KENOSHA — Jordan and Tiah Lee, a former Racine County Eye Hometown Hero, have been married since 2019, but growing their family didn’t come as quickly as they had hoped.
After three rounds of intrauterine insemination (IUI) and one round of in vitro fertilization (IVF), they are finally pregnant.
The two-and-a-half-year wait is over and their bundle of joy will make their appearance in May of next year.
From the beginning, the couple has shared the reality of dealing with infertility on social media to educate others about the challenges people face when trying to conceive. Now, their story has gone viral.
Tiah explains in college she was given a diagnosis of Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), but the diagnosis was taken lightly by the medical professionals she was seeing at the time. However, when the time came to try conceiving, it wasn’t such smooth sailing.
Jordan, Tiah and their dog, Von, in their kitchen taking a pregnancy announcement photo. – Credit: @stephenberty
Johns Hopkins Fertility Center states around one in eight couples may have difficulty conceiving.
“I knew that it was something that was common, but people don’t talk about it a lot, like openly and publicly. I learned that it was more like a lonely journey, so I just wanted to be open and share about it publicly, to make others who are dealing with the same situation feel (that they are) not alone,” says Tiah about her IVF journey.
Sharing the struggles
“It’s kind of hard comparing yourself,” says Tiah Lee, 26 years old. “I would see other people in similar situations where it would happen quicker for them, and I honestly never thought that we would have to do IVF. I always told myself like, ‘I don’t want to do that’, but after three failed IUI’s the time had come.”
Jordan notes that the couple was going through this process during the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, adding another layer of challenges, like Jordan not physically always being able to be present at the doctor’s appointments.
During IVF, the couple did shots daily for 10 weeks.
The couple agrees that sharing their story is about more than themselves, it’s about helping others feel less alone as well.
Despite the struggles they’ve faced, their pregnancy announcement, which was a long time in coming, has been well-supported.
Tiah’s IVF shots that were given everyday for 10 weeks. – Credit: Lee family
Tiah’s IVF shots that were given everyday for 10 weeks. – Viral videos
The couple first announced their pregnancy on Jordan and Tiah’s Instagram and Tiktok accounts on Dec. 8. The announcement was a series of three videos.
First video
It started first with a video in their kitchen. This was their general announcement.
“I wanted something that was like, you were looking into our home and into our lives because we’ve just been so public about things,” says father-to-be Jordan. “Like you’re part of our conversations in the house, and it was just so natural.”
The original announcement, where they are in the kitchen, was viewed 24,200 times on Jordan’s Instagram and around 9,000 times on Tiktok.
Second video: Telling the grandparents
Prior to that announcement, taking place in their kitchen, the couple shared the good news with their families. They were able to surprise Tiah’s mom, who lives in Mount Pleasant, and even took a 6-hour drive to Missouri to surprise Jordan’s parents.
The announcement of revealing the pregnancy with their parents tugged on the heartstrings of people across the internet, too.
In this video, the couple explains they bought a car seat at Goodwill, placed it in front of their family’s front doors, rang their doorbells, and ran to hide. Placed on the car seat was a sign that read, “Baby Lee coming May 2023.”
View that video on their social media here. The reveal to the grandparents has been viewed over 40,700 times on Jordan’s Instagram and more than 33,800 times on his Tiktok.
“It was just so pure happiness,” says Jordan about the soon-to-be grandparents’ reactions.
Third video
Prior to telling their followers online, and sharing the news with their families, they also surprised their friends in a third video.
They told their friends by saying they were taking a photo, but in reality, they were taking a video. During the announcement to their friends, Jordan was counting down from three to two, and then yelled, “Tiah’s pregnant!”
“Months before that (the announcement), in the same room, with the same people, we were prayed over, about having kids and our future. And so it was just kind of surreal, that months later, in the same room, with the same people, we were celebrating those answered prayers,” Jordan expresses.
The video of their friends’ reactions has been viewed 76,200 times on his Instagram. On his Tik Tok, this reveal has been watched 27.3 million times. That number continues to climb, too, on both platforms.
“They’re gonna be the best aunts and uncles who this kid will ever have,” says Jordan about their friends in the video.
Now they are in it for the long run, sharing hope one video at a time. As the number of views continues to climb, on their three videos, so does awareness about their journey to pregnancy.
Follow their journey and learn more about their pregnancy on Jordan and Tiah’s social media accounts: @thejordanlee and @tiahlee8 on Tiktok, @thejordanleebird and @tiahlee on Instagram.
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