Dear Dr. Laura,

My husband and I had been trying for 9 months to get pregnant. It was Christmas 2002 when we got a phone call from the National Bone Marrow Registry. I had registered when I was in college to be a bone marrow donor. They notified me that I had been tagged as a potential match for a young man. I went through all the blood tests and meetings, and in February they confirmed I was a match and we set up a time in March to do the bone marrow donation.

The week before the donation, they sent me for blood tests to make sure I was healthy. Then they call me and say "We can not go through with the donation because you are pregnant, about 3 weeks" I said it must not be true and they ordered another test. The next day another call, same information "you are definitely pregnant." I was so torn because on one hand we finally had the baby we wanted, but on the other hand they had told me if I didn't do the donation the patient would have no other options. So, obviously I could not do the procedure and it took a long time to get past the feeling that I had "killed" someone because I became a mom. But as they told me then, and I believe to this day, everything happens for a reason and maybe my brilliant daughter will go on one day to cure the cancer that took that young man's life.

Sincerely,

Mackenzie and Katie's Mom