About the Authors

	“Hi there, my name is Cathy LaSorsa. I’m 42 years old and originally from Chicago, IL. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from The University of Illinois in 1990 and my MBA, ten years later, from Northwestern University. A serendipitously strong economy afforded an opportunity to transition from technology into what had become a personal passion of mine, oncology. The career shift was inspired by my sister, Julie, who fought a courageous battle for nearly two years but succumbed to cancer in 1999. Julie was happily married with a vibrant young daughter. I was blessed to be back in Chicago, where I could live with them, contributing to my sister’s and niece’s care giving while spending as much time as possible together. Witnessing Julie’s unwavering faith left an indelible mark on my heart. Psalm 34:18
	“God continued to bless me, in that through the experience of losing my sister I can attribute all that is beautiful in my life today. My wonderful husband, Scott, and I met at work and were married about five years ago. Our employer, Genentech, assisted us in relocating back to Knoxville, TN… Scott’s hometown, where we could be completely involved in the lives of his three beautiful children. After a few years of settling in as a family, getting involved in their schools, and having a bunch of fun… we decided it was time to add to the love in our home. When we found out we weren’t candidates for fertility therapy, it wasn’t too concerning. We were already a splendid blended family and adoption was something we both were open to… Scott’s mother was adopted and I had had it on my heart from a young age that there are already so many children in this world who just need love. Jeremiah 29:11
	“Again, God puts us in the right place at the right time. With the NEDC just two miles down the road from our house, we learned about the possibility of embryo adoption through a seminar at our church, led by Bethany Christian Services. With both of us working in the biotech field yet never having heard of such a possibility, in addition to the new realization of hundreds of thousands of lives waiting to be born, we prayed if this was what God had prepared for us. The answer was a resounding YES. Since then, we have never wavered… either in our enthusiasm for growing our family or our desire to raise awareness of these precious lives. Our entire family and circle of friends are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our twins in March. Scott and I thank God every day for the donor couples who have made this beautiful choice. Jeremiah 1:5“
	“Hi, my name is Britney Colton. I live in Oregon with my husband and our son, Brae, who just turned 2. I graduated with a BA in Communication and a minor in Spanish, then went on for my graduate degree and received my Juris Doctorate. I now work as a lawyer for a local government agency. “Shortly after my husband and I started trying to have a family, we ran into difficulties. Doctors told us it would be unlikely we could get pregnant without assistance. So we pursued domestic infant adoption. During that process, we did conceive, and miscarried. Seven months after being on the waiting list, we welcomed our son into this world. It was an amazing experience and we maintain an open adoption arrangement with his biological family.
	“As we started thinking about baby #2, we had planned to do domestic infant adoption again. However, God started planting the seed for embryo adoption. Through a series of God-intervened events, we were led to NEDC. Because our son has an open adoption arrangement, we believed it was best for our family to continue that tradition. We were matched with 2 different couples and adopted a total of 7 embryos. We have formed a great bond with each donating family. “In September 2010, we traveled to NEDC. One of the doctoring families had 3 embryos, 2 of which survived the thaw and were transferred. 2 weeks later, we learned we were pregnant! We are now expecting a singleton in June 2011. “This purpose of this blog is to chronicle our journey through embryo adoption and how God is leading us each step of the way.”
	Chris Barrett’s background is in print journalism, non-fiction television and documentary filmmaking. He also has extensive experience in marketing, design and fund-raising, and has worked with numerous non-profits in Michigan, Virginia, Tennessee and Kentucky. Chris will be posting to and maintaining this blog, so if you have any questions or comments for him, please feel free to do so at chris.barrett@tds.net
	Justin Simpson is the National Embryo Donation Center’s New Media Assistant with a background in graphic design, web design and video production. In his spare time, Justin enjoys playing guitar, writing fiction and cooking. He will also be maintaining this blog, so if you have any questions or concerns that aren’t addressed in the comments sections, feel free to email him at justin.simpson@tds.net.