Lights are on but the hard drives are not recognized

I am having the same issues with my external hard drive as well. Is data recovery my only option, other than sending it in under warranty and paying a ridiculous amount of money for the data recovery send out? And if so, can someone recommend a free or cheap data recovery? I am a stay at home mom and the last 6 years worth of my children’s pictures are stored on my WD external hard drive.