The Friesen Family Love Story

It all started at an artist retreat in Colorado, where I (Caleb) met my wife Bekah. Neither of us lived in Colorado at the time, but we were invited to attend by some mutual friends. You could say we were being set up. It wasn’t long before we began dating long distance.

We like to tell people that we didn’t actually start dating until we got married. It’s because our entire relationship up until that point was long distance. We had spent only six weeks total in person before tying the knot. I know it seems crazy, but somehow it didn’t back then. We shared a sense that we were supposed to meet, and that our collective story was going to be greater and richer than individual ones.

The first couple years of marriage were blissful. No more waving goodbye at the departure gate, no more dropped Facetime calls. We hiked the Colorado Rockies, visited art galleries in Denver, and even had a date in a movie theatre for the first time. We could finally enjoy life together—in person.

It wasn’t long before we began to dream about growing our family. The timing felt right, and we were excited to take this next step together. However, what we thought was going to be easy was excruciating. The repeated disappointment each month was a stark contrast to the ease we had experienced so far. It seemed so strange that God wasn’t helping us make this next big step like he helped us make the first one.

The diagnosis hit us harder than a ton of bricks. It’s never easy to hear “your chances at biological children are slim to none.” The words were almost incoherent. In our minds we knew were always going to have kids. Our broken expectations were a weight we didn’t know how to bear.

Then slowly, the fog of grief began to lift. We began to see beyond our own expectations, towards an even greater story that we were being invited into. We met with friends, and friends of friends to hear their adoption stories. We learned of all the beautiful ways that God weaves families together. One way in particular resonated with us— embryo adoption. So we made plans to visit a local adoption agency to learn more.

However, our breakthrough came when we least expected it. Bekah was working on a home staging and struck up a conversation with the homeowner. They talked about their mutual love for Jesus and their passion for interior design. They also talked about kids, and much to Bekah’s surprise, she found herself sharing about our recent decision to pursue embryo adoption.

Immediately, Bekah felt as if she’d overshared. But before she could change the subject, the woman responded in astonishment saying “I think we were supposed to meet today. We have extra embryos and we’ve been asking God what to do with them.” It turned out that this family had been through their own fertility journey which resulted in a number of perfectly viable embryos that still needed a home. This was an answer to our prayers…and amazingly, our need, hope, and desire was an answer to theirs as well.

Over the next few weeks, we shared several meals with this beautiful family. As we broke bread together, we shared the stories that broke us. We remarked at how unlikely this all was, and laughed at the little confirmations God brought us along the way. And it was just the same as it was when I met Bekah—there was a sense that this story was greater than all of us.

You don’t always get to see the ways God works through your messy set of circumstances. But sometimes you catch a glimpse of the connectivity of it all. It wasn’t until we were brought to a place of open-handedness that we began to see it. We were both a prayer and an answer to prayer. Two families woven together for His Glory.

So, we’d like to humbly invite you into this story. Financially, we could use your help. Even though this wonderful family is donating their embryos to us, there are still significant legal and medical costs associated with this process. Finally, we’d like to ask you for your prayers. Would you join us as we seek God’s future for our growing family?

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!