Help Us Bring Baby Maelia Home to San Diego, CA (Born Prematurely in France)
Dear family, friends, and kind strangers,
What began as a family trip to Paris quickly turned into the most difficult chapter of our lives. While visiting France, baby Maelia arrived far too soon at 27 weeks, born prematurely and unexpectedly in a foreign country, far from the comforts and support of home.
Our tiny miracle, Maelia, is now in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) in Colombes, France, where she will need to remain under constant, specialized care until September. Each day brings both challenges and blessings as our baby grows stronger, little by little.
We are deeply grateful for the skilled and compassionate care baby Maelia is receiving. But as 19-year-old college students caught in a medical emergency thousands of miles from home and without valid medical insurance in France, we’re facing a mountain of unexpected expenses: hospital bills, daily living costs, and the eventual logistics of bringing our baby safely back home when the time comes.
We are humbly asking for your help.
Your generous donation will go directly toward:
- NICU and medical expenses not covered by insurance
- Living expenses in Paris while we stay close to our baby
- Travel and special medical transport required to bring baby Maelia home safely when she’s strong enough
This is not the journey we imagined, but we are clinging to faith, love, and the kindness of our community. Every prayer, donation, share, and message of support reminds us that we’re not alone.
Thank you for walking with us through this. From the depths of our hearts, we are grateful.
With love and hope,
New Parents, Evan & Bea
Fundraiser update:
We are home in San Diego, CA!
Dear family, friends, and kind strangers,
We are so happy to announce that we are safely back home in San Diego. We want to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who donated, shared our link, and prayed for our family’s prosperity.
It’s been almost a month since we arrived in the US. The past couple of weeks have been filled with spending time with family, adjusting to our new routines, praying for guidance in pursuit of our new goals, and showering our Mae Mae with so much love.
We wanted to publicly announce that by Jesus’ mercy, we are debt-free. Not a single penny in debt. To sum up the crazy story of our time in France, we waited months for public assistance in our rare situation, and we received free medical coverage for all of Maelia’s hospital costs! On top of that, since Bea’s medical costs were not covered by the French government, all of your donations covered Bea’s hospital bills (Bea’s bills came out to just under $10,000 USD).
So not only are we fully covered financially, but we are actually positive in money—more than what we started with! What a great parallel to our salvation through Jesus. Not only did He pay for our sins upon that cross, but Jesus also claims us as co-heirs to his kingdom in Heaven. We are covered, cleaned, and given more than what we started with!
Just a couple of months ago, Bea and I were unsure of the future, uncertain, and many times scared. We held on to God’s promises, we chose life, and we knew He would provide. We are so thankful to say the very least.
With that said, we will keep the fundraiser up for any more donations anyone would like to make, as these will very much help our new expenses here in the US. We are always very appreciative, and we are dedicated to raising Maelia to be the best she can be!
– Evan, Bea, and Mae Mae <3