You may not realize it now, but things will turn out just fine. Things won’t go how you planned, but you’ll have the family you’ve always dreamed of. Just keep going. My greatest hope has always been to start a family and build a life with someone.
That was the dream. Michael and I started dating in high school and always talked about having a big family. Following graduation, we tied the knot and began our journey to become parents in 2014. But every month was a negative test. I tried everything like researching, tracking, and staying hopeful but nothing seemed to help.
After a year, I saw a specialist, but no clear answers. They said I was young and had time, but I was already mentally drained. So, we changed our path. We started foster care classes. We thought having kids in our home would bring us joy.
Our first placement came in late 2016 Chase, an 8-month-old baby. We had only two hours to prepare. Then two days later, he was sent back to his mother. It crushed me. Soon after, we got a call about a newborn named Dylan. He had been born with drugs in his system.
We said yes. And while getting ready for Dylan, we were told Chase was coming back. Suddenly, we had two babies. Life got wild. Court dates, visits, doctor appointments and all the while, we still tried to get pregnant. Finally, our doctor said IVF was our best option. I was scared of the process and the needles, but I pushed through. We had seven embryos.
The first transfer didn’t work. I was heartbroken again. Then, in fall 2017, everything changed. We found out we could adopt Dylan and Chase too. I cried when I got the call. My dream was finally coming true. And just when I thought life couldn’t surprise me more, our second embryo transfer worked.
At first, they thought it was twins. At the scan, the tech smiled and said, “Let’s see if I can get them to smile.” I didn’t understand at first, but then we got the news, we were having triplets! In 2018, I gave birth to three healthy girls at 35 weeks.
That same year, we adopted our two boys. Just like that, in two years, I became a mom to five beautiful children. When I look back, I wish I could tell my younger self to breathe. Every heartbreak and every moment of waiting has brought me to this place. I’m stronger for it. Finally, I’m living the life I’ve always dreamed of.
Love, Your Future Self
