Shannon
I was born and raised in Florida and am now 40 years old. My career is in computer technology and network administration. I also write and publish a graphic novel series titled “SleepRunners”. My full time job keeps me pretty busy and my writing keep me on the road for convention signings a lot. I have 2 kids from a previous marriage and see them every weekend. Avery (14) is just starting his first year of high school and is becoming a incredible young man. Aubrey (10) is going into the fifth grade and just received an honor roll student award. I love my kids to death and cherish the times I am with them.
April
My wife April has lived in Florida most her life and is now 37 years old. She is the manager of a local sub shop and spends a lot of time maintaining it. April has 6 kids from previous marriages and 4 of them live with us full time. Jack (20) has graduated high school and is currently looking for employment after being laid off from his full time job. He lives with a friend and is learning the hard lessons of live through trial and error. Steffany (18) is finishing up a couple of classes this summer and then she will have graduated high school. She works a part time job and is working hard to get her first car. Tiffany (15) lives with her father only a couple miles away. She just graduated to high school and will be starting the 9th grade next year. We have her on the weekends and part of the summer. Joshua (14) lives with us full time. He is having some difficulties trying to get into the 8th grade and we are hoping that a summer pass program will help him. Johnny (11) Lives with us and has just graduated to middle school. Johnny is the adventurous one, and always keeps us on our toes. Zachary (6) lives with us full time and is going into the second grade this year. I have been a part of Zachary’s life since he was 6 months old and really enjoy taking him out to have fun. Though these kids have other biological fathers, I feel as if they have always been my kids.
Our Story
Wow, that is a lot of kids. Why in the world would you want another child when you already have eight? Well let me tell you. April and I got together 6 years ago and have been married for almost three of those year. However we have known each other a lot longer than that. You see, April and I grew up together and actually met when we were about 5 years old. We were actually boyfriend and girlfriend from the age of ten all the way up to eighteen. She has always and always will be the love of my life. We would spend endless weekends and nights with each other enjoying growing up together. These were some of the best times of my life.
After my 18th Birthday things started to change. April just wasn’t happy anymore and felt like she was missing something in life. We were raised in much different ways and she just started to grow apart. I was really destroyed by this and would miss the future we had planned together. I went on with my life but never stopped watching over her.
In 2004 we found each other again after coming out of fail marriages. There was a lot of baggage and things were not going to be easy but we were determined to make our lives together work out. Unfortunately three of April’s kids do not get any support or attention from their father. This is a constant struggle and we try our best to fill the gap for the kids. I also struggle with only seeing my kids on the weekends and not having the ability to see and help them grow more. I do have joint parental custody and I do pay child support without fail, but seeing your kids only on certain days really rips a piece of your heart away. We are raising all of our children in the Christian faith and try to instill good morals every day. We have a big family but my wife and I still feel we have a missing piece from our hearts.
Six years ago April had her tubes tied after being convinced she didn’t want another child. With things being rough at home with her husband and already having six children, she had no reason not to have the operation. I on the other hand have always wanted to have another child and gave up on the idea when April and I got back together. As bad as I wanted another child, April was more important to me. The fact that she couldn’t have children was of no concern. Then about a year ago we started to talk about it. I would never bring it up because I didn’t want to upset her knowing she couldn’t have a child. She was the one who was really starting to regret her decision to have the surgery. So we started talking about our options. Adoption, IVF, and Tubal reversal were all on the table. We were going to have a baby one way or another.
Upon checking into our options we have decided to attempt a tubal reversal. Our journey has just begun and we want to share it with everyone else who may be looking for options for themselves. This journey will follow our daily strides in trying to obtain the funding and securing the procedure. We will chronicle all the preparations, from Aprils path of living smoke free, to our search for a perfect doctor to perform the surgery. We will share our fears and our joys along the way. We will share our experiences as we travel out of country on our quest. In the end, not only do we pray to have a healthy baby, but we also hope that we have helped others who may be looking for options.
I invite everyone to participate with suggestions or comments if you have taken these steps and feel you have input that will help.
