Alexis and Benjamin

About Us

We are college sweethearts who met at the University of Pittsburgh (HAIL TO PITT!) when Alexis was a freshman and Benjy was a junior. In what seems like the blink of an eye, we’ve been together 12 years, married for five years, and have an amazing three year old daughter.

As a family we like to bicycle, explore local parks, and walk to the library. Benjy also enjoys gardening and is an avid sports fan. Alexis will never say no to a trip to target or the bookstore. We love to travel and are starting to do this more often now that our daughter is a little bit older.

We dream of having another child to grow our family and of our daughter having a sibling. We always envisioned having a larger family, and honestly having our daughter only increased this desire. We hope this child will feel loved and always supported no matter what by us.

We are both very close with our daughter and have a strong bond with her. Although we both work full-time, we devote our evenings and weekends to making sure she gets quality time with both of us. Currently some favorites are painting rocks in the garage, building with magna-tiles, and playing grocery store.

What led us to Surrogacy?

In 2020, during the birth of our daughter, I had to have a hysterectomy to save my life due to undiagnosed placenta accreta.

Communication and Contact

We would definitely want a weekly update and then an update after an appointment. I’d like to go to some of the appointments, if within driving distance. I will say since I’ve experienced carrying my daughter, I might be a bit more laissez-faire. I would like us to become family friends and remain in contact after the birth, but I also recognize that a surrogate will have her own life and be busy.

Extra Information

Names: Alexis & Benjamin
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Number of embryos: 5 PGT Embryos
Agency/Management Team: The Biggest Ask – if interested, email hello@thebiggestask.com
Fertility Clinic: Shady Grove Fertility Clinic
Surrogate Compensation: High

The Biggest Ask Says

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine provides the following recommendations for evaluation of gestational carriers (i.e., many fertility clinics will require the following for their gestational carriers):

Carried at least 1 child without complications
Fewer than 3 deliveries via c-section
Be within the ages of 21 and 45
Body mass index in between 19 and 32
No smoking, abusing drugs, alcohol or prescription medications
Not receiving welfare, public housing or cash assistance from the government
Has a stable home life with emotional and child care support
No mental health conditions requiring the use of medications within the last 6 months (including depression)
No criminal record

Watch the following video to review the Medical and Psychological Clearance procedures that surrogates must complete.

No one likes to talk about surrogate compensation, but it is an important factor in any surrogacy agreement. The following is how we classify high, medium and low compensation (excluding the value of any benefits). Many factors affect surrogate compensation including surrogate experience (e.g., has the woman been a surrogate before?), whether the surrogate is signed up with an agency and surrogate preferences.