Mary Lynn and Jeffery Patterson have been on a challenging journey with heartbreak and loss, but ultimately a beautiful miracle arrives
By Mary Lynn Patterson

For much of my adult life, I’ve been in the “waiting room.” Throughout my twenties, I prayed fervently for Mr. Right. One day, in a sweet revelation, I realized Jesus fulfilled every character trait on my list. However, I still desired a husband.

Fast forward to choir practice in 2011. Visitor Jeffery Patterson sat right by my dad. Then, I heard him sing for the first time, sounding as smooth as butter. I wished to marry a musical man due to my family background. That March, we started dating. A year later, he proposed, and we married in November 2013.

We decided not to wait to start a family, and in October 2014, we received the joyful news of my pregnancy. However, it turned into heartbreak when we lost our first baby to miscarriage. BUT GOD ministered to me with songs that provided comfort. These songs became my anthems, helping me endure the uncertainty and grief.

Three years passed with no pregnancy. In April 2017, after a dear lady prayed over us, we saw a positive, only for the pregnancy to end in another early miscarriage. My OB-GYN suggested Clomid treatment. After three months of pills, progesterone, and another pregnancy in October 2018, we faced the heartbreak of losing our third baby. After four more months, my OB-GYN recommended seeing a fertility specialist, but we weren’t ready.

I decided to try another OB-GYN to see if he could do more for us. When a procedure revealed a blocked fallopian tube, he also recommended a specialist. So, in March 2020, when the world was shutting down, we were visiting a fertility clinic in Allen, Texas. The appointments were filled with tests and procedures, which led us toward IUI or IVF. It was overwhelming and disappointing, and we still weren’t ready; instead, we pursued a holistic approach. So, when many people were baking and gaining, we were slimming up with Susana, a Chinese medicine practitioner from California. I drank celery juice, embraced a plant-based diet, and cleaned up my cleaning regimen and makeup bag. In February 2021, I began acupuncture treatment, continuing to eat plant-based in a town catering to barbecue and burgers. On a spring break trip, I suspected I might be pregnant; sure enough, a test proved me right. However, we lost that baby before hearing a heartbeat.

Happy New Year 2022! No New Year’s baby, but we were ready to see a specialist again. I also joined Moms in the Making, a Christian-based organization for women experiencing loss and infertility. It was a lifeline, connecting me with others who truly “got it.” There were women from all over the country, and surprisingly, there was a girl from Mineola, Texas. We also chose a new fertility specialist, Dr. Ku, with Dallas IVF, began initial testing, and decided to start with IUI or intrauterine insemination.

In April of 2022, Jeffery and I launched a fundraiser to assist with the cost of our fertility treatments and travel expenses. We chose the title “He is Able” for our T-shirt campaign based on one of my favorite Bible verses, “Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20). BUT GOD used our step of faith and overwhelmed us with support, encouragement, and optimism. We were also blessed with the connection to Dixie, a dear friend and mother/mother-in-law of a couple in our Sunday school class at First Baptist Texarkana. If you aren’t involved in a local church, I highly encourage you to find one! We couldn’t have endured this journey without our church family! Dixie opened her home to us in the DFW area. Did I mention she is also a sonographer in the OB-GYN field who became a wealth of knowledge after every appointment? Her home and hospitality became a respite for us during our Dallas trips. BUT GOD!

During this time, I felt impressed to “raise my Ebenezer.” An Ebenezer, biblically, means “stone of help.” It is a reminder of God’s faithfulness. I took a rock from Dixie’s backyard and recorded the prayers and blessings we’d received with a Sharpie.

After three attempts at IUI treatments and no successful pregnancy, we ended summer 2022 on a Sunday morning where I ugly cried as we prayed with our church counselors seeking guidance.

BUT GOD—that very same weekend, a friend introduced us to a couple who offered to donate embryos. Remember the girl from Mineola? She was also on an embryo adoption journey, and Jeffery had become familiar with embryo adoption through an article written by a former colleague-turned-writer. The colleague chose embryo adoption due to pro-life reasons. An estimated one million frozen embryos are waiting in storage in the United States. Embryo adoption offers embryos the potential of life. These divine details opened our hearts to pursue this unexpected path. The couple generously donated three embryos, conveniently stored in our fertility clinic. There are 19 fertility clinics with 31 locations in the DFW area, BUT GOD orchestrated our embryos to be in our clinic!

Adoption paperwork was completed by the end of 2022, by the same attorney that assisted my Mineola friend, and three precious embryos became ours. On February 21, 2023, we completed our first frozen embryo transfer, resulting in our fifth positive pregnancy test.

We did have a tremendous scare, where a faulty HCG test revealed another miscarriage. Our fertility clinic had us discontinue my medication to wait for my body to pass the pregnancy. BUT GOD ended that horrible week with an accurate HCG test revealing soaring hormone levels and our very first ultrasound with a healthy heartbeat.

We continued to meet milestones in this pregnancy. God continued to minister and move, quieting my heart and giving us good news at every doctor’s appointment.

At nine weeks, we completed a gender test and discovered we were expecting a baby boy, and on Mother’s Day, a day that had been bittersweet for nine years, we announced our pregnancy publicly.

On October 30th, 2023, my water broke, and on October 31st, our son, Wynn Allen, was born. The name “Wynn” means “joy,” and “Allen” means “God’s love.” He is the embodiment of both for us. His original due date was the day before our 10-year anniversary, another crazy BUT GOD detail. However, he was born in the month of October—the same month we lost two babies. I believe God redeemed that month for us in His way. Happy Hallo-Wynn!

I hope I have highlighted enough of the intricate details of our story for you to recognize they are not coincidental. We fully believe God exceedingly, abundantly orchestrated every step, working to create a story beyond our wildest imagination. He is truly able!

Our journey may have been long and challenging, marked by moments of heartbreak and loss, but ultimately, it led us to our beautiful miracle. While we may never fully understand why we had to endure so much waiting and pain, we believe it was all part of His divine plan to prepare us for one of the greatest blessings of all—our son.

Feature Stories