Campaign Story

Hi friends, family, and kind strangers,

We’re Shelby and Samantha—a married couple who once thought our family would just include a dog, a few spoiled cats, and each other. We never imagined we’d be dreaming about baby names, lullabies, and tiny socks—but here we are, with full hearts and a big dream: to become moms.

That dream has brought us to IVF. As a lesbian couple, becoming parents is filled with obstacles—emotional, legal, and financial. After a lot of research and soul-searching, we’ve chosen IVF because it gives us the best chance of success and, crucially, the most legal protection for our future family.

IVF offers us more control over the process and helps ensure that we both have a legal connection to our child from the very beginning. But even then, the law doesn’t automatically recognize both of us as parents. That means that the non-biological parent—no matter how present, loving, and committed—still has to legally adopt their own child through a second-parent adoption. This process is invasive, expensive, and honestly, heartbreaking to have to go through just to be recognized as the family we already are.

Between the costs of IVF itself, fertility medications, embryo storage, and then legal fees for second-parent adoption, the financial weight feels overwhelming. Shelby works full time at a job she loves, and I (Samantha) work as much as I can in my field—but in this economy, extra income is hard to come by. We’re saving everything we can, but we’ve come to a point where we need help to move forward.

If you’ve ever wanted something so deeply that it hurts, you probably understand where we’re coming from. We want to build a home filled with bedtime stories, messy art projects, and unconditional love. And we would be forever grateful for any help in getting there—whether through a donation, a share, or simply your encouragement.

Thank you for supporting us on this journey. Your kindness means more than you know.

With love and gratitude,
Shelby & Samantha