Their Christmas wish “Family is everything”

Tag Grandgeorge (a 1990 graduate of Eagle Grove High School) and his wife, Megan Baron Grandgeorge (a 1997 graduate from Libertyville, Ill.), hope to become a family of three this holiday season through the gift of adoption. But to make their wish even a possibility of coming true, they are turning to family, friends, and even complete strangers.

Their story begins when Megan was a senior at Drake University. Her roommate was the Sous-Chef working with Tag who had built a name for himself in the chef business. When she went with her roommate to that restaurant one night, she had no idea that is where she would meet the man she would fall in love with and marry...but she did. In 2008, Tag and Megan tied the knot. They knew they both wanted kids...someday. But for the first few years they just wanted to pursue their careers and enjoy it being the two of them for a while.

About five years into the marriage, they were ready to start a family. A month of trying turned into two, then three, then a year had gone by and still they had not conceived.

“That’s when we said, ‘This isn’t working...’ and decided to look at other options” said Megan.

She looked into her health insurance and realized the tests and treatments for fertility issues were covered.

“We agreed and decided, OK, let’s start down that road,” Megan said of their decision to try alternative ways to conceive a child. “It was a very stressful time,” admitted Megan.

After starting testing and making the decision that fertility treatments were something they were going to pursue, Megan’s position with her employer was eliminated. This meant they had to COBRA her insurance.

The next 18 months brought six rounds of artificial insemination and five rounds of In Vetro Fertilization (IVF).

“We got our hopes high. We started over again and again. Infertility is a huge roller coaster – and it takes its toll emotionally, physically and financially,” said Megan open and honestly about what a struggle it was for her and Tag.

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