Locally Sourced, Distantly Grown: Renewed Hope

After re-signing with the surrogacy agency, we expected a several month wait at least but in a little over a month, on the day of our 10th wedding anniversary, we received an email from Tina about a new potential carrier:

"Good morning to you both,
I am very excited to present this carrier to you!

Jenna is an experienced carrier with us. I really wanted to try finding you someone that has done a surrogacy before so we know she responds to medications and has a proven track record. She delivered twins for her last parents and the babies were born after 37 weeks. And for an extra bonus………… she lives in Wisconsin. So, I drive right through her town when I go visit my sister. I already sent her records over to Main Line and they stated she looks like a good candidate to proceed with. She and her family are very humble, kind and giving. I think they could be the one. Let me know your thoughts. Tina"

Needless to say, we felt a glimmer of hope. This was the first time we were matched with someone who had carried before. Two weeks later we spoke with Jenna and her husband on the phone and by the end of that week, we all agreed to continue as a match. We began making plans for the clinic day at Main Line Fertility. We have to say at this point too, how amazing Main Line Fertility has been. They were so sad for us at each failed match and would aways offer us encouragement. They had been super accessible during the process to answer questions via phone or email.

Jenna and Rachel started emailing back and forth to get to know one another and felt a connection similar to that with Melanie. She was easy to talk to and it was great to speak with someone that had carried before because she knew more or less what to expect going forward. We planned our time together for their visit and wanted to spend as much time together as possible and show them some Philly sites. Jon was also very excited to expose them to a taste of a Philly cheesesteak.

Jenna and Joe flew in the morning of November 3rd, 2016 and we picked them up at the Philadelphia airport. We headed directly to Main Line Fertility for Jenna's appointments. After the appointments we dropped them off at their hotel for a bit and picked them up later for dinner & bowling. The next morning we met with the psychologist (which is required by Main Line Fertility and with whom we had met for our previous carriers). Afterwards we headed into Philly to see the city a bit and to give them a taste of a Philly cheesesteak. During our time together, Jon was also pleased to discover that Wisconsinites actually do love cheese! So we shared a mutual love of cheese.

We really enjoyed our time with them. We definitely felt an easy connection with them and were feeling very positive about things for the first time in a long time...