Heartbreak to Hope….A family ready to grow their family through surrogacy.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Or at least “strong attraction” at first sight?

Jamie says this is what happened when she first met Rishad. There was, however, a little bit of a problem because she did not meet him in a more typical situation, such as through a dating app. No, he was an oral surgeon she was consulting with for a tongue issue her dentist wanted her to get checked out.

And, with no tongue-in-cheek story, she was immediately “enamored with his personality, attractive smile, and physique.” So much so that she decided to loop back with her dentist (who also happened to be a personal friend) to find out a little more about Rishad … like if he was available … and when she got the green light on that, she initiated a request for a first date.

Being a competitive lifter at the time, she offered the option of going to lift or perhaps brunch. Rishad chose brunch, where they talked for hours. Side note: they eventually lifted together, and he proved to be very strong physically and returned the attraction to Jamie.

After dating for two years, they were married and started thinking about a family, which they both greatly wanted.

While not able to conceive naturally, they started IVF in 2019 and got five embryos, of which Jamie carried one to term in 2020 when their daughter, Sophia, was born.

The pregnancy, however, was not an easy one. At 32 weeks gestation, abdominal cramps warranted a three-day hospital stay. During this time, it was determined that Sophia was in less than the one percentile for size and had stopped growing in utero. After close monitoring for the remainder of the pregnancy, Sophia arrived in the tiniest 4-pound, 5-ounce package of perfection. She is still petite and still perfect in every way.

A second embryo transfer in 2022 resulted in a positive pregnancy test. Sadly, it was determined to be a chemical pregnancy and one that did not thrive. A third embryo transfer also took but at 20 weeks gestation, abdominal cramping began, and close monitoring showed that their son was not growing. They had to make the very difficult decision at 24 weeks gestation to end the pregnancy.

With these heartbreaking experiences weighing on them, their IVF doctor shared that they might want to consider using a surrogate to carry one of their two remaining embryos.

Surrogacy

The answer to their desire to grow their family and give Sophia a human sibling, because the love that Sophia showers on their beloved chunk of a cat, Kruze, is certainly meant to be shared.

And so, it is with humility, gratitude, and, of course, hope that they are reaching out to find a gestational carrier… one with whom they would support and encourage as much as she needs while maintaining open and honest communications … They also hope that mutual friendship might bless this relationship.

Being parents is something they cherish, and it creates many opportunities for “Mommy, Daddy, Sophia Date Nights,” which include hiking and bowling but are rounded out with relaxing time at home, too! When it comes time for Date Night for Jamie and Rishad, you might find them hitting a local theater or comedy club (they also head to New York City once a year to take in a Broadway show) or doing some weightlifting together.

They both consider themselves caring people and like to live by the motto: Don’t judge people.

You never know what kind of battle they are fighting. This is an appropriate saying since they have already dealt with their fair share of battles.  They can appreciate how special it will be to connect with that one person who can help them reach the victory line this time! Jamie, Rishad, Sophia, baby … and YOU … for the win!

Please watch this beautiful video Jamie and Rishad shared about about their journey to surrogacy!

Become a surrogate!

If you would like to learn more about this lovely family or to see if you may qualify to become a surrogate, please click here! You can also give us a call or text us at 608-514-9150. We would love to talk to you about surrogacy!

Written by Cindy Joers