Travis and Katrina + baby
Donation protected
Please understand, as our story is detailed below, this leaves us incredibly vulnerable. However, we feel that if you plan to support us in any way, you should understand the journey we have been on for these last 7 years. Our life may sound like one big crazy story, but what's even crazier is that this IS real life for us!
The beginning:
We started our fertility journey approximately 1 1/2 years after we were married in 2010. After one year of trying on our own with no success, we were referred to a fertility specialist in Wichita, KS. This specialist was 133 miles away, one way, and we traveled that road at least twice a week for two years. After much testing on both of our parts, we were told that we had "unexplainable infertility". Which, in layman's terms means, "we don't know why you can't get pregnant. You should be able to conceive on your own." So we tried using fertility medications for one year, with no luck. Then we moved onto IUI's (Intrauterine Insemination), and with medical intervention we were able to conceive only once out of the eight tries, but that ended in our first miscarriage (October 2014). Then we moved up the ladder to IVF (In Vitro Fertilization). We were only able to retrieve embryos once due to the finances required (we took out a loan to pay for it). We retrieved 22 eggs, 12 successfully fertilized, but only 4 embryos were of any quality to be transferred. We transferred two at a time, knowing this could result in twins if they were successful, however, both resulted in miscarriages (September, 2015 and January 2016). After the last miscarriage, the grief became too difficult to handle, so we took a year off of medical intervention.
Failed adoption:
During that year off from trying, thanks to a conversation with a dear friend, we decided to look into adoption. We found a wonderful Christian adoption agency, and after approximately 6 months of paperwork, we became an "active family" with them. We were matched with a prospective birth mother in April of 2018. She gave birth to a baby girl in July 2018. This baby girl was placed in our care at 3 days old and that began the process of adopting her. Finalization of this process (which means she would become legally ours) was supposed to occur in January of 2019, 6 months later. However, at 7 weeks old, her birth parents changed their mind, and through many unusual events, we lost our little girl to them. We were devastated and once again had no baby in our arms, yet still had a loan to pay for
Travis' Brain Surgery:
Three weeks after she was taken from us, on September 28, 2018, Travis went in for brain surgery. He had a ping pong ball sized benign tumor called an Acoustic Neuroma resting on his auditory nerve, which was encroaching on his brain stem. His surgery lasted 17 long, grueling hours. He spent 12 hours in ICU, and one week in the hospital. When he arrived home he was told he was not allowed to do any activities except for walking from the bedroom to the couch for 6 weeks. And if you know anything about Travis, he's not very good at sitting still. So this was incredibly difficult for him. He had a minor CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) leak, which was common for these types of surgeries, but we had to be careful that the leak did not get worse because that could cause meningitis (which is terrifying!!), or going back into surgery to fix the leak, which was also terrifying! But after 4 weeks the CSF leak stopped, and after 6 weeks of no activity (on December 6, 2018), the doctor released Travis to activity "as he felt able". He has since returned to full health and is doing well. What a scary time that was, right after our little girl was taken from us.
Vehicle trouble:
Then, at the beginning of February 2019, Travis hit a deer with our Subaru, more commonly known as the LEMN8R. Unfortunately for us, it was close enough to being totaled that it was not worth paying to have it repaired. Once we got rid of the LEMN8R after the accident, Travis drove our 1996 Chevy 1500 extended cab that we used for the farm. We discussed condensing the truck and the LEMN8R because we needed to get a vehicle for Travis with a backseat that would fit a carseat (as we hoped and prayed for the future), as well larger truck for the farm, but we discussed that we would do that at a later time due to our finances. Here's where our story takes a turn for the better... GREAT NEWS! The yearning in our hearts to become parents has not gone away. We had a small taste at what that was like, and now that hole in our hearts is even larger. Since Travis has been back on his feet, we decided to reach out to the adoption agency that we were working with, and became an "active family" once again. Our profile book was shown to several potential expectant mothers, and...
