Campaign Story

We are the Williams Family! 😊 My name is Mandy L. Smith-Williams, and I share our story on behalf of myself and husband, Abner J. Williams. We reside in Wesley Chapel, Florida and knew right away, we wanted to grow our family together. We are starting a fundraiser in an effort to raise funds for our recent diagnosis and physician recommendation for IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) as the option necessary to conceive. This organization has inspired us, with hope and encouragement for the future by offering an option to raise funds towards our cause  We have been trying to conceive for the past few years, and at age 42, we both know time is critical and more precious, with each passing year. In our spare time, we enjoy traveling, family time, and hosting holiday events. We also love animals, and have two dogs, Prince, a 5-year-old miniature poodle, and King, 6-month-old Pitt bull. They are a joy and keep us on our toes!

We are true Floridians, born and raised, and love sports. We are only a house divided when it comes to college football, Florida Gators (me) vs. the Florida Seminoles (him). I am constantly reminding him, “If you are not a gator, your gator bait. 😊.” NFL, we agree – living in the bay area, we love the buccaneers, but really all Florida teams, Miami, and Jacksonville as well. We are both employed full-time and have worked in our chosen careers for 17+ years each. I am currently employed in Education and have worked in several capacities, including teaching in post-secondary, administration, and recruiting. Abner currently works in Asphalt & Road Construction, and has worked in many settings, including, Administrative, Management, and in a lab, where asphalt is tested prior to distribution.

We were starting to convince ourselves that there were no other options available to us, until I came across this opportunity online. Speaking with my doctors the past few years really discouraged me. Diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) since my late twenties, at first, I did not understand the true impact of the condition. In addition to the diagnosis, I currently have Fibroids, and in the past, had a LEEP procedure (2013), ectopic pregnancy where one of my tubes were removed (2020), and very recently in January 2023 a surgery to remove a large polyp. I have complained to my doctors regarding constant discomfort and have experienced severe menorrhagia as well. I was also in the care of an endocrinologist (since 2011) previously as well regarding my thyroid, and under the care of another specialist regarding my Anemia diagnosis (2022).

As of May 2023, I now know that both my tubes are the issue – my right fallopian tube is blocked, and the left was removed during the emergency surgery in 2020.

We remain hopeful that this opportunity will  help us raise proceeds towards the costly IVF treatment that we would like to pursue in the near future.

Thanks for checking out our fund raiser. 😊