A Beautiful Life Together

We met and began dating in March 1997, and have been happily married since May 2004. We each consider the other our best friend and have always had a beautiful life together. We wanted so much to grow this love we have for each other through becoming parents.

However, shortly after our wedding, Bill was diagnosed with a rare endocrine disorder that, among other things, left him clinically infertile. He underwent years of treatment and trials, but ultimately, we were unable to conceive.

While we knew of our options, we had not received much support from our medical care team, and slowly we accepted that our life together was going to be one that didn’t include having children. 

We discovered Resolve New England in 2017 around the same time we decided to try IVF. Bill was listening to the radio early one Sunday morning and heard local hero and Olympic legend Nancy Kerrigan with Resolve New England (RNE) Executive Director Kate Weldon LeBlanc. The topic of the show was Nancy’s own personal family building journey and her association with RNE.

“Wow, this is exactly what we are going through,” ran through Bill’s head. Soon after we reached out to RNE.

We developed a friendship with Kate, and through our involvement with RNE, found so much support and resources. IVF was a brutal process for us, and we do not know how we would have gotten through that without Kate’s kindness, or the support of so many others we met at events like the annual Conference and Walk. 

At the RNE Family Building Conference in November 2019, we met with several adoption experts and during lunch and breaks discussed adoption with folks who had successfully built their families through adoption. We made our decision there that adoption was the right path forward for us. We knew there was a little bundle of joy out there who needed us, as much as we needed them.

We were in a good place with the decision we had made and were excited about this new journey we were about to embark on. 

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

Like everything else in the world at the time, adoption services had ground to a halt, or at least been reduced to a snail's pace.

Heartbroken as we were from these circumstances, our will was undeterred. We were still on our mission and determined to see this through.

And RNE was there with us virtually supporting us every step of the way. 

Our prayers were answered in September 2021 when Steph got a phone call from an adoption agency we had been working with. A young woman who we had just presented to the day before had chosen us to place her baby. The moment seemed surreal. After all this time, was it real? Indeed, it was.

Three months later, a week before Christmas, we were there to see our little miracle baby be born. We were finally parents! We were a family of three! 

Today Aiden is a young, strong, happy little boy who loves his friends, “parent and me swim time” on weekends, reading “Goodnight Boston” before bed, and his beloved pet kitty “Flynn”. There has not been a day since he was born, we have taken this blessing for granted.

The support from the RNE community was so instrumental in getting us here. While the family building chapter of our journey has concluded, we enthusiastically remain engaged with RNE, hoping to “pay it forward” to the next person struggling or just in need of knowing they are not alone.