...with GREAT EXCITEMENT we can announce that we have been MATCHED with an expectant mother! Baby boy is due March 24th!!!
Because of this, we needed to rush our process of getting a vehicle for Travis in order to have a backseat for a carseat. We were able to trade in our Chevy truck for a 2004, 4 door F-150. It's nothing fancy, but it had decently low miles and more importantly, a backseat that we can fit a carseat in!
Leave without pay:
Lastly, we were not expecting to have two adoptions occur in one year, so Katrina took time off work earlier this year to spend time with our baby girl, as well as stay with Travis during his recovery. We are so thankful she got the opportunity to do that, however in doing so, she exhausted her time off and took a hit in her pay to do so. We were prepared for that to happen with one adoption, but now that we are unexpectedly going through a second adoption in the same year, though we are incredibly thankful, we are also stressed because Katrina has no time left to take off with this baby boy. Currently the plan is to work half days once we return home with baby boy for the rest of the school year, however, she will be required to take leave without pay for the other half of the day. which will result in several thousand dollars out of her paycheck.
What we are asking for:
We are incredibly excited, but also nervous about the financial burden that adoption puts us in once again. We could put ourselves in as much debt as needed to afford this desire, however, we want to make sure we are not financially bogged down to the point that we cannot feasibly afford things for our future children, which is why we are asking for your help. We have listed below the breakdown of the expenses we are asking for help with.
- $13,000 remaining amount for the failed adoption loan
- $7,000 new adoption expenses for April 2019
-$5,000 assist with Katrina's pay during time off
Total: $25,000
This would help us drastically to get back on our feet as we embark on yet another journey to become parents. We know this GoFundMe is geared toward financial support and if you are able to help us financially in any way, we entirely appreciate all of your support, but we also know the power of prayer. So we ask for your prayers as well as we tread through life and all of the crazy things that have been thrown at us. We know know that many of our friends and family are prayer warriors and we are so thankful. Please pray not only for us, but for the expectant mother that we are working with, and the child that she is carrying as well.
Blessings,
Travis and Katrina 
The beginning:
We started our fertility journey approximately 1 1/2 years after we were married in 2010. After one year of trying on our own with no success, we were referred to a fertility specialist in Wichita, KS. This specialist was 133 miles away, one way, and we traveled that road at least twice a week for two years. After much testing on both of our parts, we were told that we had "unexplainable infertility". Which, in layman's terms means, "we don't know why you can't get pregnant. You should be able to conceive on your own." So we tried using fertility medications for one year, with no luck. Then we moved onto IUI's (Intrauterine Insemination), and with medical intervention we were able to conceive only once out of the eight tries, but that ended in our first miscarriage (October 2014). Then we moved up the ladder to IVF (In Vitro Fertilization). We were only able to retrieve embryos once due to the finances required (we took out a loan to pay for it). We retrieved 22 eggs, 12 successfully fertilized, but only 4 embryos were of any quality to be transferred. We transferred two at a time, knowing this could result in twins if they were successful, however, both resulted in miscarriages (September, 2015 and January 2016). After the last miscarriage, the grief became too difficult to handle, so we took a year off of medical intervention.
