Journey to motherhood catalyst for career

Carrie Sandoval has always known that she wanted to be a mother. After two miscarriages and one stillbirth she was still determined to have children. Since I was not born with a “maternal instinct” I subjected her to a barrage of questions in order to attempt to understand what drove Carrie and her husband Michael to spend thousands of dollars and many hours of their lives in order to have children. What did I discover? Carrie’s desire to have children is mysterious, difficult to translate into words, and was evident from a young age. “It was something that I felt ever since I was a little girl,” she said. In Carrie, this innate desire was coupled with a conviction to perpetuate the family line. However, in Carrie’s case desire and conviction was not enough.

After her initial difficulties Carrie was unable to conceive and thus conferred with several specialists before consulting Dr. Lawrence Werlin, founder and director of Coastal Fertility Medical Center in Irvine. After Dr. Werlin discovered the source of her infertility issues he suggested ‘in vitro fertilization.’ IVF is assisted reproduction in which the woman’s egg is harvested and then fertilized in a laboratory dish. The embryo is then transferred to the woman.

Michael and Carrie were thrilled at the possibility of finally being able to have children, and the doctor guided the couple through the birth of their first child, Michael — and two years later their twin girls, Makenna and Kalynn. The day her son was born she was hoping for a natural birth because “everything else was so scientific.” Carrie got her wish and Michael was born naturally.

Carrie was completely awestruck at the birth of her babies and it began to stir in her a desire to photograph infants and children. She spent so much time snapping photographs of her own children that it became the “catalyst that caused my love of photography to blossom.”

This appreciation of new life is translated into her marvelously insightful photographs. Carrie has an enviable ability to capture a mood through the eyes as well as through physical movement. Her home is an impressive gallery of photos of her own children — slurping spaghetti with saucy lips or running in barefoot ecstasy at the beach.

Carrie’s photography business, Captured by Carrie (www.capturedbycarrie.com), is born out of a desire to capture her own children with the lens. She has always loved art, and her photography business evolved from the love of art and children. “Capturing the raw beauty and innocence of children — mine and others’ — is a complete rush!” exclaimed Carrie. Carrie studied art in college and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic arts from California State University, Fullerton.

Carrie’s childhood dreams of motherhood are finally realized. Her home is a comfortable confusion of toys and dogs and a steady stream of child chatter, but for Carrie the chatter of her children might as well be the songs of angels.