Why We Built a Foundation Instead of Just Asking for Help

When our path shifted toward surrogacy, I began researching what support existed for families like ours.

What I found surprised me.

Most of the financial solutions presented were not support systems. They were debt options. Personal loans. Home equity lines of credit. Credit cards. Payment plans.

In the middle of emotional recovery from pregnancy loss, the primary path forward seemed to be financial risk.

That realization was heavy.

I searched for grants. I searched for structured nonprofit assistance programs. I searched for foundations specifically created to help families navigating infertility and alternative paths to parenthood.

Some existed. Many were geographically limited. Some were highly specific in eligibility. Others had long waiting lists or narrow criteria.

What became clear was not that support did not exist.

It was that it was fragmented.

For families already walking through grief, confusion, and medical complexity, navigating that maze can feel overwhelming. And when financial pressure compounds emotional strain, it can quickly take a toll on mental health.

I would be dishonest if I said that season did not impact me deeply.

There were moments when the weight of uncertainty, cost, and responsibility felt suffocating. It forced me to confront not only the practical realities of surrogacy, but also the emotional resilience required to move forward.

And in that season, a question began to form:

What if the solution was not just to find support, but to build it?

A personal fundraiser would have addressed our immediate need. But the more I looked at the landscape, the more I realized that what families often lack is not generosity. It is structure. Transparency. Accessibility. A system designed intentionally to walk with them.

That is why we created The Heartbreak to Hope Foundation as a registered Florida nonprofit corporation .

This was not about pride. It was about purpose.

If we were going to ask people to stand beside us, it needed to be done with governance, oversight, and long-term vision . It needed to be bigger than one moment in time.

Our experience exposed gaps. Not malicious gaps. Not intentional exclusion. But real gaps.

We believe those gaps can be reduced.

A foundation creates the ability to build structured assistance programs. It creates transparency in how funds are used. It creates continuity beyond one family’s story.

What began as personal heartbreak evolved into a conviction: no family should feel financially cornered while emotionally vulnerable.

We cannot solve every challenge within the fertility and surrogacy landscape.

But we can contribute to a model of support that is clear, responsible, and rooted in community.

That is why we built this foundation.

Not just to ask for help.

But to build something that lasts.

—

Tim Erdlen
Founder & President
The Heartbreak to Hope Foundation