~About Me and My Disease~ Hi, I'm Jordyn Valdez. I'm 16 years old, a junior in high school. I live with my mom, Ana, my dad, Framil, my little brother, Landen, and my dog and cat in Tigard, Oregon. I happen to have a rare type of muscular dystrophy. My disease is degenerative, meaning it gets worse over time. When I was three years old, I was able to run. At seven, I lost the ability to stand, and have been using a wheelchair since the age of eight. I now have a number of medical issues including needing a feeding tube, having a fused spine, dealing with worsening muscle weakness in my entire body, and loss of lung function. I have also dealt with years of depression and anxiety (which I still struggle with) due to my disease. Every year, I lose another ability. Currently, I am unable to do many things, including raising my arm above my stomach (meaning that I cannot brush my own hair), lifting/holding anything above one pound, opening doors, speaking loudly, etc.  ~My Love of Babies~ I’ve always loved babies and children, and from a young age, all I ever wanted was to be a mother. This felt like a part of my identity; I felt like I was always destined to be a mom. When I got older, I realized that I would not be able to have my own biological child, because of my disease. First, due to the fact that I wouldn't survive a pregnancy. Second, because I would not want my child to have my disease and to go through the struggles that I have. I eventually settled on the idea of adoption. As I got even older, though, I realized that even adoption will be impossible for me because of the high cost, and the fact that I cannot care for myself, let alone a baby. And if someone else were to care for my child, I wouldn't be able to bond with my baby. I have felt so much grief over the loss of being a mother, something that was so important to me. ~Reborn Babies~ Recently, I discovered reborn babies. Reborn babies are realistic baby art dolls. Once I saw them, I fell in love; they make me so happy. For me, they are the next best thing to a real baby. Reborn babies would give me a realistic doll to love and hold, and I would be able to customize certain aspects of the doll, weight being the most important for my situation. The problem is that reborns are very expensive. The reason for this being that they take a lot of time, effort, and skill for an artist to create. Due to my situation, only one of my parents is able to work, so we cannot afford their prices (a high-quality reborn costs around $500). ~Why I Created This GoFundMe~ I created this GoFundMe in hopes of fulfilling my dream of having a small reborn collection. I would be so grateful if you could donate. Any amount helps :) Thank you so much. -Jordyn