Campaign Story

First of all, thank you for being who you are. If you’re viewing this at all, it must mean that you are kind, compassionate and empathetic. My name is Jennifer. I’m 41 years old. I have spent the past 20 years teaching elementary school as if my life depended on it. Education has always been my passion. I have 3 amazing Goddaughters and have taught thousands of amazing students. Teaching and lifelong learning is a way of living for me and has been the absolute joy of my life. I have always wanted children of my own but experienced multiple early miscarriages in my 30s. Despite the void I felt in my soul, my girls and students always gave me purpose. A few years ago, I realized my entire world had been turned upside down by my ex-husband, I had no choice but to start over. I lost my dogs, my home and, literally, ended up bankrupt. The irreversible devestation was that I had lost years of fertility. I believe that sometimes we don’t get what we want because we are guided to even better and that everything happens for a reason. I picked myself up and started over, found the man of my dreams and we found ourselves pregnant but lost our son in my second trimester. He has been my rock and has demonstrated his capacity for parenthood. We have been able to communicate and love each other through this journey which neither of us expected to embark upon and it has brought us even closer. We’ve tried IVF but it was unsuccessful. At my age, my egg quality is deplorable. My NYS teacher insurance only covers 80% for 3 IVF cycles in a lifetime and that doesn’t include egg donation. We are fortunate and grateful that we only need eggs. While it feels extremely vulnerable to ask for help, the classroom has taught me that “it, sometimes, takes a village”. I need the help for additional cycles with an egg donor since my egg quality is the detriment. I am running out of time. I chose to upload an ultrasound of the son we lost as my profile picture because it gives me hope and is a way for our little angel, Kaleb Robert, to never be forgotten no matter how this next chapter in life develops. This is the first time I have ever done any campaigning or anything like this…We would be eternally grateful for any kindness that comes to us.