The Schmitz Surrogacy Journey
If you know Chris and I, you know the road to parenthood has not been an easy one for us. For those of you who do not know us, here is our story.
In January 2011, we found out we were pregnant. But our first baby was miscarried in February 2011 at 10 weeks, before we had time to get used to the idea of being parents. We tried again but suffered another miscarriage at 7 weeks, in May 2011. We succeeded in getting pregnant a third time, but again it ended in miscarriage at 6 weeks, in August 2011.
Through it all we kept our heads high and told ourselves it was only temporary, and that eventually we’d succeed at having a child of our own. In the Fall of 2011, we found we were pregnant again, but in December, lost that baby at 9 weeks. All this heartache and frustration was staring to put a huge strain on both of us, and we were beginning to doubt that we’d ever be able to have kids.
For the next three years we kept trying but found ourselves unable to get pregnant! Finally, in January 2014, we were pregnant again, this time with twin girls. It was all going smoothly and the longest pregnancy we ever experienced and it started to feel real. We finally had hope that we would successfully carry to term and have the children we so desperately desired.
At week 38, tragedy struck. Just 4 days before our scheduled induction date, I suffered a placental abruption. The placenta detached from the uterus, and the girls were no longer receiving oxygen. By the time we got to the hospital, it was too late. Our girls were gone. I was induced and gave birth to Sophia Adelaide and Emily Alexis. Placental abruption is unpredictable, not preventable, and in this case came at the worst possible time. The doctors told me I was lucky to even be alive, since it can cause severe hemorrhaging in some cases. At this point we didn’t really feel very lucky at all.
For the next 3 years we had given up hope and stopped trying completely. After some time had passed and the pain of our loss became more bearable, we decided we were going to try again and do whatever it took to have our child. We started seeing doctors to address our fertility issues and figure out what made it so hard to conceive and to carry.
In August 2018 we were finally able to conceive a boy, Mason. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and we miscarried yet again, in November 2018 at 16 weeks. We still are not sure why I am so susceptible to miscarriage, and at this point in my life, I don’t know if I have it in me to lose any more babies. We have not been able to successfully prevent miscarriage, and even if we do somehow manage to get pregnant again, it’s almost a certainty that we would lose the baby.
Our dear friend Tiffany Peterson, whom we’ve known for 10 years, has witnessed our struggle firsthand and recently she asked, more like demanded, that we let her be our surrogate, for Tiffany to carry a child of ours through birth. And this is what we are going to do.
Words are inadequate to express our gratitude for Tiffany providing a very real chance to make our dream come true – to finally have a child to hold and to love and grow our family.
And while this is our best, and realistically only, opportunity to have a baby, it is also very expensive and the reason why we have established this Go Fund Me initiative.
Here is a snapshot of the costs involved in surrogacy and what your contributions (of any size) will be put toward:
Lawyer/legal fees - $5,000-$5,500
Egg retrieval procedure - $10,000
Egg retrieval medication - $3,000-$5,000 (Insurance may partially cover, but we won't know for sure until the process has already started)
Mock IVF/Transfer - $350-$500
IVF/Transfer procedure - $12,000
IVF/Transfer medication - $3,000-$5,000 (Not likely to be covered at all by insurance)
On behalf of my husband, Christopher, myself and our angel Tiffany, I want to thank you in advance for your financial support and goodwill as we travel this path to enriching our family life.
With love,
Janine Schmitz
