WARNING: This story might bring you to tears.
Ashley and Tyson Gardner tried everything they could to get pregnant. In July, the couple found out their first in-vitro fertilization attempt was successful – but that’s not where the good news ends.
The two were completely overwhelmed when finding out they wouldn’t be having one baby – but four.
A friend was there to capture Gardner’s reaction, which touched everyone’s hearts causing it to go viral.
CNN and Ashley shared a conversation via email talking about her her experience and becoming a web sensation.
CNN: Do you remember what was going through your mind when you found out you had quads?
Gardner: “OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!” I couldn’t think straight! I had never been so excited and terrified in the same instant. We waited so long to have babies so we were so happy… But at that time we literally had NEVER even thought once about this being a possibility. We didn’t know anything about having quads and the risks that go with it. But overall, we were just excited!!!! My husband is the oldest of 10 children so he is ready to take on anything! He can calm any baby and entertain any kid. They love him. He is the favorite uncle to all our nieces and nephews. We are ready! Our doctors say that everything is in our favor for this going great. Doesn’t mean it won’t be hard. But we can handle it!
CNN: What made you decide to start sharing your journey on Facebook?
Gardner: So about a year and a half ago I decided to open up about our infertility struggles. It was getting hard getting asked ALL THE TIME why I didn’t have children yet. I was sick of making excuses for something that was out of my control and emotionally affecting me so much. I opened up and couldn’t believe the outpouring support I started getting from EVERYONE! Even people I didn’t know. It was an amazing feeling to not be hiding this awful disease of infertility anymore and openly talking about it! I found that so many others were going through the same thing! And I’ve since been able to help so many others struggling and feeling so alone during this heartbreaking journey.
As for our Facebook page, my awesome sister Whitney set that up for me when we announced that we were having quads. We just announced on our private pages to our friends and family and the picture was so priceless that everyone started sharing it and we started getting hundreds of friend requests from people we didn’t know. So we did the Facebook page so that everyone can follow our story and we can still keep our personal Facebook pages for ourselves.
CNN: Do you have any idea how the photos got picked up and started going “viral”?
Gardner: Only thing I can think of is what I stated above. People loved the announcement picture so much they shared it and it just kept going.
See more of the interview by clicking here and watch the inspiring video below.
