Melissa and Jeff's Post-Cancer Surrogacy Journey

As many of you know, Melissa is a breast cancer survivor whose doctors have informed her that she is no longer able to become pregnant. She was thankful to receive PATHCR (pathology complete response)/NED (no evidence of disease) in 2022. In 2019, before Melissa's breast cancer diagnosis, she was diagnosed with low ovarian reserve. As a result, Melissa and Jeff decided to undergo IVF which produced two (2) frozen embryos. The pandemic delayed their plans to do the embryo transfer, and unfortunately Melissa found a lump in her breast in December 2021 right as they were starting the transfer process. They've dreamed of starting a family since the moment they started dating. Together now for seven (7) years, their love story started at Carnegie Hall where they first met while working together. Since that time, they've lived in Brooklyn, spent summers together in Melissa's hometown of Cape Cod, and now reside in New Jersey.

The expected total cost of surrogacy with an agency typically ranges from $120,000 to $150,000. This accounts for the agency fee ($25k), the surrogacy stipend ($50-70k), legal fees ($10k+) and healthcare costs during pregnancy and delivery (which are typically excluded from insurance policies and can range from $30-70k+). Unfortunately, neither Melissa or Jeff's jobs cover any of these costs.

Melissa and Jeff have applied to three different surrogacy grants and are exploring fertility financing loans, in addition to this GoFundMe to make their dreams of a family a reality.

Melissa lost both her parents back in 2010 and 2011 (six months apart from each other), so continuing her family tree is very important to her.

The donations given through this fundraiser will cover the costs of the surrogacy and support Melissa and Jeff's road to parenthood. Their surrogacy agency is working on getting them matched with a surrogate and hope to be pregnant by the end of 2024!

They thank you for reading about their journey to parenthood and for supporting them throughout cancer treatment and now pregnancy.

With love and gratitude,

Melissa and Jeff