Charisma Sydnor

Today is the anniversary of our legal marriage. Not our wedding (commitment ceremony), our marriage. We were married in a small cubicle in a government building. No family, no friends, just a lovely clerk with the right credentials to marry us in the eyes of the law. Because our family is incredible, they decorated the River House in order to celebrate our ability to finally be legally wed. The unfortunate truth is that marriage inequality still exists in America. When we had our wedding celebration Cole was still on SSI with very important benefits we simply couldn’t afford to give up. Cole’s bladder Botox, for example, is incredibly expensive, but it is also an absolute game changer for his quality of life. So instead, we opted for a commitment celebration. He worked his booty off with the avenues provided to him (the Ticket to Work program) to get to a point where we could truly be married. After a couple years of determined effort, focus, and a dash of luck, we finally were comfortable enough to take the leap. We got married, forfeited our benefits, and haven’t looked back since. Too many disabled folk in our country are still struggling with this very issue. In fact, we’ve known loving couples who were forced to divorce following an injury just to stay afloat and receive benefits like Medicaid, SSI, and a caregiver. Absolutely horrible. There’s no need for these outdated laws holding back our community and standing in the way of love. As society continues to become more accessible and inclusive, disabled people are thriving in new ways. Our laws should reflect that. Let there be LOVE!!

My husband 🤍 @roll.with.cole

Happy birthday to the love of my life! My best friend! 🤍 Life is 10x more fun, loving, adventurous, and joyful with you in it. I have a feeling year 31 is going to be a really special year for you! 🫶🏾🥰 @roll.with.cole

This will do 🥂

Swipe to see how I react as soon as someone is in eyesight 😬🥴🤭

It’s safe to say he loves it, too! 🥰

It’s say to safe that I LOVE IT!! 🥰🥰 @thecurldistrict

32🎉💚 This year already feels extra special! Thanks for all the birthday love 🤍🎂

We’re ready to try for kids again!! Following our 5-year struggle with fertility, and two years taking a break from trying to conceive, Charisma’s recent endometriosis diagnosis has given us a new path forward. We’re cautiously optimistic, but of course don’t know what the future holds. Trying again after multiple pregnancy losses is incredibly scary, no matter our new circumstances. Please keep us in your thoughts as we head down this road once again. If you’d like to hear us go deeper into this decision, check out our new video!

Putting on my wedding dress brought back so many memories 🥰 🤍 @roll.with.cole

Happy Valentine’s Day! 🤍🥰🧸 I started the year deleting intstagram because it was becoming an unhealthy place for me. Instead, I spent the last 6 weeks focusing on myself and my health. Yesterday I had surgery and woke up with this cute little bear from @roll.with.cole 🤍🤍 I will explain more after my follow up appointment but short answer, I had endometriosis (asymptomatic other than infertility and maybe constant migraines?) and a cyst that were both removed! We wanted to get a better idea about my fertility and decided to opt for this laporoscopic surgery. If comfortable sharing, has anyone had endometriosis excision surgery before and what was the impact on your fertility?

What a year 🤍 First photo: @studiotwelve52