"My Bella. My baby."

This is Bella, my 2-year old Siberian Husky. She is everything to me and my husband, as if a child of our own, because we have no children.

The last 3 years have been awful, as last year we got told we have medically unexplained infertility. We are high school sweethearts, have been together for half our lives, thought we do the 'right' thing by studying and working hard for our degrees and later careers. We sacrificed traveling the world, partying etc. to be top students and save money for our dream wedding and 1st home. When we were financially setup, we wanted to start our dream family.

Well - all came true but the last part. Not being able to have children like everyone else hit us like a ton of bricks. Our 30th birthdays came and went, and that's when Bella came into our lives...just at the right time to save us from a destructive pathway. I got her as a puppy for my husband's 30th, and from that day, our lives were changed.

She gives us such happiness - it's unreal and most people don't 'get it'. I've seen some really dark days month after month as all my family and friends are moving on to their 2nd baby, and we are still baby-less in a big house. But, Bella is right there by my side, she refuses to leave, with her head on my lap or paw in my hand, and yet somehow she makes me feel better. Bella is our light on our dark days, we love her so dearly and honestly don't know how to live without her now.

- Laura Sidari, Puppy Mama in Adelaide, South Australia