West Coast Surrogacy Celebrates at the Beach

 

Creating families, changing lives, fulfilling dreams and empowering women--it's pretty big stuff.  At West Coast Surrogacy, the staff and surrogates are engaged in work that is transformative and so important every day but this past weekend, they took time to hit the beach and just enjoy each other's company and celebrate their successful partnership.

 

With nearly 100 people attending, the surrogates, staff and their families mingled and mixed on the sands of San Diego with the beautiful Pacific Ocean in the background. 

 

One of our surrogate mothers wrote a thank you note, already:

 “THANK YOU!  Thank you all so much for putting on such a fun beach party!  The boys and I had a blast.  It was great to meet so many of the other surrogates and their families.  You run an amazing company that does amazing things and you should all be proud.

 Thanks again for such a fun time.”

 

Thank YOU!  And many thanks to all our wonderful surrogates. 

Working with you makes every day, a day at the beach!

 

How Our Surrogates Talk to Their Children About Their Pregnancies

WE LOVE OUR SURROGATE MOTHERS!  They are the most caring, interesting, and giving women in the world.  We asked this wonderful group on our Facebook page to share with us how they tell their own children about their surrogate pregnancies.  Read these terrific responses and you will love them, too!

A gathering of surrogate mothers and our Director, Amy Kaplan

•  I explained to my 8&5yr old kids that a mommy's tummy wasn't able to grow a baby, so the doctors were going to combine their "ingredients" to grow a baby and then put that teeny baby in my tummy for me to grow for them. They're reaction: "it's like a really great Christmas gift!" They always had a very clear understanding that the baby I was carrying was not ours.

 

•  I gave my 9 year old a pretty realistic but age appropriate breakdown of the IVF process and explained that I was going to help someone else have a baby and in no way would it be ours or related to us. For my 2 year old, I found a really great book called "The Kangaroo Pouch" that has helped a lot. They are both clear who these babies belong to and get excited to see the intended parents.

   
•  My kids understood that I was helping another mommy who's tummy was "broken".

   
• Our 12 & 14 year old understood without much explaining that after a quick procedure that an embryo that was not ours and had been grown in a science way were going in my uterus to grow. The 3 year old was told we were going to grow a baby for our friends. He loved the experience and is already asking when I will grow another baby for a family that can't have one on their own.

Story of a Surrogate: The Intended Mother

By Kate Hill-ABC South East SA online

After battling fertility problems for eight years, she was concerned she would never be able to conceive. This November, she'll hold her own baby in her arms. The intended mother shares her story and discusses her desire for a family.
Although not all women will have children, for many it's a basic progression of a loving relationship, a right of womanhood to be able to procreate.

But, due to many and varying factors, some couples struggle to conceive on their own, left on the sidelines to watch others who find it easy to build a family.
Mary* (not her real name) was concerned she would never be able to conceive, after several operations to her cervix.
"They did tell me, 'it won't affect your fertility'.
"I did wonder about it, even before my husband and I were together.
"We were together for about a year and trying naturally and that didn't work. So we went to see a fertility specialist.
The couple tried IUI first, a procedure which involves tracking the woman's cycles to see when she was ovulating. After several attempts, the couple then turned to IVF.
"We did that for 5 or 6 years. It was pretty draining - each time you go through an IVF cycle you get hopeful maybe it will work and scared that it won't.
Mary described the ups and downs of the process as a 'rollercoaster of emotions'.
"It puts your life in a holding pattern.
The couple talked about giving up their battle, to live a life without children.
"I was probably the main instigator of us to keep it going."
The couple also looked into adoption and egg donation before exploring surrogacy.

Finding a surrogate mother
Mary* said she was unsure to begin with, not knowing a whole lot about the process and her husband was equally dubious.
"He initially said, that's pretty 'full-on', to get someone else to carry your baby, but he was open to thinking about it."
"He met Bec and she was really great and I guess that alleviated a lot of his concerns about it."
The couple met Rebecca online, through a social media page run by Surrogacy Australia. After talking online initially and then on the phone a few times a week - while Mary was undergoing egg donation procedures - the two women became close.
After twelve months, Rebecca made an offer to become a surrogate for the couple.
"We felt very privileged to have that offer.
"It's a massive deal for someone, for a friend to do that for you.
"I think one of the most important parts of it is being comfortable with your surrogate and their family and feeling that you can trust them."

READ THE ENTIRE STORY HERE:

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/07/24/3809873.htm?site=southeastsa

On Why Surrogate Mothers Are Like Unicorns: A Beautiful Blog Post We Had to Share

This is THE GREATEST blog post from "I'm Not the Mom, I'm Just the Stork" a funny, informative, full-of-feeling blog by a surrogate mother.

I am a mother and then some.


