Whitney & Mix

Whitney & Mix's Story:

Upon the birth of our eldest son, my husband and I discovered we both carried a terrible genetic disorder (recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa). It caused our son (and us) a lot of suffering and heartache in the beginning. But God used it for good—to lead us to adopt frozen embryos. We told our pastor of our desire to adopt embryos and he happened to know of a couple who had 14 they wished to donate. I was naive at first thinking that since we had no fertility problems, we'd have success right away. Loss never crossed my mind. Five FETs, multiple early unexplained losses, hundreds of needles, and seven embryos later, we celebrated the birth of twin sons. During all of the losses, I questioned whether or not we should keep trying. I'm so glad we didn't give up. I believe our boys, who were frozen for eight years, were always meant to be ours and God used their beautiful biological family to bring them to us. We are so thankful for their biological family—they chose life for our sons and saw their value, even at the chromosomal level! They protected them by keeping them safely frozen until they could find a family for them. The relationship with our sons' bio parents has never felt threatening and their family has always cheered us on as we parent our beautiful boys. Sometimes I chuckle to myself thinking about how those on the outside looking in may see us: "Oh, that's sad, they couldn't have more biological children." But I wouldn't have it any other way. What we at first considered to be Plan B ended up being Plan B(eautiful). Our youngest sons may not have our 'blood,' but they most definitely have our hearts. They are truly gifts to us in every sense of the word. We feel so blessed to be their mommy and daddy.

Favorite Team Member at CNY:

n/a

Helpful resources Whitney & Mix found:

I actually started a blog about embryo adoption during my losses. Writing things out really helped me: FrozenLoveBlog.wordpress.com I hope my journey will encourage others as well.

Unique Moments:

Doing FETs with adopted embryos for genetic reasons and not because of infertility; being able to carry my two adopted sons, give birth to them at 37 weeks, 2 days, no NICU time ... being able to nurse them for 15 months. Genetics didn't matter. The bond was instant.

Hope, Inspiration and Advice:

If you are considering using donated embryos, you are probably wondering, "Will I love them the same as I would my own biological child?" The answer is YES. Yes. Yes. Yes. There are SO many frozen embryos waiting for a womb and a family. Please consider "adopting" them.