When Shay Wright and Tanner Martin made the decision to start a family, they knew their path to parenthood wasn’t going to look like anyone else’s path. Most families expect a lifetime of memories when a baby arrives. Tanner’s wish was different. All he asked was to live long enough to hold his child in his arms.
On May 15, the first-time father’s dream came true. The Utah couple welcomed their daughter, AmyLou, a moment Shay captured in a deeply emotional Instagram post with the caption: “Her daddy made it.” In one sweet photo, Tanner, shown lying in a hospital bed, cradles their newborn while Shay looks on.
The family got their wish. They were all together.
Tanner, now 29, was just 25 when he was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer in 2020. By 2023, the diagnosis had turned terminal, and doctors estimated he had only two to five years left. Despite the devastating prognosis, Tanner wasn’t going to let it get in the way of starting a family with his wife.
“The hardest thing about having a kid right now is knowing the chance I won’t see them grow up,” he shared in a video on Instagram earlier this year.
“But I was just always excited to be a dad.”
Because of Tanner’s illness, the couple turned to IVF to grow their family. The journey was anything but easy. Like many families who use IVF to become pregnant, they faced heartbreaking setbacks, including hospitalization for sepsis and the steady progression of Tanner’s cancer. Still, through it all, they kept moving forward, driven by love, hope, and the dream of one day holding their baby.
“It was a massive decision,” Shay, a licensed mental health therapist, told People. “As someone trained in child development, I understand the long-term challenges of a child losing a parent so young. But I also know how to help a child navigate grief and loss. Either way, it’s going to be hard.”
Just days before AmyLou’s birth, Shay shared an emotional blog post that perfectly illustrated the bittersweet weight of joy and sorrow colliding in this moment.
“Even after everything—the planning, the therapy, the honest conversations—I am not ready,” she wrote. “I want him here with me. I want him here for our daughter. I want him to hold my hand through the hardest parts of my life, and I want to be able to hold his.”
Still, in the face of such painful uncertainty, the couple finally got their wish, their moment of peace.
Tanner became a father. He was able to hold his baby girl. AmyLou will be given the gift of growing up knowing how hard her parents fought for that moment and how deeply her father loved her.
For many families, parenthood begins with joy and anticipation. For Shay and Tanner, it also began with courage, grief, and a powerful reminder of what it means to show up for yourself, for your partner, and for your child, even under the most difficult of circumstances.
The three got to celebrate their first Father’s Day together, too. They shared a beautiful and emotional video of “the day Tanner became a dad.”
