Ashlie and Chris met where they lived in the small town Reardan, Washington. Ashlie was 16 and Chris was 18 when they started dating in June of 2001. They dated for a year and a half, and their love for each other grew quickly. During this time they continued to get closer and more involved in each other’s lives, and knew that they were meant to be together. They started to talk about the possibility of marriage, spending the rest of their lives together, and dreamed of having 7 kids! Then Chris had to leave for basic training in the Army National Guard as a Combat Engineer. He was gone for 6 months. Four days after he returned Chris got orders to deploy to Iraq so they got married in 24 hours; much sooner than they had originally planned. Chris wanted to make sure that Ashlie was taken care of while he was gone. During that year Ashlie finished high school, moved away and started college. She also set up their home and new life together, while waiting for her new husband to return. When Chris returned he didn’t have a job, so between the two of them they had to work five jobs just to make ends meet. After two years of struggling and not getting where they wanted they decided to join active duty Army. Chris left to switch his job to be an Army carpenter for three months to Gulfport, Mississippi and from there they got orders to Fort Richardson, Alaska.
This is where their fertility journey began; after trying for over a year and having 2 miscarriages. Chris was tested, and Ashlie started to undergo extensive testing and procedures. They did testing for about a year before the doctors started them on a six month round of Clomid. Meanwhile, all of Chris and Ashlie’s friends and family were getting pregnant and extending their families. They felt as if they were missing out on a big part of what their purpose in life was. Five months in to treatments, and facing a one year deployment they decided to pay out of pocket to meet with an invitro-semination specialist. They traveled for five hours to receive bad news. They were told they would never conceive and should look into other means. While they were in Alaska they traveled the state enjoying all Alaska had to offer. They finished the Clomid and Chris deployed to Iraq for a year.
Upon Chris’ return, they received orders to Fort Stewart, Georgia. There they decided to begin the adoption and foster care process. As soon as they got settled in Georgia they completed the application and began the certification. While they got certified, they went and saw another fertility specialist before Chris deployed again for a year, this time to Afghanistan. Despite the information he was presented with from their last attempt he put them on another round of Clomid saying that a higher dose would improve their chances. After another negative result, they decided that the only thing they could do would be an insemination. They had to pay out of pocket and it resulted in their 4th miscarriage a week before Chris deployed. While Chris was deployed their house was opened as a foster to adopt home, or so they thought. There were many children the state presented to them as “adoptable” that were in fact not.
A couple of months into Chris’ deployment they got their first children. They got 3 beautiful kids: a 6 year old girl, a 5 year old boy, and 8 week old Ilee. They were both so excited. They did the pictures and webcams, so that Chris could see and meet them while he was in Afghanistan. The older kids went back to their biological home after a couple weeks, which just left Ilee and Ashlie to get to know each other. Ashlie had 12 other foster kids (all of which they hoped and prayed they could adopt) while Chris was deployed. They adored Ilee, she was truly theirs, and they would do anything for her! After 7 months of being with Ashlie, the court ruled that Ilee also join her biological family. They were all heartbroken, they loved her as their own, and they were all she knew as a family. Not even a month later they got to see Ilee again, and from then on the biological family left her with them to care for her even though she wasn’t in their care legally.
All the while they were still undergoing fertility treatments with a new specialist, the first thing he did was give Ashlie surgery to see exactly what was wrong with her. Ashlie has endometriosis, but not severe enough to keep her from having a baby. They started a super-insemination process that involved Ashlie giving herself daily injections. All 3 cycles were unsuccessful. They were told they would never conceive and they had gone as far as medically possible. They still had no answers as to why and heir fertility journey officially came to an end.
At this time Ashlie was in cosmetology school, and one of her friends knew a woman who did not want her baby. She introduced Ashlie and this lady, and they quickly had an adoption plan. The lady had tried to abort her baby, but found out that she was too far along in her pregnancy to go through with it. She wanted the baby to have a wonderful life, and said that she wanted them to help. Chris and Ilee met the lady as well, and all seemed to be great. After they got a plan in motion, and met with lawyers, they told their entire family they were going to have a baby!!! An adopted baby! Everyone was so excited and the baby shower was in full swing planning mode within hours of receiving the news. Sadly this happiness did not last long, as the birth mother texted Ashlie one day when she was supposed to meet her at the lawyers. She had changed her mind. She was not going to give the baby up for adoption. They were crushed to say the least.
They struggled daily on how to maintain a relationship with Ilee’s biological family, when all they wanted was to keep her safe. Finally after 11 months, they decided they couldn’t go on that way and they needed permanency. They wanted Ilee to officially have a family, and for her to not have such an unstable life of bouncing around. They asked for custody, and that was the last time they saw their baby girl. They tried to move on hoping and praying that they would make the right decision for Ilee, and unite her with her parents that had raised her for the last 17 months. I am saddened to tell you that Ilee passed away on Christmas of 2011, while in her biological family’s care. They were both distraught and are still struggling to get through the daily grief of losing their daughter.




















Why now are they taking such radical steps to go forward with an adoption??
They have fought an uphill battle for the last 7.5 years. Ilee gave them something no one else could have possibly given them… a title: Mommy and Daddy!! They are simply not ready to let that go. They’ve had many disappointments in their lives, but at the end of the day they still have each other. They have orders to Ft. Jackson, SC; where Chris will be a Drill Sergeant. This will keep him in the states and non deployable for at least 2 years. Ashlie is going to Regency Beauty Institute to finish getting her license in Cosmetology. She will graduate in March 2013. She will attend nights and weekends so she will be able to stay home with any new family members. They are going through the adoption agency “A Chosen Child Adoption Agency,” whose fees are around $20,000.
They can’t imagine their lives without having children. It’s time for them to continue the fight! This is the last possible thing they can do to have their baby.


Thank you all for reading their story and coming to this page. We appreciate it immensely, and WHEN they get this baby, you can all count on being a part of their lives!!