RAYNHAM, MASS. (WHDH) - They’re finally a family – mom, dad and little Finn.
It took nine years of trying, and 3 months in a Florida hospital, and a crucial contribution from two strangers in Massachusetts.
“It’s funny how things turn out the way that they’re supposed to,” said Jess Hill.
She and her husband, Chris, were trying to conceive and running out of options.
“We had exhausted all of our emotions, all of our finances on fertility treatments,” said Jess.
Jess started searching the internet – trying to find a new way to have the baby they so desperately wanted.
“Embryo adoption popped up on the screen, and i was like, what’s that?” said Jess.
It’s a way for couples who already have the families they want to share embryos they created during fertility treatments. The frozen, fertilized eggs can suddenly change everything for a couple that hasn’t been able to conceive.
“When we came upon embryo adoption we knew that this was what we were supposed to do,” said Jess.
Jess found a mom who had the power to help make her a mom too.
“We had a lot in common she was very similar to me,” said Kira Moynihan.
Kira and her husband are raising two little girls in Raynham. They used IVF to conceive and had several frozen embryos they were not going to use.
“It’s a very hard thing to think about somebody else raising what is potentially your child so we wanted to be very careful and very cautious which is a hard thing,” said Kira.
In almost no time, the two women formed a bond.
“All of a sudden she wrote me and said, ‘I really feel like we have a connection, would you consider talking to me more about us donating our embryos to you,'” said Jess.
Adopting and donating embryos can be an emotional, complicated and delicate process.
Embryos have to be genetically tested and carefully transported in a frozen state. There are legal forms that need to be signed.
And that adds up. The couple adopting the embryo pays all those bills. And the couple that donates, doesn’t get any money.
“It’s illegal for you to actually sell the embryos,” said Kira.
Embryo adoption led to pregnancy – and finally Finn.
But there were real challenges.
Finn was a preemie – weighing only one pound and two ounces at birth.
“From the beginning, he fought and fought and fought and fought,”
Fighting Finn is his nickname, and we do have a Facebook page for him, and we have gotten messages from all over the country, all over the world.”
Finn is five months old now and thriving.
Biologically he’s the son of Kira and her husband – but Jess and Chris are his mom and dad.
“Kira and her family were always supposed to be what we now consider an extension part of our family,” said Jess.
“For us, it’s just been an amazing thing. I never regret it, not for a day, not for a second. I’m so glad we did it, I’m so glad we found Jess and Chris,” said Kira.
“We not only gained Finn, we gained all of them too,” said Jess.
To stay up to date with Fighting Finn’s story check out his Facebook page.
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