Help Tommy & Jessica Adopt
Donation protected
I got my sister and brother in law’s permission to share their story and struggle to become parents.
They have both always dreamed of becoming parents and wanted to start a family when they knew they’d spend the rest of their lives together. However, they struggled with infertility for a total of about 6 and a half years. They decided to try invitro fertilization (IVF) after much prayer and reflection. They had a failed transfer with their first embryo so the doctor recommended more testing on my sister and to also genetically test the remaining embryos they had. My sister’s results came back with a few concerns and if she did become pregnant would need infusions and daily injections for a clotting diagnosis throughout the pregnancy. Out of the 4 remaining embryos only one was “normal” and that in itself was a prayer answered. They had the transfer of my niece in November of 2019 and found out they were pregnant that December. Finally, after all the struggles they were pregnant with their miracle baby!
Jess did everything she could to ensure her baby girl would remain healthy in utero. Followed all the doctor’s orders, ate a healthy diet, took her injections and infusions, etc. In March of 2020 at 20 weeks and 6 days gestation, she woke up with severe pain and bleeding. My brother-in-law rushed her to the ER where he was not allowed to join her because of Covid restrictions. The experience with that staff was awful and uncaring. And that was where she had to hear alone that her precious daughter had no heartbeat. She was transferred by ambulance to her OB’s delivering hospital where she was in labor for 15 hours knowing her daughter had already passed. Thankfully my BIL was allowed to be with her there. She delivered Aleena Dawn Coon at 3:25pm on March 31, 2020. She was 10oz and 10in of pure perfection. They had her baptized in the hospital while we all watched viz a Zoom meeting. The only time I or anyone else in our families would be able to see her.
All of our hearts broke at losing Aleena. The hopes and dreams her parents and our families had were shattered in a moment. Jess and Tommy relied on God to get them through the darkest days of their lives. They worked through their grief in many different ways including fundraising for non-profits that benefit stillbirth and infant loss groups, planted a memorial garden for her, brewed a beer with their local brewery in her memory and share their story with other grieving families to give new loss parents comfort.
In July they decided to give IVF one more try. Because Jess would be turning 40 in the fall, they knew they had to act quickly if they wanted to try again. Unfortunately, this time did not work and they knew they would not have a biological child of their own to raise. IVF is expensive so paying for it twice was quite a sacrifice.
After more reflection and continuing to work through their grief they decided they’d like to adopt a baby. Adoption was always on their minds because of struggling with infertility for so long. They were so excited to begin their journey. They filled out an application, paid the fee and scheduled their first meeting with their assigned social worker. After talking with the social worker for an hour and telling her their story she told them she could not recommend them for placement because of their last name possibly being offensive to African Americans. They were shocked and devastated once again. They ended up meeting with the local supervisor of the agency and they agreed to return their application fee. They have since found another agency to work with. The budget for this agency to adopt a new born baby is astronomical in cost. But they want to provide a loving, stable home for a baby so they are working with me and other family members to do fundraising. I’ve decided to start a Go Fund Me page to help them with the cost to become parents. If you feel it in your heart to donate no amount is too small. If you can not donate a simple “share” is more than enough. Thank you for reading their story and being a part of their journey to become loving parents to a deserving baby.
They have both always dreamed of becoming parents and wanted to start a family when they knew they’d spend the rest of their lives together. However, they struggled with infertility for a total of about 6 and a half years. They decided to try invitro fertilization (IVF) after much prayer and reflection. They had a failed transfer with their first embryo so the doctor recommended more testing on my sister and to also genetically test the remaining embryos they had. My sister’s results came back with a few concerns and if she did become pregnant would need infusions and daily injections for a clotting diagnosis throughout the pregnancy. Out of the 4 remaining embryos only one was “normal” and that in itself was a prayer answered. They had the transfer of my niece in November of 2019 and found out they were pregnant that December. Finally, after all the struggles they were pregnant with their miracle baby!
Jess did everything she could to ensure her baby girl would remain healthy in utero. Followed all the doctor’s orders, ate a healthy diet, took her injections and infusions, etc. In March of 2020 at 20 weeks and 6 days gestation, she woke up with severe pain and bleeding. My brother-in-law rushed her to the ER where he was not allowed to join her because of Covid restrictions. The experience with that staff was awful and uncaring. And that was where she had to hear alone that her precious daughter had no heartbeat. She was transferred by ambulance to her OB’s delivering hospital where she was in labor for 15 hours knowing her daughter had already passed. Thankfully my BIL was allowed to be with her there. She delivered Aleena Dawn Coon at 3:25pm on March 31, 2020. She was 10oz and 10in of pure perfection. They had her baptized in the hospital while we all watched viz a Zoom meeting. The only time I or anyone else in our families would be able to see her.
All of our hearts broke at losing Aleena. The hopes and dreams her parents and our families had were shattered in a moment. Jess and Tommy relied on God to get them through the darkest days of their lives. They worked through their grief in many different ways including fundraising for non-profits that benefit stillbirth and infant loss groups, planted a memorial garden for her, brewed a beer with their local brewery in her memory and share their story with other grieving families to give new loss parents comfort.
In July they decided to give IVF one more try. Because Jess would be turning 40 in the fall, they knew they had to act quickly if they wanted to try again. Unfortunately, this time did not work and they knew they would not have a biological child of their own to raise. IVF is expensive so paying for it twice was quite a sacrifice.
After more reflection and continuing to work through their grief they decided they’d like to adopt a baby. Adoption was always on their minds because of struggling with infertility for so long. They were so excited to begin their journey. They filled out an application, paid the fee and scheduled their first meeting with their assigned social worker. After talking with the social worker for an hour and telling her their story she told them she could not recommend them for placement because of their last name possibly being offensive to African Americans. They were shocked and devastated once again. They ended up meeting with the local supervisor of the agency and they agreed to return their application fee. They have since found another agency to work with. The budget for this agency to adopt a new born baby is astronomical in cost. But they want to provide a loving, stable home for a baby so they are working with me and other family members to do fundraising. I’ve decided to start a Go Fund Me page to help them with the cost to become parents. If you feel it in your heart to donate no amount is too small. If you can not donate a simple “share” is more than enough. Thank you for reading their story and being a part of their journey to become loving parents to a deserving baby.
Organizer and beneficiary
Melissa Herr
Organizer
Elizabethtown, PA
Daniel Coon
Beneficiary