Campaign Story

This is Us

My name is Petra Szalai and I was born in Hungary in 1980. I immigrated to the US in 2005 and 3 month later I met Janos Horvath (John) who is also from Hungary and came to the states in 1999.
I lived in NJ at that time and he lived in FL, we were in long distance relationship for a year then I moved to FL. We both became US citizens in 2012.

John has his own construction company for 16 years and I am doing residential real estate for 10 years and also have a part time position as a house manager/personal assistant for a local family.
We both have flexible schedule and whenever we have time we travel. We like road trips because we can see much more places/towns this way. We drove to California and back 3 times, drove up to NY and Chicago, Florida Keys countless times and would do any of these trips anytime again.
We also go to Hungary to visit our family usually every 1-2 years.

We both like to cook, John is really good at making our traditional Hungarian dishes and I like to try new things.
We live very close to the beach and enjoy going there a couple of times a month.
We bought our first home 5 years ago and John did all the remodeling jobs. I really like interior design and he did everything exactly how I pictured it. I also help some friends/clients design and decorate their homes.

John just lots his mother in June, only have a sister and his father. I have 2 brothers still living in Hungary with my father and my mother currently living/working in Nashville, TN. Our plan is if we will have a child to take her/him to Hungary every summer to spend time with close and extended family, get familiar with the Hungarian culture and speak the language fluently.
Our parents have no grandchildren yet and all of their kids are over 30y old now.
We lost our 12.5y old cocker spaniel in January, he was more than a dog for us. He was our travel buddy (he has been in Hungary 10 times). I really wanted him to be a “big brother” and imagined introducing our baby to him. We are completely heartbroken because it did not happen.

We went through 7 IVF procedures (6 in Hungary and 1 in the states) and just found out that my egg quality is not good and our only option is an egg donor. We already used sperm donors because John has low sperm count. We spent a lot of money on tests, traveling, clinic fees etc… and can not afford it anymore but in the same time not ready to give it up.
It was hard on us, emotionally and financially also, but we really want to become parents. Here we are trying a fundraiser in the first time, anything helps. Thank you a lot!

Sincerely,

Petra and John