Mothers A Tale OF { b y J a m i e R a w l i n g s • P h o t o s b y A m b e r T a y l o r & S u b m i t t e d } BOTH OF THEM KNEW EVEN AS young girls that they wanted to grow up and be a mom. They dreamed of snuggling sweet little faces, soothing crying eyes and kissing skinned knees. They dreamed of pink and blue blankets, baby bottles, and pushing strollers on sunny warm days. They dreamed of families. For Emily Gray, her road to motherhood was smooth - as easy to maneuver as freshly laid concrete, not a bump in sight. She had three beautiful children - Ryan who is 11, Tanner, the eight-year- old spunky middle child, and Nora, who at 3-years-old, was the completion of their family. Her life was complete. Her children were full of energy and brought countless blessings for her and husband, Drew. They were a typical family, doing typical things, and living very typical lives. Just like she’d dreamed all those many years ago. But, if Emily’s road to motherhood — to living out her lifelong dream — was a new highway, well, Lindsey Halvorson’s was the exact opposite of that. Picture trying to drive your little life car across narrow paths with sandy ridges, where your car could fall off the side at any moment. And maybe boulders are falling off the mountain beside you and crashing into your car, denting the hood, and shattering the headlights. There were rocky uphill parts and then slow straight passes where danger lurked in the calm. Simply put, Lindsey’s road to motherhood, alongside her husband, Justin, was a nightmare. It began innocently enough in 2017, when the freshly-married pair started trying to have a baby. Each month brought new heartache and new worry as pregnancy hopes were dashed. There were at-home ovulation kits, thermometers, trips to OBGYNs, and then hormone shots and medication. And still, there was no baby. “Dealing with disappointment is always hard but when the disappointment comes every month and alters not only your life plan, but your husband’s too, it turns from disappointment into agony and torment,” Lindsey says. The pair traveled to Nashville for a fertility specialist, and were sent back to Paducah for an IUI procedure before starting the full IVF process. They did four IUI procedures with no luck. They did three more in Nashville. Still no luck. INTHEVUE.COM | MARCH 2025 49
