Illinois dads Kameron and Edmund March met over a decade ago while attending college. In April 2012, they became a couple and talked about wanting to become dads one day. Even then they both knew they wanted to pursue a surrogacy journey as being biologically related was important to them.
“We talked about having kids at the beginning of our relationship,” said Kameron. “While being biologically related does not define who a parent is or determine what a family is, that is something we both wanted.”
They were married on July 30, 2016, and a little under 2 years later, the husbands began to seriously pursue their dream of fatherhood, meeting with an IVF clinic. At the time, they didn’t know that they were about to embark on a long road.
Kameron and Edmund experienced numerous setbacks along the way, including a failed embryo creation, multiple embryo transfers that did not result in pregnancy, and having to match with a new surrogate twice throughout the process. On top of those issues, the added complication of Covid-19 made for a difficult experience.
“Our journey to parenthood took us a little over 5 years from first touching base with an agency to the birth of our daughter,” said Kameron. “I wouldn’t say we ever seriously doubted our path to parenthood, but we faced our fair share of challenges along the way.”
Throughout these setbacks the husbands reassured each other and leaned on the support of their family to keep strong and optimistic, knowing that things would work out in the end.
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They also felt supported by their two family-building partners – Family Source Consultants and Fertility Centers of Illinois.
“Both agencies helped us with any questions we had along the way and supported us through the many challenges we faced throughout the entire of our journey.”
Finally, on May 14, 2022, the dads welcomed their daughter Alleria. It was love at first sight.
Their supportive extended family and friends were delighted for the new family of three.
Today, Alleria is 1 year old, and her dads are introducing her to travel at a young age. She’s already visited multiple National Parks across America as Kameron and Edmund are avid travelers and “hope to cultivate the sense of wonder and joy of visiting different places in her.”
Throughout the husband’s journey, they say that the most important thing they learned was to be patient.
“Expect the unexpected and persevere. The path to parenthood, no matter what method you choose is never the same for anyone. Be patient and remain confident through any challenge you may face and know that at the end of the road nothing is greater than the joy of holding your child in your arms and being able to start or expand your family.”
