Meet Bill & Stephanie Gladson - In Their Own Words

Bill and I got married in October 2011 and decided we wouldn’t use birth control in an effort to start our family.

After a year and a half without pregnancy, we met with my doctor and both underwent fertility testing.

I was in the clear as far as they could tell, but we found out Bill had a couple of issues that would make it difficult for us to conceive. We both tried fertility drugs for a few months because the doctor thought that might help our odds, but ultimately the drugs didn’t work. And at that point, our physician told us there was little to no chance we would ever conceive on our own and she then started suggesting In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) and other methods.

For some reason it was just not something we felt comfortable pursuing and together we agreed we would take a break for awhile and possibly look into all of the other “options” after the holidays and after the first of the year.

I was devastated because I had always hoped to have children and it was a very dark time for me, as well as for Bill. I had been praying, praying, praying that God would allow me to became pregnant, but then I finally had to change that prayer.

Instead of praying for a child we began asking God to help heal my heart. If it wasn’t meant to be for us to have a child. I asked God that He would guide us, as a couple, to other ways we could have family, whether it be through adoption, finding a child through foster parenting or any other way we could have a child in our home.

I continually prayed that he would show me my purpose in life, if part of that purpose wasn’t to be a mom.

For the first time in a long time we were able to focus on other areas of our lives...selling our house, buying another home, moving, our jobs, friends and family...everything but getting pregnant. That period of time was from about September to December of last year and then on January 11, 2014, we found out I was pregnant. Truly a shock, surprise and complete miracle, which obviously resulted in a healthy pregnancy and our precious baby boy being born on September 13th.

I learned a lot in that time and I know Bill did too. Looking back on it all, Abner came exactly when he was meant to. And I believe in my heart of hearts God used the situation to show me that everything happens in His time and in His way. We can’t always pray for what we want, it has to be about what He wants for us in his perfect will.

Bill & Stephanie