Erin’s story starts when she was 23 years old and told she would not be able to have children. Her desire to be a mother had been a strong one and this news was heartbreaking. She had to have her tubes removed that year.

Erin and Jessica became friends 2010. Erin shared her story with Jessica the same day that Jessica’s stepsister told her she wanted to give her baby she was pregnant with up for adoption. Jessica decided to connect the two ladies together. They went through all the necessary paperwork for adoption through a local agency in Michigan as well. Erin and her family invited Jessica’s stepsister to family dinners, treated her like family and helped pay for things during her pregnancy. When Jessica’s stepsister went into labor, Erin was there for her in the delivery room. Jessica’s stepsister never even held the baby after she was born.

One difficult step with Michigan’s adoption law is that the mother has 21 days after the birth of their child to decide whether to take her baby back or not. On day 9, Erin received a call from the agency explaining that Jessica’s stepsister wasn’t sure if she wanted Erin to have the baby. She was going to think about it over the weekend. Erin and her family and Jessica were devastated.

Jessica couldn’t believe her stepsister – she’d given no indications of ever wanting to keep the baby and never told Erin or her any different. Erin waited in worry all weekend and wondered if her baby would be taken away. On Monday, they got a call saying Jessica’s stepsister decided to take the baby back.

Jessica, who had a husband and two kids, decided to take matters into her own hands. She became a surrogate for Erin right away. After 3 IUIs, she was pregnant! And with not one baby, but two! A boy and a girl. Jessica had the both Amaya and Zander a few days before Mother’s Day of 2014. She signed her rights away to Erin a week later.

After many years of infertility, foster to adopt classes and then being told it would be best to withdrawal from the program due to income, being told she could not adopt in Michigan unless it was a mothers choice adoption because she would be a single mother, a failed adoption and 3 IUDs to bring Zander and Amaya into Erin’s life – she is now a mother and loving it!

These images show how much both women have been through. They both bare their bellies with scars from pregnancy or surgery. Their determination brought these lovely babies into this world.

Photos and reporting by Bri Luginbill based in Michigan. To learn more and book a shoot with Bri, contact her:

Bri Luginbill