Help Sama and AJ Build Their Family

My name is Sama Worthy-Belcher and my husband is Amos “AJ” Belcher. We are pursuing our journey to parenthood, and we ask for your support. We got engaged on New Year's Eve 2021. Within days of our engagement, I had picked our wedding date, April 3, 2021. 4.3.2.1... Our Countdown to Forever. I thought the date was adorable and after dating for five years, I did not want a long engagement. We also decided we wanted to start trying to build our family right away and on Super Bowl Sunday, we found out we were pregnant. We were both thrilled! I remember how excited we were when we found out the gender. A boy! He would be the 4th of his name, and we would call him Quad. 2021 seemed to be off to an amazing start. We closed on our ideal house in March in the middle of a crazy housing market. We had a beautiful and intimate wedding where most of our family and friends attended via zoom because of the pandemic. Things were going amazingly. I went to all the doctors' appointments and the months quickly moved. On October 5th, 2021, we made our way to the hospital for our scheduled cesarean delivery. An hour before our scheduled delivery time, while going through the routine prep before delivery, we received the devastating news that our sweet baby boy did not have a heart beat. There was nothing the doctors or medical team could do to try and save him. Our lives changed forever that day. It felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest.

Thanks to faith, our love for each other, the support of family and friends, and an amazing counseling agency, we were able to pick up the pieces and start to rebuild. The days turned into weeks, that turned into months. With each passing moment, you learn how to better cope with your grief and rebuild. Almost a year later, we felt we were ready to try again. And once again, we found out we were pregnant pretty quickly after trying. A pregnancy after a loss is so strange. You want to do everything to celebrate your new baby, but deep down you're still so nervous. People mean well while also saying things that imply your loss was your fault. Have you been taking your vitamins? Make sure you don't work too much. Like before, I did all the things we deem as "correct". I attended all my doctors' appointments and was even under extra precautions. I went to an appointment on Thursday, April 13th, and things were fine. Tragically, on April 15th, four days before our scheduled delivery, I didn't feel movement like I normally did. A trip to labor and delivery confirmed our greatest nightmare; our baby boy Malik was gone. It felt like life was playing a sick and cruel joke on us. It's a nightmare that you pray to wake up from. Our angel was delivered stillborn the next day. After delivery, I experienced a significant amount of blood loss and had to have four unit blood transfusions.

There's no victory in staying depressed, angry or sad. I know my angel babies would not want that. So, once again, we followed the necessary tools to begin to rebuild. Knowing, things will still never be the same, but that story does not have to be our end. Our love for each other and support for each other has allowed us to be strong and continue on. In the year and some months since our second loss, we've decided it is best both physically and mentally for me not to endure another pregnancy. We still have a great desire to expand our family and have started the journey just a bit differently this time.

We are grateful for the opportunity to still pursue the journey of parenthood by way of a gestational surrogate! After medical consulting, we know this is the best journey for us. It is also quite an expensive journey. We are working with a fertility clinic in the Atlanta area and have selected a surrogate agency we plan to start working with in August. The cost of our gestational surrogacy journey can range from $120,000-$165,000. This cost includes my IVF and egg retrieval, compensation fee for the surrogate, their medical costs, agency fees, lawyer fees, plus incidentals. We are not going to let this stop us. We know this is meant to be and can't wait to start this journey to parenthood. The journey can take up to eighteen months from the start to bringing our bundle of joy home. We are so grateful for all the love and support we have.

All funds collected will go towards the surrogacy process. We are asking for anyone who can help contribute, to please do so by donating. No amount is too small! You can also support by sharing our campaign, remaining positive, and most importantly, sending prayers and love our way as we maneuver this journey.

Thank you,

Sama and AJ