Boonville Military Family Needs Urgent Help To Start Family

Brandt and Caitlyn Kinder's life was turned upside down when Caitlyn was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. Now they face an urgent need for IVF treatments if they want to start a family. There's just one problem: it's not covered by insurance.

I have known Brandt since preschool. We literally grew up together. In high school we were in theatre and choir together and he became one of my good friends. A little while after graduation, he joined the Marines. I was shocked and proud of him at the same time. Since then, he has been stationed in California. We talk every so often and try to catch up whenever he is in town.

A few months ago, we were texting about a situation that he was going through when his wife was diagnosed with cancer. Again, I was shocked and proud at the same time. Shocked by the situation and how fast it happened. Proud of him for the way he was handling this situation while he was in California and she was in Florida going through this terrible illness. Brandt has grown up to be a good man, and a wonderful husband. Now, with hopes of becoming a father, he and his wife face a time sensitive situation and need help in the process.

Here's Caitlyn's story:

I hadn’t seen my family in over a year and decided to surprise them down in Florida for the New Year. What I thought was going to be a nice vacation took a turn in the matter of hours.

One morning a few days before I was supposed to head back to California I woke up with excruciating abdominal pain and was throwing up stomach bile. I was immediately rushed to the hospital and taken in for multiple tests.
After a few hours, myself and my family were informed there was a mass in my abdomen. Very concerned and not wanting to waste any time the doctors went in for immediate surgery to figure out what was going on inside my body. The tumor was found attached to one of my ovaries and weighed approximately 4 pounds. The doctor removed the tumor, my ovary, and a few lymph nodes.
Next the tumor needed to be sent out to multiple different doctors for pathology testing. It took a few weeks for all the doctors to come to an agreement because this tumor was very uncommon in a woman my age. The final diagnosis was, Ovarian Cancer. Good news, the tumor was no longer inside of me. Bad news, the tumor ruptured and cancerous fluid got into my abdomen and because of this I was told I needed to go through chemotherapy.

If things couldn’t be any worse, the doctors told me and my husband if we wanted any chance of having children in the future we would have to go through IVF as soon as possible. The chemotherapy was going to compromise the only ovary I had left. Unfortunately this process is not covered by insurance and is very costly.

I know that Brandt and Caitlyn wouldn't be asking for help if the situation wasn't urgent. They are going to make great parents. They just need a little help getting that process started. Caitlyn and Brandt said "We can’t imagine our future without any children. The cancer diagnosis has taken enough from us already; we do not want this to be added to the list."

There's a GoFundMe set up for them. Currently, they are humbled by the fact that they are nearly halfway to their $15,000 goal. If you find it in your heart to help them with their journey, you can donate here or simply share their story in hopes that someone else might donate and allow this Marine and his wife can add another little Kinder to the family.

I love you, buddy and I am sending all my thoughts to you and Caitlyn!