Beating Cancer, Battling Infertility, and Believing in Miracles

FIGHT OF HER LIFE
Aly’s dad passed away when she was around 10. She attended Christian high school and met Josh when she was 14 years old and he was 17.  They were married in July 2006.  They spent the next 5 years doing typical newlywed stuff.  Aly started a PhD program so she could start a family therapy career.  Then on October 17, 2011, Aly was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer at the age of 24. “Everything we had ever been, known, thought, hoped for or dreamed of, came to a screeching halt,” she says.  “When she was diagnosed, it was our faith that pulled us through,” says Josh.  “We knew He had a plan greater than ours, even though it seemed awful at the time.”  “I stood on God’s Word,” says Aly.  “I believed He had already healed me but had to wait for it to manifest.” The waiting time wasn’t without tears.  For the next several years, Aly endured numerous surgeries and treatments.  Doctors told them that Aly’s treatments could cause infertility.  With no time to wait for fertility options, Josh and Aly had to make a quick decision to start Aly’s cancer treatments.  “We hugged and wept. We prayed. We asked God to guide us. We begged Him to save Aly’s life. We asked Him to bless us with children,” says Josh.  In April 2012, doctors told Aly she was completely cancer-free!  She still had to endure radiation treatments and reconstructive surgery.  After 2 years of fighting cancer, Josh and Aly decided to try to have a baby.  After months of trying, they decided to try in vitro fertilization which was unsuccessful and they learned the eggs were damaged. The doctors said that Aly could only become pregnant through egg donation.

AND BABY MAKES FIVE!
They still believed God for a biological family but were also convinced God wanted them to grow their family through adoption.  During this time, to keep family and friends updated, Josh started a blog.  Genevieve was born and Josh and Aly were so happy.  When Genevieve was 9 months old, Aly found out she was pregnant!  A few months before Baby #2 was born, Aly and Josh got a phone call that Genevieve’s birth mother was pregnant again and would they consider adopting again?  “My only thought was Yes! Absolutely!” says Josh. They prayed and thought about it.  “We contacted the attorney and birth family to let them know we would love to adopt this baby!” says Aly.  

At 36 weeks pregnant, Josh and Aly decided to move to Kentucky to give birth and adopt their other new baby girl.  They had been sharing their story of how God healed Aly of cancer and blessed them with 2 babies.  Right before they moved to Kentucky, Aly’s aunt shared their story with the producers of TLC’s Rattled.  The production company called Aly and Josh to see if they would share their story. After careful consideration, Aly and Josh decided to use the opportunity to share how God did miracles in their family.  They taped for 2 seasons from summer 2017 to 2018.

“Our story is so broad,” says Aly.  They knew God was giving them a platform to reach people so they prayed for people going through cancer, others facing infertility and to be able to shine the spotlight on adoption.