Born in Brookhaven, New York, Kortney Calano grew up primarily in the Columbus, Georgia, area. Taken from her biological mother and placed in foster care at the age of six, Kortney found life challenging as she struggled to grow up without a mother or a father, being constantly moved from one foster home to another. Kortney never really lived the life of a normal child.

After graduating high school, Kortney joined the United States Army, where she served three years and toured six months in Iraq. While serving in the Army, she began working towards her education and began her Associates Degree in Liberal Arts at Saint Leo University. By the end of her term in the Army, at the age of 22, Kortney learned that she would be bringing life into the world: she would soon become the mother to a precious baby girl.

However, Kortney’s joy was clouded by the terrible news that her biological mother was diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver and needed around-the-clock care. Although Kortney had never known the bond a mother and daughter should share, she took on the task of caring for her terminally ill mother. During her sixth month of pregnancy, Kortney faced the death of her mother, and she found it utterly devastating. As she fought to regain her strength for the sake of her baby, she turned her focus to her education. In the year of 2007, Kortney graduated with her Associates Degree. With no time to waste, she immediately began her long journey to completing her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration, specializing in Accounting. In the year of 2008, Kortney graduated with her Bachelors Degree.

Kortney fought hard to grow beyond the circumstances she was born to, but she did not forget the many others who came from where she had been. She set out to help young women who were pregnant, and did so with a passion to ensure that every mother and child would experience the bond that had been missing in her own life. In doing so, she founded The Baby and I Foundation, which has become a major part of Kortney’s life.