Surrogates are amazing.  I think we are a lot like unicorns . . . you’ve heard about them but have never seen one in person.  When I meet people, most are intrigued and have a million questions.  Lucky for them, I have a million answers.  When women say, “I could never do that,” I simply reply, “Then don’t.”  It takes a very special woman to become a surrogate.  Actually, it takes a very special mom to become a surrogate.  For only mothers, truly understand the gift they are giving and the amazing lessons of love and family their own children are about to learn.  These surrogates are teachers, nurses, day care providers, etc. but above all, they are mothers.

I will always be a mother.  It’s part of who I am.  I will always be a Surrogate.  It, too, is part of who I am.  Years from now I will look back at my experiences and will swell with pride when I think of the families I helped create. Not just my own, but six other parents who have been able to live the dream.  Yes, I am a mother, and then some.
I will always be a mother.  It’s part of who I am.  I will always be a Surrogate.  It, too, is part of who I am.  Years from now I will look back at my experiences and will swell with pride when I think of the families I helped create. Not just my own, but six other parents who have been able to live the dream.  Yes, I am a mother, and then some.

Since 2001, I have given birth to eight healthy babies.  I don’t actually have eight kids running around my house, but eight healthy embryos have flourished in my uterus over the years.  Three of those were my own children and the other five grew into babies for three other families.  You see, I am not just a mother but I am a Gestational Surrogate and even though I’m not the mother of my surrogate babies, with every hope their parents had, every pregnancy, every birth, every experience of placing a newborn in their parent’s arms, I relived my own journey to motherhood.  As I helped others realize their dreams of becoming parents, I was continually reminded how truly amazing being a mother can be.  Not just in the delivery room when your child takes their first breath but how every day you have with your child is an adventure and a blessing.

I was lucky that I had a very easy time conceiving, very easy pregnancies and very easy deliveries.  I loved, and continue to love being a mom.  I also loved being pregnant.  I learned about the concept of surrogacy pretty early on and thought, even before I had my own children, that it was something that I would like to do.  How amazing must it be to help people who can’t have children (for one reason or another) become parents?  Little did I know that it would be one of the most amazing things I’d ever do in my lifetime.  Who knew my uterus could be so marvelous?  And I am not alone.  Across the country there are women, who already know the joys motherhood brings, who are ready to help give something great to others.

Every year, when Mother’s Day arrives, I celebrate the fact that I am a mother to my own three.  I do not celebrate the births of surro-babies that day, that’s what their birthdays are for.  I do, however, think of the many surrogates I know, that have bestowed one of the greatest gifts you can give to someone.  Regardless of compensation, there is a certain amount of altruism that surrogates have.  I also think about all women who celebrate their own motherhood, regardless of how they got there.  Alternative Insemination? IVF? Adoption? Surrogacy?  There are so many ways to arrive at motherhood, not one better than the other.

VISIT HER SITE HERE: http://justthestork.blogspot.com/2013/05/my-mothers-day-post.html

WATCH: Hear from a Surrogate Mother and Her Husband on the Joys of Surrogacy

Understanding the Costs of Surrogacy Featuring West Coast Surrogacy Experts

 Mom.me has a new post, "Understanding the Costs of Surrogacy" by Antonia Blyth that features our Director of West Coast Surrogacy, Amy Stewart Kaplan, and one of our Case Workers, Laura Davis.  This an excerpt from the article but the link to the whole story is below. 

If you're considering having a baby through surrogacy, you might be overwhelmed by all the information available. It's important for you to know what surrogacy involves, both financially and emotionally, and to compare it with other methods of conception before you make a decision.
Your Egg or Theirs?
Two main varieties of surrogacy are available. Traditional surrogacy uses the surrogate’s own egg fertilized by donor sperm from the male parent or a donor bank. Then there’s the type of surrogacy you find through an agency, which uses a donor egg and donor sperm either through an agency or the parents for in vitro fertilization.
“We don’t do traditional surrogacy here,” says Amy Stewart Kaplan, director of West Coast Surrogacy. “The emotional and legal risk of a woman using her own egg for the surrogacy is not necessary with the technology we have and the egg donors available.”

“People think ... you’re giving the baby away, but we’re never giving the baby away because the baby was never ours.” –Laura Davis, three-time surrogate and caseworker at West Coast Surrogacy

Some couples looking at surrogacy might be tempted to ask a friend or family member to be their surrogate, but they should be aware that the legal situation may be more difficult in those cases.
MORE: One Mom's Personal Surrogate Story
Additionally, if the surrogate uses her own eggs, this could pose legal problems down the road. "The legal implications are more complicated ... because the surrogate will be pregnant with her own eggs, making her the biological mother,” says Dr. Vicken Sahakian, medical director of Pacific Fertility Center in Los Angeles.
Some parents not only want absolute legal security but also want to choose a biological mother with specific attributes, such as youth and perfect health, which may only be available to them via an agency egg donor.
 

http://mom.me/parenting/7302-understanding-costs-surrogacy/