Tony and Katharine

Our Story

Hi! We’re Tony and Katharine from Ohio. We met 15 years ago in college and have been married for 5 years. Three years ago, we welcomed a son and it was one of the happiest moments of our lives. Sadly, due to complications in childbirth, it was also a bittersweet moment as Katharine is no longer able to carry a child. We are fortunate enough to have created embryos, and with the help of a gestational surrogate, we’re hopeful we can continue to grow our family and give our son a sibling (in addition to his fur-brother!).

Our interests

We both consider ourselves to be down-to-earth, friendly people. We’re hard-workers and take pride in our jobs (Katharine is a school Speech-Language Pathologist and Tony is a Risk Management Professional). We’re planners who like to keep things organized, but also have no problem letting our son completely take over the house with lots of cars, tractors, puzzles, etc.

We enjoy being active, playing games (board games, lawn games, trivia – neither of us are afraid of a little competition), cooking and trying new recipes (often Trader Joes inspired), eating our favorite local pizza, watching Bravo (Katharine) and YouTube (Tony), spending time with family and friends (who are all very supportive of us and this journey), football, skiing, going to Michigan in the summertime, traveling, lazy Sunday’s, and our pup, Henry (10-year-old Beagle).

We are looking for someone who is

trustworthy, caring, understanding, and also values a stable, supportive home life. We would love someone who is open to communication (texting, talking on the phone) throughout the journey and willing to build a genuine, authentic relationship. It’s hard to say what that looks like, but it’s important to us that we all feel comfortable and complete the journey as a team. We are looking for someone who is willing to work with an agency (for the benefit of all involved!).

Extra Information

Names: Tony & Katharine
Location: Columbus, Ohio; very willing to match with someone out of state
Number of embryos: 3 (all PGS tested)
Agency: We are currently working with an agency
Requirements:

Between 24 and 41 years of age
BMI: no higher than 30
Has carried at least 1 child without complication
Fewer than 3 deliveries via c-section
No smoking, abusing drugs, alcohol, or prescription medications
Not receiving welfare, public housing, or cash assistance from the government
No mental health conditions requiring use of medications within the last 6 months (including depression)
No criminal record
Undergo psych evaluation, hysteroscopy, and mock embryo transfer (one visit)
is a citizen, legal resident, or legal immigrant of the United States
Has the COVID-19 Vaccine

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
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.