When Federal Way residents Anne and Michael Gintz got married eight years ago, having children was the last thing on their mind.

Three years into their marriage, however, both felt it was time to add a new member to their young family.

“We had already done the whole traveling Europe together and all those things. At age 28 we were ready, but then I miscarried once,” Anne said.

Although the experience was devastating, the Gintzes talked themselves into thinking it was something relatively normal.

Then not so long after her first miscarriage, Anne miscarried again. She visited numerous fertility doctors without finding any concrete solutions.

“The third, fourth and fifth time that we miscarried, it was horrible, but we were almost expecting that to happen,” Anne said.

She continued fertility treatment and was eventually referred to Seattle Reproductive Medicine.

“When you’re in this situation, you enter into a surreal world where creating a child is not so romantic anymore,” she said.

While Anne began her fertility treatment, she and Michael decided to go through the adoption process.

“We found an adoption agency that suited to our values and decided to shoot for the moon,” she said.

Anne and Michael went for a domestic and open adoption, one where they would be able to meet the mother and adopt the baby from the time it is born. As part of the process, the couple went through parenting classes required by state law, and also used the guidance of a social worker.

The waiting:

Anne went through a fertility surgery and soon decided to focus her complete attention on the adoption process.

Michael and Anne both made important career moves and sold their house. Anne began working out religiously as Michael focused on starting a family business.

“We made career changes that we hadn’t done if we had kids,” Anne said. “I couldn’t control fertility, nor the adoption process, but I could control other areas of my life.”

Anne said that as a consequence of this experience, her marriage became very solid. But she remembers balling after attending a Mother’s Day Mass service two years ago because of her profound desire to become a mother.

Nonetheless, that same month Anne’s prayers were heard — and Michael received a call from the adoption agency.

Later that day, the agency said they had been selected to parent a baby girl as of July 15.

“At the same time I was also asking myself if this was really true,” Anne said. “We’d been waiting three-plus years.”

The Gintzes prepared for their new baby by painting the room, buying a crib and waiting anxiously. Anne recalls closing the nursery room from time to time and feeling uncertain of whether the mom would change her mind before giving birth.

“It was a very long six weeks waiting for Lauren to be born,” she said. But in July 2006, “we brought home a new baby and had lots and lots of celebrations.”

Twist of fate:

Six weeks after celebrating Lauren’s arrival to the family, Anne wasn’t feeling well and decided to take a pregnancy test — which turned out to be positive.

“This was the first pregnancy after my surgery, but it wasn’t until week 28 when I truly embraced the fact that my pregnancy was going to go through,” she said.

Ten months apart from her sister Lauren, Taryn came into this world. Anne said that although there are many stories related to adoption and pregnancy, their decision to adopt Lauren had nothing to do with getting pregnant.

“Lauren was meant to be with us. We didn’t adopt her because maybe we would get pregnant,” she said.

It is through Lauren and Taryn that Anne has been able to experience the joys and responsibilities that come with motherhood.

“I didn’t know how emotionally hard it was going to be, being a mother to both, but the joys of waking up in the morning and seeing two girls who want to see you, who crawl up your legs to be in your arms, and who make you go to the zoo on a Wednesday morning — it doesn’t get any better than that,” Anne said.

This life experience, Anne said, has given her the capacity to learn not to take things for granted, and also give value to the little things.

“I tend to take a step back and think of how truly blessed I am for having this in our lives,” she said.

Anne said that as parents there’s nothing easy about the whole process, but her desire to become a mother was so deep that she always knew a child would come into her life. She just didn’t know exactly in what way.

“It’s all about widening your view on what being a mother looks like. There’s a lot of babies out there that need mommies,” Anne said.

“This was our journey, one of the things that we as a family needed to go through, and now we get to share our lives with two little adorable girls.”

Contact writer: acharleston@fedwaymirror.com

FAST FACTS

According to Michael Soules, M.D., of Seattle Reproductive Medicine:

Infertility is 12 months of not getting pregnant without any type of protection at the time of intercourse.

Some of the causes of infertility include lack of ovulation and decrease in sperm count, but the causes are varied.

It affects about one third of women and one third of men — a third combined.

Waiting a long time to try to get pregnant is probably one of the main consequences of infertility.

Fertility starts to drop after age 28, but is still good after age 35.

Infertility is treated by performing a series of tests, X-rays, sperm counts, test of ovulation, etc.

In-vitro fertilization is a process where an egg and sperm are taken, and an embryo is created in a dish. Five days later, the embryo is placed back in the uterus. This method is efficient for women under age 40, about 60 percent of the time. Its cost is between $12,000 and $15,000, and most couples are forced to pay from their own pocket since the procedure is not covered under many insurance plans.

For information on fertility, treatment options, support groups or adoption, go to www.asrm.org or www.resolve.org.