Recipient Stories

By Maria BottinoMommy to LouieBorn August 2021Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) I’ve been told since I was 16 years old that I would never get pregnant due to a health concern of my own – endometriosis. In January 2021 that quickly changed with a very positive pregnancy test. I was ecstatic, but also a little scared.…

By Carrie DyalMommy to Izadora “Izzy”Born August 2019Intractable epilepsy without status epilepticus and global delays My husband and I had had two miscarriages before Izzy was born; a twin pregnancy lost at 8.5 weeks, and a blighted ovum lost at 9 weeks. We were devastated. Met with Dr Poppy an infertility specialist and at that time…

By Heather CrowleyMommy to TateBorn June 2019Ohtahara Syndrome Recently married with a three-year-old stepson, my husband and I decided to try to get pregnant fairly quickly so that the kids could be close in age. We were pregnant within a couple months of trying and it all was working out as planned. I had a…

By Scott McDonaldDaddy to AmadaPentalogy of CantrellBorn November 2022 We always wanted to have children, just not sure of the timing. We tried for some time before it happened, so when we got pregnant, we were so happy. We celebrated so much. Right before we got pregnant, we were seeing a specialist, and we just…

By Penny RodenhouseMommy to Joseph “Joey”PTPRT Gene Mutation, Moebius Syndrome, Tracheomalacia, Congenital Myopathy, Epilepsy, Hypotonia, Chronic respiratory failureBorn May 2022 My husband and I tried to have a baby for 6 years and were unsuccessful. Fertility testing showed we’d need to do IVF to even conceive a child. We were heartbroken but knew that God…

By Abby FaumuinaMommy to LedgerLimb Body Wall ComplexApril 12, 2023 After trying to get pregnant for over 3 years, we finally gave up and decided we were probably infertile. To our surprise, on August 27, 2023 we found out I was pregnant. It was the best shock of our lives. We were absolutely ecstatic! It…

By Angela FrankMommy to BeckhamOctober 26 – November 12, 2022Brain AVM, Heart Failure Beckham’s pregnancy was a really big surprise! A surprise we didn’t know we wanted so bad until it happened. Nick and I had been together for 5 years and were raising Brooks, my child from a previous relationship. After the initial shock…

By Lisa EgglestonMommy to EzraMay 24 – May 25, 2019Acrania We decided we wanted to start our family fairly young to be younger parents. After a couple of months, we were soon pregnant with our first child in September 2018. We were excited and started making plans for our new little family. We quickly told…

By Darby HarveyMommy to SamuelBorn March 2023Trisomy 13 My husband and I struggled with infertility. We were in the process of seeing multiple specialists for infertility treatment when we found out we were pregnant. At our 20-week anatomy scan they found our little boy had a significant kidney problem. We were referred to St. Louis…

By Nicole WeberMommy to IlahBorn August 2023Pulmonary Atresia – Congenital Heart Defect We went in for our 20-week anatomy scan for our second child and found we were having a girl. However, the ultrasound tech started to seem a little worried. Once the scan was done, she told us to wait and she was going…