Hello, my name is Karen, and this is my third surrogacy. The first was in 2006, and the second was in 2008, but I didn't do much documenting of either of those. I wasn't a blogger, and I didn't have Facebook yet. Now, I have a few blogs and I'm on FB all the time, so I wanted to keep track of this one.
I first looked into surrogacy way back when my now-teenage daughter was a baby. But, I was nursing and so couldn't. Then, we were military, which made the whole thing difficult. Surrogacy can take a long time, and moving in the middle isn't so great, if you end up moving a long way away. And since we were stationed in Hawaii at the time, anywhere we moved would be a long way away. Plus, I really wanted to carry for a gay couple (because they have fewer options to have children), and military hospitals were not exactly gay-friendly back then. I am a Gestational Surrogate (GS), which means that I am merely a babysitter. I have no genetic connection at all to the babies I carry.
So, when we moved to our new forever home in Maryland, I immediately contacted a lawyer who arranges surrogacies, and was rewarded with a lovely match. They were a straight couple, which I knew right off, but I didn't know they had a child already until I met them. But, by the time I found out (they hadn't been keeping a it a secret, but the lawyer hadn't told me as she should have), I had already decided that I wanted to help them. We got along really well, and the surrogacy went great. A year and two months after we met, we had a bouncing baby boy named Caleb.
About 6 months later, I decided I wanted to to another one. I hadn't liked the lawyer I was with the first time, so I found an agency that was run by a former IM (Intended Mother, a woman who needs a surrogate), Miranda, and her former GS, Helen. (In case you haven't guessed, mine will be the only real name in this blog). I had met Miranda before and liked her, so I went with their agency. I was soon matched with another straight couple (the agency didn't have any gay couples looking right then.) who I liked a lot. They didn't have any other kids yet. We again had a good journey, and two years minus one day from when Caleb was born, I had Elizabeth.
We ended up moving away not long after that, but just for three years. It wasn't feasible to do another surrogacy while we were gone. But, I kept in touch with Miranda and Helen, and when we had an idea of when we'd be back, I asked them if they thought I could do another. I had 3 C-sections under my belt (tee hee), so I wasn't sure if they'd be able to find me a match. I know some surrogates who have had a lot more than that, but not all infertility clinics will accept women with multiple C-sections. They said that I should be fine, pending OB approval, so I sat happy until we got back to MD.
I first looked into surrogacy way back when my now-teenage daughter was a baby. But, I was nursing and so couldn't. Then, we were military, which made the whole thing difficult. Surrogacy can take a long time, and moving in the middle isn't so great, if you end up moving a long way away. And since we were stationed in Hawaii at the time, anywhere we moved would be a long way away. Plus, I really wanted to carry for a gay couple (because they have fewer options to have children), and military hospitals were not exactly gay-friendly back then. I am a Gestational Surrogate (GS), which means that I am merely a babysitter. I have no genetic connection at all to the babies I carry.
So, when we moved to our new forever home in Maryland, I immediately contacted a lawyer who arranges surrogacies, and was rewarded with a lovely match. They were a straight couple, which I knew right off, but I didn't know they had a child already until I met them. But, by the time I found out (they hadn't been keeping a it a secret, but the lawyer hadn't told me as she should have), I had already decided that I wanted to help them. We got along really well, and the surrogacy went great. A year and two months after we met, we had a bouncing baby boy named Caleb.
About 6 months later, I decided I wanted to to another one. I hadn't liked the lawyer I was with the first time, so I found an agency that was run by a former IM (Intended Mother, a woman who needs a surrogate), Miranda, and her former GS, Helen. (In case you haven't guessed, mine will be the only real name in this blog). I had met Miranda before and liked her, so I went with their agency. I was soon matched with another straight couple (the agency didn't have any gay couples looking right then.) who I liked a lot. They didn't have any other kids yet. We again had a good journey, and two years minus one day from when Caleb was born, I had Elizabeth.
We ended up moving away not long after that, but just for three years. It wasn't feasible to do another surrogacy while we were gone. But, I kept in touch with Miranda and Helen, and when we had an idea of when we'd be back, I asked them if they thought I could do another. I had 3 C-sections under my belt (tee hee), so I wasn't sure if they'd be able to find me a match. I know some surrogates who have had a lot more than that, but not all infertility clinics will accept women with multiple C-sections. They said that I should be fine, pending OB approval, so I sat happy until we got back to MD.
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