Helping Others Experience the Pure Joy of Becoming a Parent

Stephanie lives in Connecticut with her three kids. Stephanie has had 5 surrogate journeys and delivered 7 surro babies!

Q: How did you come across surrogacy?

A: I started researching surrogacy after watching multiple people close to me struggle with infertility. I had enjoyed being pregnant with my oldest son and at the time was a single mom going to college and not in a relationship. At the time I wasn’t sure if I wanted more children of my own but was willing to go through the process of helping someone else to experience the pure joy that being a mom had brought me.

Q: Did you use an agency for all of your journeys?

A: For 3 of the 5 journeys, I chose to work with an agency, Reproductive Possibilities, because the owner and staff went above and beyond to make sure my experience was a positive one. The other 2 were independent since we had been through the process before and felt confident doing it ourselves.

Stephanie’s Advice too Surrogates. 

“Be upfront and honest about what you want and how you want your journey to go. I’ve seen surrogates agree to things in the contract phase thinking “well, it doesn’t matter because that won’t happen to me.” and then it happens and they are stuck. IP’s aren’t just interviewing you, you are interviewing them too. So if you don’t feel totally comfortable, don’t accept the match. Patience is key. PS… I didn’t believe it when I was first told, but surrogacy is addicting! Once you do it once, you may want to do it again (and again!)“

Stephanie’s Advice to IPs.

“Take stock of what really matters to you in a gestational carrier and what you can learn to live with. Don’t limit yourself to someone who lives life the way you do. (Religion, diet, etc). Most surrogates make your dream to become parents their dream, too. They will do anything they can to make sure that happens and want to know when there is something they can do to make things better for you so don’t be afraid to communicate your needs.”

@nursesteph122