For those of you who regularly follow this blog and have kept up with our desire for a family, you already know the pain and heartache of our 4 year battle with infertility. Last year, we came face to face with our reality when we were given the official diagnosis of male factor infertility. Our fertility specialist felt confident he could get us pregnant through In Vitro Fertilization with Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (IVF with ICSI). At the time, we were thankful for the diagnosis but the treatment plan brought up personal and heavy moral discussions. There was an unsettling feeling when I thought about IVF and I truly felt in my heart that wasn’t the path for us. Although Andrew wanted to explore every avenue, he respected my decision and continued to believe in a miracle.
The Lord placed on my heart shortly after our diagnosis to wait (you can read more about that here). I wasn’t sure what we were waiting for but the message was clear – wait on the Lord. We took a giant step back from our infertility and agreed not to pursue IVF or anything else this past year. Our hearts needed time to grieve and heal from the burden we carried day after day, month after month, year and year. The raw feelings could be suffocating at times. I kept crying out to God and praying for His will. I didn’t understand all the pain and heartache but I trusted His plan. When I reached a point of acceptance and was ready to pursue adoption, Andrew wasn’t on the same page and remained grappled with the grief of our diagnosis. He felt as if we were giving up on our miracle if we pursued adoption. Ultimately, he just wasn’t yet ready. It was at that time I was reminded again of the Lord’s message to me many months ago about waiting. During the wait on my precious husband, the Lord continued to give me the strength I needed to press on in faith.
Coming to grips with the diagnosis of male factor infertility was hard for me, but it was even harder for Andrew. It is in a man’s DNA to procreate, sow their seed and continue their legacy. When one is told conception is highly unlikely without reproductive intervention, you can imagine the large range of emotions that ensued. I watched him process the pain, grieve the loss and open his heart over the course of this year. It hasn’t been easy and this walk of infertility hasn’t been without many tears. We watched families expand all around us while we remained standing still in our journey for a family.
Over time, adoption discussions would surface but it was apparent neither one of us were in the right frame of mind to agree on the subject. And then, one day, we broached the topic again, only to find us both on the same page and ready to move forward with adoption. On that wonderful afternoon in our farmhouse living room, I felt the Lord hug my heart.
As of today, my cowboy and I are finally ready to expand our family in the form of adoption. Although we are still waiting on a new addition to our Spivey farm family, it is an incredible blessing to be on the path of adoption after so many hard months of disagreement, grief and loss.
We can’t express our gratitude enough to all those who have prayed for us and with us, encouraged us and loved us along this journey. The support of our family, friends, Sarah’s Laughter support group and church community has been overwhelming the past few years. We have experienced the love of God in not only the people in our life but amazingly, our precious farm family too. Without each piece of the puzzle, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Andrew and I brought our needs to the feet of Jesus time and time again, remaining faithful to the Lord’s plan for our life. We know the ending of this story will be bigger and better than we can imagine.
Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we embark on the second half of this journey. The best is yet to come my sweet friends!
Don’t forget to keep up with the bayou gypsy on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin and my YouTube channel.
the bayou gypsy 
God is guiding us through this journey and has something great planned for us. Love you honey!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Lord is our beacon, guiding us through the night. I love you too honey!
LikeLike
Catherine, this is such a beautiful story of God’s faithfulness and His perfect timing when we wait on Him! Thank you for sharing your heart!! I will be praying for your family as you begin this new journey.
LikeLike
Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement. I appreciate them both. I know you can relate to our heartache. Much love to you, Jeremy and your sweet boys.
LikeLiked by 1 person
My heart is overjoyed for you both as you take this next step towards your family!!!! So very happy for you guys. Will keep y’all in prayer.
LikeLike
Thank you sweet friend. I appreciate the prayers and your Godly encouragement more than you know. When I’ve been down, your simple messages have brought light back to my day. May the Lord bless you and keep you.
LikeLike
Well I love both of y’all even though I haven’t met that handsome cowboy.
LikeLike
Thank you! I hope one day you will meet Andrew and our growing family. I love you Mrs. Debbie!
LikeLike
Hey Catherine, I really Loved your blog about y’all deciding to adopt and I wanted to write this to Andrew. If you wouldn’t mind, please share this with him because I have gone through the exact diagnosis.
Andrew, I never knew that you had been diagnosed with infertility. I also had that exact diagnosis about 10-12 years ago. I was previously married and tried having children with no luck. Fast forward to present time…..when Heather and I first started dating, I told her of my diagnosis of male infertility. I told her what my doctor said, I’m sure basically the same thing your doctor told you. Anyway, Heather explained to me at the time that she had struggled with her own infertility. We both sat there weeping as we told our story to one another about our infertility and it hit me that we would probably never have a biological child together. But, this is where the miracle comes into play. We sat there crying and started praying for God to heal our reproductive systems. I had faith that God could heal Heather and myself, but I also had previous prayers that went unanswered for many, many years. We prayed and left the miracle business up to God.
I remember coming home from work one day, and Heather sat me down and said that we needed to talk. This sounded ominous to me, but I sat there as she started crying and told me a story about a man that prayed for a child, but was told he would more than likely never be able to father his biological child. But, we serve a God who is faithful and hears the prayers of
His people. He may not answer them when we want them answered, and sometimes the answer will always be no. Even though we don’t understand why such a faithful and loving God would say no, but sometimes He does. But, in our case, He answered with a resounding YES, and we were pregnant for our child together!! Our little miracle baby boy is about to turn 4 years old on October 16th. I tell you this to say, do not lose hope! I had the exact same diagnosis from a medical doctor, but our Great Physician was not finished yet. God’s answer was no at first, but that was just a no for a while. I grieved and cried and begged and pleaded with God for years and years. I don’t know when, or if God will answer you and Catherine’s prayers for a biological child, but I do know that our God is faithful and He Loves us more than I can even begin to understand. If adoption is something that God has led y’all to, I think it’s an amazing blessing to you, Catherine, and whatever child/children that y’all adopt. In the meantime, keep praying, praising, and thanking God for his never ending Love and faithfulness. Remember that we have been adopted by our Heavenly Father and that is something that I feel is more special than having a biological child because that means that He chose us!!! I will continue to pray for you and Catherine and your soon to be expanding Spivey family. We Love y’all and if you ever want to talk, I’m more than happy to talk to you about some of my struggles and blessings!! Much Love to y’all!!
LikeLike
Thank you for sharing your heart and your struggle. It’s unbelievable how God has moved and blessed you and Heather’s life. Well, not unbelievable because we have a BIG GOD! Anything is possible and Andrew and I believe that with all of our hearts. We still pray for our miracle and believe the Lord will bless us one day with a biological child. I can’t thank you enough for the kind words and Godly encouragement. Much love to you and your family!
LikeLike
I’ve known Andrews family since he was a small boy. Reading this is extremely heartwarming and very inspiring. Having been unable to conceive myself God reminded me who is in charge many years ago. Today, my son has given us a beautiful daughter in law and 2 amazing grand children. Go in peace into your wonderful journey. Your hearts are being prepared.
LikeLike
Thank you so very much for your sweet words of encouragement. You would be very proud of Andrew, the young boy that is now a God loving and faith filled man. He is an incredible spiritual leader. We serve a BIG GOD and we remain faithful in our prayers for own miracle child even as we pursue the path of adoption. We won’t ever quit trying for our miracle!
LikeLike