Campaign Story

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Hi, my name is Hannely or Hany for short; my husband’s name is Joel. We are desperately hopeful to have the chance to welcome a baby into our lives. With that being said, we ask that you please read about us and our story, as we navigate through this journey of becoming parents.

We are a newlywed couple who got married in 2022; we met at 16, started dating at 19, had a five-year break at 23 and found love again in 2015 at the age of 28. We want nothing more than to be able to start a family and have a little mini Joel or Hany running around.

To explain a little about why we are doing this fundraiser, I need to tell you about my story. When I was 23, I was officially diagnosed with Mayer-Rokitasnky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) Syndrome. This is a rare congenital disorder that affects the female reproductive system, typically characterized by an underdeveloped vagina and uterus. At age 15 the doctors said that my ovaries were underdeveloped, and my uterus was either very small or underdeveloped as well, but that both may develop. I was hopeful; however, the uterus never fully developed. I do not blame the doctors for not explaining what my congenital disorder was, because this only effects 1 in every 4,500 females. I was the oddity, and to this day, I am the only individual that my current GYN treats who has MRKH.

Between the ages of 15 and 23, my ovaries fully developed, however, my uterus did not. The doctors explained that my options would be gestational surrogacy or adoption. At 23, the news had a tremendous impact, and to say the least, for both myself and my partner at the time; who is now my husband.  I wasn’t sure how to handle it all and it took a lot for me to come to terms with the emotional aspect that this brought; not just of feeling as though I was different, not a “normal” woman, but that I just had something that comes so easily to others ripped from even being an option for me. It took years for me to come to terms with it. I went from questioning if I even wanted kids, to creating a wall around my heart when it came to future kids, pregnancy, or even talking about my congenital disorder. Many would say how lucky I was because “I didn’t get my period” or “that not everyone is meant to have kids”, and I would play along with it; those individuals never truly understanding the hurt that it caused deep down.

When my husband and I found love again at 28, in 2015; he understood that we might not be able to have a family; and he was good with that. I still remember his exact words; “I want to be with you because of who YOU are, not because of the possibility of kids; I want you in my future because of YOU as a person, as my partner. I cannot see myself being with anyone else. You are who I want to be with bottom line; everything else is extra.” I remind myself of that continuously, that we are on this journey together.

I will say that as a human we always tend to have some sort of doubt, I try and surpass those doubts continuously. Especially because it is hard to know that both my husband and I want kids and it’s still not a sure thing. It’s hard when I see the joy it brings him and I to be around our nephew or friends that have kids. That’s when guilt and doubt creep in, self-blame rears its unpleasant head. I know I am not to blame, and I cannot help that I have MRKH, but it’s a normal human thing to do. But I am hopeful for the future, I stay positive.

After we got married in 2022, which still feels dreamlike that we met in summer 2003 and here we are today, we have started to see a reproductive specialist to start IVF and gestational surrogacy. We had no idea how costly this would all be, when they told us the amount, it was yet another blow for us. We do not have $60-$80K laying around, and that is on the cheap-side from what I have been told and read. That is why we are doing everything possible to see how we can raise that money to fulfill our dream of having a family. We look to the future with optimism, that somehow this too will come to pass.
I have been a fighter all my life, and always determined to tackle on whatever life throws at me. Luckily now with my husband by my side we can tackle this extremely difficult journey together.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story if you made it this far. We welcome any little help towards expanding our family.