Hi everyone! My name is Melanie. I am so blessed to not only have been raised by a great mom and grandmother but to also know so many women that are superhero moms. You all are truly an inspiration to me. Which brings me to the reason why I am writing this with tears in my eyes. For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to be a mother. I was never one to picture my dream fairytale wedding. Instead, my imagination and dreams consisted of me being a mother and having a family. While many children imagined what they wanted to be when they grew up, I envisioned being called mom. All of these years, I always thought that one day I would find a great partner, settle down, start a family and wake up to the pitter patter of little footsteps on Christmas morning. Now I find that the years are passing me by all too quickly and I have yet to meet the man to help me become the mother I was meant to be. And as you can ask my family and friends, it is not for lack of trying in the dating world. Every year, especially on Mother's Day and Christmas morning, I feel the emptiness and pain in my heart as another year passes that motherhood becomes less of a possibility. I just turned 40. I realize that even if I meet a great partner to start a family with, that it is unrealistic to rush that without taking the time to truly know your partner first. While I can not pause time and wait for that amazing man, I can decide to become a mother on my own. Maybe that great man will come into my life eventually, but I am no longer willing to place my dreams of being a mother in the hopes that he will. While I know it will not be easy doing it on my own, I know that I can not imagine the rest of my life without being a mother. And I have so many of you beautiful mothers to look up to as amazing role models. My birthday wish this year is to start the process of motherhood and hopefully have this be my last Mother's Day not being a mom.

I have been researching and preparing for this for some time. Unfortunately, I should have invested in this process quite awhile ago. However, with every relationship I had, with the promise of having a family, I trusted in these partners that we would get there. Only to be disappointed and having to start over when they turned out to be not of the character that they claimed. Five years ago, I made the leap to start my own travel agency so that I would have the time and flexibility in life to focus on having a family. Unfortunately, just as my business started to get on it's feet, the world was hit by a pandemic and I found my business struggling and my savings dwindling. I know that time is not on my side and that if I wait until I have the funds to cover everything, that it will certainly be too late. I am usually a private person, however I am putting this out into the world at the risk of being judged because I am willing to do whatever it takes to become a mother. I am blessed to be able to be called friend, daughter, sister, and auntie. But I truly believe that there is nothing more special than being called mom.

I am so blessed to be an auntie to so many of my family and friend’s children.

With the suggestion by a few close people in my life, I have decided to start this GoFund Me. Rather than buy me a drink or take me out for my birthday, I would rather you throw a few dollars towards helping me accomplish my dream. And if you are a stranger and don't know me, maybe you relate to my story. Maybe you had a rough coparenting situation and you wished you did it alone, or maybe you struggled saving for your own journey. Or just maybe being a mom is the best thing to ever happen to you and you want someone else to experience that gift. If you feel the desire to put your Starbucks coffee or takeout dollars towards something so meaningful to me, I would grately appreciate it. I will be using any funds towards family planning costs whichever route it takes me. It is expected that this will be costing tens of thousands of dollars at minimum whether it be egg freezing and sperm donor or adoption, or a combination of the above. It will certainly be an expensive journey to start my family. In the rare case that excess funds are raised, I will use the money to obtain suitable housing for fostering children and animals in the future and/or helping others on the same journey. Those that know me, know that I do not like asking for help. But I would rather humble myself and ask for assistance than kick myself for not doing so. I do not want to look back and regret not pursuing every possible option to become a mother. Even if it means putting myself out there and asking for your help. Please do not feel like you have to donate. Take care of yourself and your family first. Any support is appreciated even if it is just to share my story with others. Also, should anyone have any suggestions, personal stories or anything to share, I would love to hear your experiences. Thank you everyone for your support and love! I could not do this without you all.

Here are the estimates I have been given so far. This process leaves a lot unknown as the costs all depend on how successful things are at each step. It can take multiple cycles of egg freezing and also multiple vials of sperm donation along with the expensive testing and medications required. I have my first appointment this month to start testing and then hopefully I can move forward with the next step once I have funds for the deposits.

If you took the time to read all of this, I am so appreciative. I meant it to be a short read, but we know all too well that Swifties appreciate the longer ten minute versions. And hey, Taylor, you will make a great mom someday also. In the meantime, my future little Swifties can never have too many aunts. Auntie Taylor has a nice ring to it. Just saying. Thank you all for taking the time to read this and for your support and love. It means all the world to me.

Love,

Melanie