Failed adoption:
During that year off from trying, thanks to a conversation with a dear friend, we decided to look into adoption. We found a wonderful Christian adoption agency, and after approximately 6 months of paperwork, we became an "active family" with them. We were matched with a prospective birth mother in April of 2018. She gave birth to a baby girl in July 2018. This baby girl was placed in our care at 3 days old and that began the process of adopting her. Finalization of this process (which means she would become legally ours) was supposed to occur in January of 2019, 6 months later. However, at 7 weeks old, her birth parents changed their mind, and through many unusual events, we lost our little girl to them. We were devastated and once again had no baby in our arms, yet still had a loan to pay for
Travis' Brain Surgery:
Three weeks after she was taken from us, on September 28, 2018, Travis went in for brain surgery. He had a ping pong ball sized benign tumor called an Acoustic Neuroma resting on his auditory nerve, which was encroaching on his brain stem. His surgery lasted 17 long, grueling hours. He spent 12 hours in ICU, and one week in the hospital. When he arrived home he was told he was not allowed to do any activities except for walking from the bedroom to the couch for 6 weeks. And if you know anything about Travis, he's not very good at sitting still. So this was incredibly difficult for him. He had a minor CSF (cerebrospinal fluid) leak, which was common for these types of surgeries, but we had to be careful that the leak did not get worse because that could cause meningitis (which is terrifying!!), or going back into surgery to fix the leak, which was also terrifying! But after 4 weeks the CSF leak stopped, and after 6 weeks of no activity (on December 6, 2018), the doctor released Travis to activity "as he felt able". He has since returned to full health and is doing well. What a scary time that was, right after our little girl was taken from us.
Vehicle trouble:
Then, at the beginning of February 2019, Travis hit a deer with our Subaru, more commonly known as the LEMN8R. Unfortunately for us, it was close enough to being totaled that it was not worth paying to have it repaired. Once we got rid of the LEMN8R after the accident, Travis drove our 1996 Chevy 1500 extended cab that we used for the farm. We discussed condensing the truck and the LEMN8R because we needed to get a vehicle for Travis with a backseat that would fit a carseat (as we hoped and prayed for the future), as well larger truck for the farm, but we discussed that we would do that at a later time due to our finances. Here's where our story takes a turn for the better... GREAT NEWS! The yearning in our hearts to become parents has not gone away. We had a small taste at what that was like, and now that hole in our hearts is even larger. Since Travis has been back on his feet, we decided to reach out to the adoption agency that we were working with, and became an "active family" once again. Our profile book was shown to several potential expectant mothers, and...
...with GREAT EXCITEMENT we can announce that we have been MATCHED with an expectant mother! Baby boy is due March 24th!!!
Because of this, we needed to rush our process of getting a vehicle for Travis in order to have a backseat for a carseat. We were able to trade in our Chevy truck for a 2004, 4 door F-150. It's nothing fancy, but it had decently low miles and more importantly, a backseat that we can fit a carseat in!
Leave without pay:
Lastly, we were not expecting to have two adoptions occur in one year, so Katrina took time off work earlier this year to spend time with our baby girl, as well as stay with Travis during his recovery. We are so thankful she got the opportunity to do that, however in doing so, she exhausted her time off and took a hit in her pay to do so. We were prepared for that to happen with one adoption, but now that we are unexpectedly going through a second adoption in the same year, though we are incredibly thankful, we are also stressed because Katrina has no time left to take off with this baby boy. Currently the plan is to work half days once we return home with baby boy for the rest of the school year, however, she will be required to take leave without pay for the other half of the day. which will result in several thousand dollars out of her paycheck.
What we are asking for:
We are incredibly excited, but also nervous about the financial burden that adoption puts us in once again. We could put ourselves in as much debt as needed to afford this desire, however, we want to make sure we are not financially bogged down to the point that we cannot feasibly afford things for our future children, which is why we are asking for your help. We have listed below the breakdown of the expenses we are asking for help with.
- $13,000 remaining amount for the failed adoption loan
- $7,000 new adoption expenses for April 2019
-$5,000 assist with Katrina's pay during time off
Total: $25,000
This would help us drastically to get back on our feet as we embark on yet another journey to become parents. We know this GoFundMe is geared toward financial support and if you are able to help us financially in any way, we entirely appreciate all of your support, but we also know the power of prayer. So we ask for your prayers as well as we tread through life and all of the crazy things that have been thrown at us. We know know that many of our friends and family are prayer warriors and we are so thankful. Please pray not only for us, but for the expectant mother that we are working with, and the child that she is carrying as well.
Blessings,
Travis and Katrina 
Organizer
Travis & Katrina Ball
Organizer
Parsons, KS