Jared and Michelle's Hope: Three Years, One Dream of a Baby
A veteran and his partner are pursuing IVF with donor eggs, and they are asking their community to walk the last stretch with them.
Jared and Michelle Treadway have wanted the same thing since the start of their relationship: a child to share their love with. Not a complicated dream. Just a small person to raise, to rock to sleep, to teach and be changed by.
Three years into hoping and trying, that dream is still ahead of them. They have lived through the cycle that so many families know too well: hope, waiting, disappointment, and then hope again anyway. Now they are pursuing IVF with donor eggs, a path they describe as filled with both heartache and hope, and one they are grateful to finally have in front of them.
Why this means so much
Michelle writes that she was not given the opportunity to have children in her previous marriage. That detail sits quietly in their story, but it carries weight. For her, this is not simply a next step; it is a chance she was once told she would not get.
And then there is Jared. He is a military veteran who, in Michelle's words, has given so much to our country. He has always dreamed of being a daddy. She describes watching him long for a child as both inspiring and heartbreaking, and says he deserves that joy more than anyone she knows. There is something very tender about a person who spends their energy advocating for someone else's dream. That is how Michelle talks about Jared throughout their fundraiser.
Together, they say they are ready to do everything they can to make this happen.
The part that is hardest to say out loud
The one obstacle left is money. The Treadways are direct about it: the financial cost of IVF with donor eggs is overwhelming. Every dollar donated, they write, will go directly toward medical procedures, medications, and the donor egg process.
Family building through IVF, surrogacy, or adoption often sits far outside what a household budget can absorb, and insurance coverage varies widely or does not exist at all. Many families find themselves in the strange position of having a clear medical path forward and no way to pay for it. That gap is rarely about effort or planning. It is simply the price of the care, arriving all at once.
This is where community matters. Not because any one person can close that gap alone, but because a lot of people giving what they can has a way of moving a family from stuck to started.
How you can help
If the Treadways' story stayed with you, the most useful thing you can do is read their fundraiser in their own words and give whatever feels right. Small gifts add up faster than people expect, and sharing their page with someone who might care costs nothing at all.
As they put it: with your kindness, we can turn our hope into reality. Every contribution brings Jared and Michelle closer to holding their baby.
From the publisher
You don't have to carry the cost alone.
Gift of Parenthood awards a $20,000 Family Fund grant each cycle and helps families fundraise for IVF, surrogacy, and adoption. If this is your journey, there's a place to start.
