Time has flown the past couple of weeks. Both our Makin Whoopie event and the online auction have been huge successes, and we are so grateful for everyone who donated items, attended in person, bid online and also donated money and time to make all of this possible. Going public was initially a hard choice, but the outpour of support from friends and strangers has been life changing. The biggest surprise came through our friend Cindy Snell. She connected us to Dr. Schmidt of Nova IVF who has generously offered to partner with us because of Brian’s particular genetic circumstances and to close any gaps in our fundraising. We met with Dr. Schmidt and loved his manner and approach. He is a very kind man. Can I tell you what a sigh of relief I had? We are now 100% ready to move forward to next steps!

OMG…
Friday, February 5th dawned with a bombshell. I woke up early as usual, made coffee, and sat down to check my email. The first one I saw had a simple but effective subject line: “OMG you are on the front page of the Chronicle!!!!”

We knew there would be a story in the SF Chronicle as a reporter and photographer attended our party. But the front page?!! We thought it would be a human interest story in the back of the Living section at the most. I have to share that my first reaction of seeing Brian and I as 1/3 of the front page was one of slight nausea. It is a surreal experience to ride the ferry in the morning with your face all around you as fellow riders read the paper… Opening our situation to our community was one thing – all of the Bay Area was another. The added stress level was the online commenting. Who are those people who just do a frenzy of non-constructive, horrible, spewing? I pledged to NOT read the comments but through friends and Brian, I have a pretty good idea of what’s there. It is hard knowing that 500 comments are in cyberspace but I want to focus on the positive rather than the negative.

The Positive
Because we went public, people in our lives came forward and had a voice to share similar experiences they had been silent about. Through the article, total strangers came forward and shared their stories and words of encouragement. We were also talked about on the ALICE morning show, and the story has been syndicated in major papers across the US. It is an issue that affects a lot of people — especially those like Brian and I who met their soul mate late in life. At the very least, it is a dialog that needed to be jump started. If our story inspires even one couple to find a creative solution to make their baby dreams possible, I am happy.

So what’s next? We now have a community that is committed to the well-being and success of our baby to be. We have never felt such a wave of support – and this is very powerful. I am starting the process now with NovaIVF. Fingers crossed I have good news to share very soon! Thank you to everyone who made this a reality. We literally could not have done this without you.