Sarah and Matt

Our love story is one you might have heard quite often years ago; however, in today’s world, it’s few and far between. We met in high school and started dating at the beginning of our senior year (2007). It was a high school romance, and neither of us probably imagined it would develop into a life-long adventure. After our high-school graduation, we both headed to Florida State University.

In 2013, I was diagnosed with Epilepsy. It was a tough pill to swallow, and emotionally draining for us at that time. Of course, being 23, your thoughts are not usually geared toward long-term effects such as childbearing, etc. and what it might have on our future. Over the next several years, I would have multiple grand-mal seizures, stemming from extreme exhaustion.

In summer of 2018, after 11 years of dating, we got engaged at our favorite beach in Florida, Anna Maria Island. In November of 2019, our favorite time of the year in Georgia as the foliage changes into vibrant colors of orange, yellow, and red, we had our dream wedding, despite the cold.

In addition to being high school sweethearts, we also work together. We have a family-owned investigative company, specializing in insurance fraud. My husband has a role within the sales department, and I handle the operational side. I’m used to working from an office 5 days a week, but my husband is accustomed to lots of face-to-face meetings (which he thrives on). COVID added a little zest to our first year of marriage, which now consisted of sharing an office in our house together. Most days, we actually really enjoyed the extra time we were able to spend together. 2020 was an interesting, unexpected year but we have a lot to be thankful for and the time at home allowed us to revisit our goals for the future.

About a year ago, we began to discuss our plans for the next step of our life. Sadly, the topic transitioned into the concern of me safely carrying a baby. After many long and contemplative discussions, it was decided that it would be best to proceed with a surrogate. For us, although I would desperately want to carry and share that bond, it isn’t worth the risk. Once the decision was made, it has been full throttle – no looking back. We have uncontrollable excitement of what the future has in store and how blessed we are to even have this option! Our families are relieved we have made this decision and can now fully celebrate, with no worry, the next step of our lives.

We are pretty easy-going people. Our world revolves around our dogs (both 11 years old). They sleep in the bed with us, go to the office with me, have a wardrobe of their own, and maybe have some table scraps here and there. We carry our 90 lb. Golden Retriever down the stairs every morning as she can no longer go down on her own, but we cannot bear the thought of leaving her alone downstairs at night. We are avid Orangetheory goers, and we do our best to eat healthy. We grew up in Florida so being at the beach or outdoors is one of our favorite places to be. Being kind and considerate of others is important to us. We surround ourselves with people that are optimistic and caring, and we are very blessed to have such an outstanding support system with both family and friends especially during this journey.

We think about our future surrogacy journey constantly. We cannot wait to finally meet the one who will help us bring our future to reality!