Campaign Story

Transparent post: I was unsure of this at first. The main reason is because my husband and I were both still dealing with shame, disappointment and feeling like failures. I, Jasmine, felt that I failed my husband and my family by the events surrounding our past experiences. Here is our story. We were overjoyed when we found out in 2014 that we were expecting our first baby boy, Maddox. In January of 2015, I noticed some things were not right and was told to come into my doctor’s office. What was supposed to be a routine observation turned into a heartbreaking experience. The Sonogram showed Maddox struggling and in the attempt to save him, the doctor delivered him prematurely on January 30th. Our baby fought for his life; fought to live, for weeks before he left us, and it was on my birthday of all days. We were devastated and completely heartbroken. It was the most heart wrenching thing we had ever experienced. It broke us and to add insult to injury, my Obstetrician at the time blamed me for everything that had happened, telling me that it was because I was overweight, and if I didn’t want to experience it again, I needed to lose a lot of weight. I was already heartbroken and grieving for my baby and this doctor was totally insensitive and heartless.  That broke us even more. The hurt, the guilt, and the shame were unimaginable and we needed time to recover. Fast-forward to January of 2017 and we became hopeful again, due to a positive pregnancy test. We went to a new Obstetrician, who was absolutely amazing. We were overjoyed only to have our hearts crushed again. On my birthday, again, in 2017, we were heartbroken when he did the ultrasound and we realized that there was a heartbeat but no embryo. Our baby was stuck in my tube, and I had to be rushed into surgery.  We lost yet another baby as well as some hope of our conceiving again because my tube was removed. Crushing after crushing, heartbreak after heartbreak is what we have experienced. The pain was so overwhelming, it seemed to consume us. We decided that we needed a break. We were not trying to get pregnant, but we did nothing to prevent it. We made the decision to hope again in 2019 and try for a baby but have not been successful. After 3 years of trying, an immense amount of weight loss (70 pounds for my husband and 95 pounds for me), and no success in conceiving, we decided to seek help. Because we had some negative experiences with a previous fertility doctor,  we were so elated to find a Reproductive Endocrinologist, who is caring, compassionate, and very encouraging. Additionally, she has had two IVF pregnancies herself. After reviewing our circumstances, she has recommended the best course of action for us would be IVF.  This procedure is very costly. That is why we need your help. We are appealing to your heart to help us to have a baby; to give and to be a part of our rainbow experience. We are both teachers and give love and support to children everyday. We would love the chance to give some of that love to our own babies. We will be the most amazing parents to our children, and we will be extremely grateful for your gifts, support, and prayers.  Please help us, and thank you for your contributions.
– Martin and Jasmine Butler