Campaign Story

We’re the Odoms. Leah, Jason, and Teddy, but we can’t forget our fuzzy family members Tessie and Juli.
Maybe on our first, if not definitely our 2nd date, both of us shared our desire to be parents. We knew with our age, meeting each other closer to 40 that it would be an uphill battle.

We persevered though egg retrievals, failed transfers, additional surgeries, a global pandemic, moving, new jobs, and eventually welcomed our sweet boy in November of 2022. With 2 more embryos left, we knew that Teddy was born to have a sibling. In December of 2023 we were shortly excited to have a positive pregnancy test only to be devastated with a loss.

In April of that year we were expecting our sticky last embryo, a boy! Not without strife and stress from medical issues, we made it through the summer.

Sadly, on September 8th, I went into preterm labor and even after a med flight and every effort, our son was born too early. Bennett Payne stayed with us into the early morning hours of September 9th when his little body succumbed to being born too soon.

He was held and loved in that short time by us both. We sang to him, told him all about his big brother, and bottled up a lifetime of love in a few hours.

Benny will always be our baby, Teddy’s little brother. But Teddy deserves a sibling earthside. Jason and I have a huge house, my childhood home that has room for 1 more babe.

We have 4 more embryos to give this a chance. Due to circumstances that caused us to lose Benny, I should not carry another baby. Our chance at a sibling rests in the hands of a gestational surrogate.
On a teacher and account manager’s salary, we can financially afford a 2nd child, but getting a 2nd child is a financial roadblock that is quite daunting.

Our heartache from our incredible loss is only amplified knowing money stands in the way of another child.