“I am only one; but still I am one. I cannot do everything; but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
Surrogacy is a gift like few others.
I learned about it when I was 10, growing up around couples who could not have children, or not have more children. It seemed the most heart breaking thing to me then, and still does now. I vowed then to a surrogate some day.
After I had my first child I knew it was time. I helped two amazing parents have their first baby. Lets call her Star Baby. A few months after her birth, I choose to help them again. In exchange, they helped pay for child care for my own child (specially when my husband was deployed!) and lots of lots of books and eating out so I had less work at home. They also paid for a vacation for my family after the babies came. We do not often take vacations and it was a blessing to have that away time. Many people think surrogacy is very costly, it does not have to be, it depends on the people involved and the situation. I know of a surrogate that just wanted child care and a gym membership for a year. When it comes to agency Surrogacy, I can only say that 10 years ago it started at 18k for the Surrogate and another 8k for the agency and legal support. I had no interest in that and we managed it all on our own. It went so well. I will not say surrogacy is easy, I will however say it was one of the things in my life I am most honored to have been a part of.
My surrogate family is my family. Like the rest of our relatives who live far away we do not get to see them often and honestly there is no hand book on being an involved surrogate mother so I am bit lost about that part. It is an adventure to be sure. I love the parents and the girls and feel blessed to know them all.
A few months ago they came to visit for a few days. It was so amazing having all 6 children together.
5 girls, 1 boy.
The time with them was exciting and I am so grateful for it. We hope to travel in a few months to go and see them as well, and their ducks! 🙂
So you can see that we are a close surrogate family. Not all are like this, some in fact never talk to or hear from the surrogate again. It is all about what they planned and what worked for them.
Surrogacy isn’t for everyone, and it can be complicated and costly. It is an option though and not one many people know much about. If I can help at all, please let me know.
What an awesome gift to give someone! I could not imagine the pain of never being able to have children. With three of my own, I know how precious each one is. I am awarding you the Versatile Blogger award! Please visit my latest post about The Versatile Blogger and see your award and where I linked up to your site 🙂 Congrats!