About Me

My husband and I first met at a visit weekend for high school seniors at the University of Dallas in 1999.  Our love for UD’s theological and liberal arts curriculum is what brought us back to the school as undergrads.  Bryan eventually went on to major in theology while I took as many theology classes as I could fit into my schedule.  One of the lasting impressions we carried with us was the value of a properly formed conscience.  In the years we have been married and navigated fertility testing and assisted reproductive technologies, we have tried our absolute best to properly form our consciences and adhere to the Church’s teachings. 

Through the course of our fertility testing, Bryan and I worked closely with Napro-trained physicians only to be ultimately told that our best bet for growing our family was adoption.  Mind you, we have never viewed adoption as “second rate” – we were talking about adopting even before we were married (and didn’t have any clue of the fertility struggles yet to come).

We first learned of embryo adoption from UD friends of ours in 2006 or 2007.  I’m a rather “type A” personality – that conversation sparked what has become years of research.  To humorously illustrate how “type A” I am, I created a power point comparing and contrasting different dog breeds when we were considering what breed to get for our first dog.  My brilliant research skills paid off – we got a Great Dane.  J 

A couple things prompted us in the direction of embryo adoption.  First, we’re a military family – moves are a given part of our way of life.  Waiting is a huge part of the traditional domestic adoption process; moves would undoubtedly slow down an already slow procedure.  Embryo adoption is a fairly quick process.  Second, while we cannot conceive our own genetic children, my uterus works beautifully. 

In May of 2009, after years of research, a deployment, an adoption home study, and a quick matching process, we completed our first embryo transfer.  Sadly, we miscarried in July of 2009.

A few months later, we decided we were ready to be matched again.  In early November 2009, we completed our second embryo transfer.  And our darling duo were born July 18, 2010.

The story doesn’t end there.  We hope to grow our family again through embryo adoption.  Our dreams of having a large family have never changed – God just has a different route in store for us.