Helping Kate on her IVF Journey

Hi my name is Lacey, and I am one of the many lucky people to have Kate in her inner circle. If you know Kate at all, you will know to have Kate as a friend is to always have someone to call when you need help, to celebrate your successes and wins, or give you a shoulder, a hug or a dance party when life is lifing. Those are just a few reasons why myself and a few of our friends decided to put this fundraiser together. Because our girl needs our support right now, and this is how we can help.

When we think of the joy welcoming a new baby into this world, many of us have the privilege of associating this amazing news with decisions like if we find out the gender, what colour to paint and decorate the room, what sort of bassinet we’d like etc… We can easily take for granted the incredible privilege of being able to conceive. There is nothing in my experience that anyone wants more in life than when they have decided they want to be a parent, want to have kids. The frustration, pain and challenge of not being able to realize this can by agony.

Kate has always known she wanted to be mom. Like many of us, she had a notion tucked away in the back of her mind about what her future would bring. She always felt she’d have a big family, with 5-6 boys bursting from the seams in a house full of life and energy.

Kate is a natural nurturer. If you are lucky to call Kate your friend or family, you know that she cares deeply about the people around her. She is brave and bold in protecting people, doing what is right and standing up for people and her beliefs. She does this everyday in her role as a nurse and for many of us as her friend. Kate supports her friends, their kids and is ‘Aunty Kate’ to many.

Like many of us, Kate wanted to find the right person and pick the right time to start the dream of her own family. When you want something like this, it is everything. It is everyday and every thought, all with the pressure of a biological clock. The work to stay positive and kind becomes overwhelming with every tick.

Kate made the brave and bold decision not to wait any longer. This past year she started the IVF process: Picking a donor, hormone injections, egg retrievals, trips to Vancouver,hope, prayers, waiting…

Every needle, every call from the doctor’s office, every piece of news offers to either fill your heart with overwhelming joy, or crush you. Kate has been on this rollercoaster now for a year and is embarking on her third egg retrieval. The other aspect of this journey that is often not fully recognized is the financial burden that adds more pressure to every decision and to your life as a whole as you navigate your dream. For Kate, of becoming a mom.

This is our turn to support Kate. To come together for our beautiful friend. To help reduce this burden. Kate has courageously walked this path, through needles, phone calls, waiting and praying, ups and downs to the tune of $80,000 in expenses to date.

In October Kate starts her next round of hormones with the hopes of producing and retrieving an embryo. We ask that you send your positive thoughts and prayers, and if you can, please donate. It takes a village - something many of us are familiar with in our own lives. Kate has been a key player at different times for many of us in our own “villages”. It’s our time now to play that role for Kate.

We are asking that everyone shares this with those who know Kate. We really want it to stay off of social media though to protect Kate's privacy. Please share over text, email or messenger. Thank you!

xx