BATON ROUGE — When Lene Pugliese Hawkes downloaded the dating app Hinge, she wasn’t expecting to meet the man who would one day become her husband and her greatest source of hope through the hardest chapter of her life.
I had never done it before,” Hawkes recalled with a smile. “I saw Jacob’s profile and the first thing it said was, ‘Church on Sunday.’ I remember thinking, Wow, that’s brave. And then I reached out to him and said something like, ‘I love that about you—you look like such a good egg.’ And that’s how it started.”
Their first date turned into three: a morning coffee, lunch at Burger Smith, and browsing decorations at Kirkland’s. Before the day ended, Jacob invited her to his church, Healing Place Church. She loved it.
“I’ve never been invited to church as a date before,” Hawkes said. “He was working overnight shifts but still went to 8 a.m. service. That’s just who he is—steady, faithful, and patient. He balances me out.”
Love, Loss, and Faith
Early in their relationship, Lene shared something deeply personal: she could no longer carry children.
“I told him I’d love to have more kids, but I don’t have a uterus,” Hawkes said quietly. “I had a very traumatic birth with my son. I still have my eggs, but I can’t have more children. And Jacob just said, ‘That’s all I needed to hear. As long as you want to have kids, we’ll find a way.’”
That moment sealed something sacred between them—a partnership rooted in faith, resilience, and a promise to build a family together, no matter how difficult the journey.
“He’s a God-fearing man,” she said. “I just thought, let’s see how this plays out. And it’s been a beautiful, hard, faith-filled story ever since.”
A Fragile Hope
In April, the couple began working with Dr. Ulrich at the Fertility Institute of New Orleans. Lene underwent countless tests to determine if her eggs were viable. But while traveling for a cousin’s wedding in New York, she received devastating news over the phone.
“Dr. Ulrich said, ‘Your egg reserve is really, really low for 36.’ I remember sitting in that hotel room in Queens and just crying,” she said. “I already had all these hurdles to jump through—and now infertility too. It felt like the mountain just got higher.”
Despite the odds, Lene and Jacob pressed on. In late July, they began an IVF cycle. Doctors retrieved eight eggs—three fertilized, and one survived genetic testing.
That single embryo—a baby boy—was declared healthy on Jacob’s birthday, August 5th. “I got to tell Jacob that after all this money and time, we had one embryo,” Hawkes said. “And his response was, ‘This is the way God would have made it. We’re not supposed to have multiple embryos. We’re supposed to have one.’ He’s been such a positive light. I can be a bit of a negative Nancy,” she laughed. “He keeps me grounded.”
“Gestational Carrier” | Louisiana’s Legal Maze
“In Louisiana, it is illegal to pay for a surrogate”
Now, the couple faces their greatest challenge yet: finding a gestational carrier in Louisiana.
Unlike many states, Louisiana law only allows for gestational carriers—women who carry a baby conceived from the intended parents’ egg and sperm. A surrogate, by contrast, carries a child using her own egg and is biologically related to the baby. Surrogacy of that kind is illegal in Louisiana.
Even for gestational carriers, the process is highly restrictive. The carrier must be between 25 and 35, have already had a healthy pregnancy, and be in good medical standing. Both parties must undergo counseling, and ultimately, a judge must approve the arrangement before an embryo transfer can occur.
And the most difficult part? It’s illegal to pay a gestational carrier in Louisiana. The woman must volunteer purely out of compassion.
“In Louisiana, it is illegal to pay for a surrogate,” Hawkes explained. “It has to be a gestational carrier—somebody doing this out of the goodness of their heart. We have to go before a judge, and the laws are just so strict. It’s crazy. It’s not like this in a lot of other states.”
Searching for a Miracle | “We’re looking for someone to carry our baby”
“So right now,” Hawkes said softly, “we’re looking for someone to carry our baby. That’s where we’re at—looking for somebody that meets the parameters, who’s going to generously let us borrow her uterus.”
That search has become a daily prayer. The couple has turned to social media and personal connections, hoping that someone—somewhere—feels called to help them bring their child into the world.
It’s not a simple request. “It’s such a sensitive subject,” Hawkes said. “It’s not like you’re asking someone to borrow their car. You’re asking them to sacrifice their body for almost a year. It’s probably the hardest thing you could ever ask someone to do. I have to laugh so I don’t cry.”
The emotional and financial toll is staggering. Lene estimates they’ve spent over $90,000 so far between medications, testing, and IVF.
“We actually had to go through FDA clearance—almost like we were donating the embryos—because someone else has to carry them,” she said. “Jacob and I had to do FDA physicals. It was so emotional and taxing. On top of the financial burden, it’s just a lot.”
Faith in the Waiting | “It will all have been worth it”
Through every setback, the couple leans on their faith and community.
“It’s definitely forcing everything out of my control,” Hawkes admitted. “But thank God I have Jacob and a strong foundation in faith. I really don’t know where I’d be without church, support, and prayer.”
Their embryo—their one precious boy—remains frozen in storage, waiting for the woman who will help bring him to life.
Until then, Lene and Jacob cling to hope—and to each other.
“This journey has tested everything in us,” she said, her voice breaking. “But I believe that when our baby finally comes, every tear, every law, every prayer—it will all have been worth it.”
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