A story from Courage Does Not Always Roar.
"Courage is the capacity to confront what can be imagined."
- Leo C. Rosten
Kyle and Logan are two now. The birth of these twin boys is a story of love and courage and begins, as all stories do, with their parents - my good friends Vera and Dave. Vera met Dave when she was 41 years old. She knew she had waited for and found the right man to marry.
After their wedding, they wanted to get pregnant as soon as possible, which is exactly what happened. Unfortunately, just a few weeks after confirming her pregnancy, Vera experienced a miscarriage, her first of three. She then began fertility treatments, which were unsuccessful for three years. While they both wanted to have a child together, Vera and Dave never thought they would experience so many setbacks and disappointments.
The hormones were starting to take a toll on Vera's self-esteem and energy level. She felt like she was not the same woman that Dave had married and her focus on getting pregnant had surpassed everything else in her life. Vera always had a vision of having her own child and was starting to question why she had waited so long to get married.
Finally, at 44, Vera thought that it was not in her future to have children of her own. She decided to come to peace with this and accept the reality. Vera and Dave started to focus on adoption. The day Vera was supposed to fly to Montenegro in Southeastern Europe to adopt a baby, it all fell through.
Adopting a baby in the United States posed its own special problems. As Canadian citizens working and living in the United States, they would have to move back to Canada in order to adopt. Since Dave's job was in the U.S., that was not an easy change. Feeling let down once again, Vera decided it was not meant for her to adopt a child either.
Not willing to give up hope, Vera looked for the courage to think of any other options. They decided to investigate a surrogate. They began reviewing the photos and backgrounds of several surrogates and finally decided on one.
Her name was Hollie. She was in her late 20s, married and had three kids of her own. Hollie was blessed with easy pregnancies and wanted to help other couples struggling with having their own children. Both Vera and Dave thought she was terrific, with great energy and kindness, and they decided to go ahead with invitro fertilization, but Hollie did not get pregnant.
Vera and Dave were both devastated. Vera felt that this maybe was a sign from God that they were not supposed to have children together. She thought about what she and Dave would do next.
Holly wanted to try again, and this time it took!! Hollie was pregnant with twins. Vera and Dave were very excited, but Vera knew to be cautious because there were still nine months ahead.
Hollie had a very healthy pregnancy up to the sixth month, when she had to have a special procedure - one with only a 50% success rate - in order to prevent her from going into early labor. Vera was worried that once again their dream of having a child would not become a reality. She stayed focused in prayer and kept a positive attitude. Dave, Vera and Hollie made it through the next few months and were blessed with two beautiful boys - Kyle and Logan.
Vera and Dave's family would not be complete without Hollie's dedication, love and care for the boys while she was pregnant.
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