<div>We would like to start off by thanking each and everyone of you for getting this far with the intent of reading our story.  We are going to be as open and vulnerable as possible here with hopes of giving clarity to exactly what the point of this fundraiser is. 

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div>On Thanksgiving night, 2023 I began to develop sharp, intense pain in my abdomen with an overwhelming feeling of needing to urinate however I was unable to. I went to the emergency room and had to have the urine drained and was sent home and instructed to follow up with a urologist. About 5 hours later, after another failed attempt to urinate and intense pain, I returned to the emergency room. A CT scan showed a large tumor completely encompassing my uterus and blocking my ureters from being able to release the urine in my bladder. I had a Foley catheter placed to drain the urine while I waited to follow up with a gynecologist/oncologist.  There are truly no words to describe the feeling of hearing the word oncologist, with no further answers yet. 

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div>After receiving the CT scan report and undergoing an MRI, all I remember from the report are the words “mass” and “malignancy cannot be excluded.” Still, I really had no idea of all the future would consist of. It was now time to attend my first doctors appointment with the gyne oncologist. This day was by far the hardest day of my entire 28 years. I remember the look on my surgeons face throughout the entire appointment. Truly, he looked concerned and unsure of how to have the conversation we were shortly about to have. He sat me down and told me that this tumor has completely taken over my uterus. He told me that after his exam and looking at the imaging, all the signs point to cancer. He told me there was a 1% chance he would be able to save my uterus. With those odds came the risk of potentially spreading the cancer throughout my body if he attempted to resect the tumor and the pathology came back cancerous.  I looked at my mother, tears in her eyes, then back at my doctor and told him, “Do anything you have to do to save my uterus.” I had no idea what type of beast I was dealing with, but if there was anything in this life that I did know, I was meant to be a mother. No one was going to take that from me. 

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div>Fast forward to December 15th, 2023, it was time for surgery. The short time leading up to this was the wildest roller coaster Chris and I have ever been on. We feel like we went through the first four stages of grief in the matter of a week. Denial- there is no way that this is happening to us. There has to be a mistake. Anger- Why does this have to happen to us? Bargaining- Please Lord, save my uterus and I will do anything. Please let me be a mother and I will be a better person. &amp; Lastly, Depression.  This stage lasted quite awhile. What is even the point of life if I cannot carry my children and become a mother? After a long 4 hours of surgery, I remember opening my eyes in the recovery room and the first words out of my mouth were asking if the surgeon was able to save my uterus. He put his head down, tears in his eyes, and shook his head no.

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div>Trying to recover while feeling this immense heartbreak was one of the most difficult experiences of my life. I could mask the physical pain with medication, but how do I move on from this emotional pain? We lived in that shell of feeling sorry for ourselves for about five days until everything changed. On December 20th, Chris’s birthday I received a phone call from my surgeon at 8pm. He let me know that he was able to save both ovaries and that the pathology came back showing no sign of cancer at all. A benign leiomyoma. We had a long conversation about how the normal uterus weighs 60-80 grams and mine weighed 856 grams. The female body knows how to adjust itself allowing for human life to grow which is why I was never able to feel the growth of this tumor until it began interfering with other organs. Maybe a blessing? Maybe a curse? But either way it was that exact moment I felt something inside me shift, I reached the final stage of grief, Acceptance. I did not have cancer. I did not need chemo. I did not need radiation. I would be okay &amp; we would figure out how to become parents, one way or another. Health is wealth. 

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div>That brings us here today, as we have spent the last few months working with our IVF clinic and doing our part in creating beautiful embryos, ready for a beautiful life. We share all of this with you today to be open and vulnerable as we start the process of surrogacy. Surrogacy costs can range from $70,000-100,000. We intend to fundraise as much as we can over the next year to help manage the upcoming costs. This is not the journey that we would have chosen for ourselves, but we have come to accept it. We have found the beauty in it. We have leaned on each other, we have leaned on God to guide us. Sometimes the greater plan is hard to understand. 

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div>We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for reading our story. We understand that times are beyond tough and donating may not be possible. If that is the case, we just ask that you pray for us throughout this time and SHARE our story. The more platforms and the more people this reaches, the more our journey of parenthood feels possible. We cannot wait to tell our future child how many people came together and loved them before they even took their first breath.  

</div>

<div>With immense gratitude, 

</div>

<div><br />

</div>

<div>Christopher &amp; Miranda 

</div>

Patricia Jurusik

Salvator Geraci

Raseel jaber

Michelle Barnes

Juana Rodriguez

Anna Szczepaniak

MaryEllen Graff

Bryanna Jeszke

Austin LaSusa

David Bement

Molly Keevil

Beth Callaghan

Stephanie Rivera

Halle Humes

Kaitlin Heenan

Lexie Arrington

Janet Egan

Gabriella Rivera

Kurt and Kellyann Hickey Hickey

Therese Cafagna

Support Chris & Miranda's Surrogacy Journey

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

currencyCode

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

writePath

Stream Notification

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

Native 11.3.0 and above

Influencer - Prod

US fundraisers and US users

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Just $700$ to go! Make an impact.

Support Chris & Miranda's Surrogacy Journey

Just $700 to go!
Make an impact.