kids all my life; babysitting when I was in highschool, going to college to become a teacher, and now as a special education teacher at an elementary school. My life pretty much revolves around children. So each time we ran into another negative it felt like another gut-wrenching blow and another crack formed in my heart. I also know how much it was affecting Brandon. Anyone who knows him, knows how great he is with kids; often seen at family occasions with a baby in his arms or playing with the kids.  



In July of 2020, just a few days before our 2nd anniversary, we received devastating news from my doctor. I was diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency  (essentially, early menopause). This occurs when a woman's ovaries begin to fail before the age of 40. Along with this, I was also diagnosed with diminished ovarian reserve, which occurs when the ability of the ovaries to produce eggs is reduced. With all of this, my doctor told me I would have a 5% chance of getting pregnant on my own and that not only would we need to do IVF but we would also most likely need to use donor eggs. 


Getting this news started us on the long and harrowing path of IVF. There was so much to process. Infertility was never something we expected. We learned that my insurance plan at the time had no coverage for fertility treatments and we had to wait another 6 months until I was able to change our plan to have some coverage. If you know anyone having to go through fertility treatments you know how expensive it can be. Even though we are lucky to be able to get some coverage, there is still a lot it doesn’t cover. We started all the testing necessary before being able to start IVF and learned that Brandon’s numbers were lower than normal as well.  


In February of 2021, with savings and finally having some coverage we were ready to start the IVF process. Before deciding to move straight to donor eggs we tried 1 round of IVF with my own eggs.Unfortunately, my body was not responding to the medications and the cycle had to be cancelled. 


In March of 2021 we were ready to move on to donor eggs.  We were excited about the next part of our journey to have a family but we soon learned that donor eggs were not covered by our insurance at all. Another blow. Since donor eggs are not covered, everything has to be paid up front before we can move forward. We are looking at an out of pocket cost of approximately $20,000. Though we have some money saved to help us with our fertility journey, unfortunately we do not have enough to pay the steep cost of donor eggs. 


While discussing our options and figuring out how to get to this next step we had quite a few people tell us to create a Gofundme. We have always been more comfortable and accustomed to being people who help others in times of need, rather than people who would even consider asking for help. But this experience has certainly taken us out of our comfort zone in more ways than one...


Now, in order to move forward with the next step of our journey we find ourselves needing to ask for your help. We understand this past year has been tough for many. So whether you are able to donate $20, $5, or only able to share, we greatly appreciate any help you can offer.  



For those who donate, we want to have a way to remember your support. We are making this as a puzzle fundraiser. Each piece will represent someone special who donated to help us with our journey. Your name will be written on the back of a puzzle piece. YOU will be completing the missing piece to our puzzle! 


The puzzle  will be framed and hung in our future nursery. This will be a beautiful keepsake for us to cherish forever, as we will always be able to look back and be reminded of your generosity and investment in our family!


Thank you so much for reading and supporting us on this journey. 


Love,

Nicole and Brandon