Ashley just delivered her first surro baby girl in December 2022 and talks about how close her and her IPs got throughout the journey!

Q: Tell us about yourself and what led you to surrogacy!

A: I’m 37 years old and live in Central Ohio with my son Blake (who is 8), my husband Travis (married for almost 12 years, together for 17), and our three dogs Oakley, Flash, and Mocha. I started my surrogacy journey in August 2020 after a friend started sharing about her second journey on Instagram. I had never really thought about surrogacy before but I was intrigued and started talking to her about her experience. I had a pretty uneventful pregnancy with Blake, and I really love doing this for people that I know will mean a lot to them, so surrogacy sounded like something I would really enjoy an could be great at.

Q: What has your experience been like since signing up to be a surrogate?

A: When I started out, I joined the agency my friend was with and matched with an international couple who lived in Denmark at the time. I got pregnant with the first transfer, but had a missed miscarriage at 8 weeks. Our next transfer ended up being a chemical and their RE recommended we break our match. That led me to find a new agency where I matched with the most amazing couple from the UK. This ended up being the perfect match and everything went so smoothly for us. Our first transfer was successful and I delivered their beautiful baby girl in December 2022 with them & Travis by my side.

Q:What was your favorite thing about your surrogacy journey?

A: Definitely being able to make my IPs dreams come true and give them their sweet girl. I absolutely love that I was able to do this for them. This experience will always be so special to me and is something I will never forget.

Q: What is something you wish you had known prior to becoming a surrogate?

A: I wish I would’ve known to do more research on which agency to go with. The first agency I joined was fine while things were going well, but they were not there for me through my first ever miscarriage and then my chemical and broken match, when I needed them the most. My advice would be to use social media to talk to several other surrogates about which agencies they’ve used and would recommend. I also wish I had known how hard surrogacy could be. I was naive in the beginning and even though I had an idea of the risks, I never thought that would happen to me. Maybe I could have prepared myself better emotionally. Having an amazing support system of people who understand is so necessary. And lastly, I wish I had known what I needed in my relationship with my IPs. I’m someone who needs to feel a bond with them through the entire process and for us to become close friends/family, instead of this feeling like a professional relationship. That was the difference between my two sets of IPs and it made a huge difference.

Q: What is your relationship like with your IPs and little surro babe?

A: They have become family. I adore these three people and couldn’t have asked for a better relationship with them. Our entire journey, from the very beginning, was filled with little connections that kept proving to us that this was meant to be. We will forever be a special part of each others lives and I’m honored to be Auntie Ashley.