A couple has shared how their desperate plea on Facebook gave them their dream child.
Lindy Snyman and her husband Kris spent a decade trying to become parents until one post on social media changed everything.
The two faced challenges at every turn during their attempts to have children, from miscarriages and failed IVF rounds to a cancer scare that saw Lindy undergo a complete hysterectomy.
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Now, the couple are parents to Olivia Jane thanks to a friend’s cousin who stepped up to become their surrogate.
“It felt like our last chance,” Lindy, 38, who is from Stellenbosch, South Africa, told Need To Know.
“We’re actually very private people but felt we had nothing to lose.
“The blessing we experience now is fourfold more than the hardship we endured.
“As difficult as those 10 years were, it’s as if they’ve now just faded away.”
The couple met back in 2009, in Stellenbosch’s wine country, where Lindy worked as a tasting room manager while Kris served as sommelier in the restaurant next door.
The two became fast friends – and stayed that way for a while.
Lindy said: “Everyone knew we liked each other.
“They saw it coming, but we thought we were just besties and dated other people.”
The turning point came when Kris asked her to be his date to his mother’s 50th birthday celebration, which she thought was “quite romantic.”
Kris, 41, added: “I still remember one customer initially told me, ‘You must take that girl out on a date. She has the most beautiful eyes’.”
Kris, who was raised in Cape Town, was captivated by Lindy, while she found herself drawn to his maturity.
She said: “Kris is actually my polar opposite.
“I previously dated people like me, somewhat younger guys, artistic types.
“In Kris I found so much calmness and maturity.
“He’s loving and very creative in his way.”
The two married in a fairytale wedding at Nelson Wine Estate in Paarl in 2016 – complete with horse and cart and Kris in top hat and tails.
The couple had a “shared dream” of starting their family and planned for two children.
Lindy, who was 28 at the time, hoped to be pregnant before she turned 30.
Within a year of marriage they began trying and in December 2017 Lindy fell pregnant, but their joy turned to sadness when she miscarried in early 2018, followed by another not long after.
Realising they needed professional help, the couple turned to an IVF clinic in Cape Town, where they were living.
Lindy underwent three rounds of treatment but none resulted in pregnancy.
After several unsuccessful procedures they decided on a change of scenery and moved back to Stellenbosch in late 2021, where they sought a fresh start at a new fertility clinic to try “one more time.”
However, Lindy and Kris received the shocking news that doctors had discovered cancerous cells in February 2022.
After learning the news, Lindy made the difficult decision to undergo a complete hysterectomy meaning she would be healthy but unable to carry a child.
She added: “If we hadn’t decided to try IVF one more time the doctors might not have detected the cancerous cells in time.
“Kris and I talked a lot about it and what it would mean for our journey to parenthood going forward.”
Fortunately, they still had the four embryos frozen from their earlier IVF attempts, giving them hope that surrogacy could fulfil their dream, though it proved to be a challenging journey.
Lindy said: “In South Africa you have to work through a family advocate.
“You can’t, for example, just ask a friend to be your surrogate.
“It must ultimately be approved by the high court.”
According to Kris, the country’s strict regulations ensure altruistic motives.
He added: “You can’t do it for money.
“The judge will sniff it out.”
Potential surrogates must also undergo legal, physical and emotional evaluation.
During the couple’s search they placed online advertisements and received 600 enquiries, though many focused solely on financial compensation.
They selected two potential surrogates but experienced setbacks each time.
After a nine-month legal process with their first candidate, the court rejected the application, and the second “just suddenly stopped communicating” with them after three months.
Eventually, Lindy and Kris decided to appeal directly to their social circle via Facebook, feeling like they “had nothing to lose.”
Just days after posting, Lindy received a message from Marisa van der Merwe, a mother-of-three.
In the message, Marisa wrote: “I have never considered being a surrogate but the moment I realised that I could do this for you my heart was set.
“We have been so blessed with our pregnancies and how easy it was to fall pregnant that I cannot imagine how hard this road has been for you.
“I hope we can help.”
The couple met with Marisa, her husband and their three daughters to get to know each other and discuss the process.
Even after learning what surrogacy would require Marisa and her husband remained committed to helping them.
Lindy added: “Marisa is just incredible – if you wanted to choose a friend, or a surrogate mother, you couldn’t have hoped for better.
“My mom said it then already, ‘Child, these people are from above’.”
In January 2026, the day they had waited so long for finally arrived.
In a Cape Town hospital, with Lindy and Kris holding Marisa’s hand on one side of the bed and Marisa’s husband on the other, baby Olivia Jane was born.
The couple’s life now looks very different – Kris works as a marketing manager in the wine industry while Lindy is a digital marketing manager in real estate – and they’re encouraging others struggling to have children to remain hopeful.
Kris added: “Parenthood changes everything.
“I don’t want to do anything else now – I just want to retire and look after her.”
Lindy said: “We enjoy her so incredibly much.
“There is always hope.
“Keep praying, keep believing, keep having courage.”
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