A Surrogate Adventure

When we finally decided to take the leap and apply for me to become a surrogate I was overly excited and ready to go.  When I make my mind up about something I tend to go at it full steam ahead and even though I was prepped for the lengthy process I was determined to be so on top of things it would just fly by.  Well, I was on top of things but it did not make things fly by.  Maybe to Westcoast Surrogacy, but there is sooooo much waiting in between each step.  Tons of hurry up and wait.  But let's start with the first step. In the middle of August I got sent over a bunch of forms to sign - medical release forms, release forms for photographs and private information, background check forms for both Mike and me, Zika virus forms... as well as an information package to fill out about myself and our family.  20 pages to be exact.  And this 20 page package wasn't yes or no questions. It was mini essays for each question.  Okay, I'm exaggerating a lit...

Today is day 1 of my IVF cycle.  Which means no more alcohol and the beginning of a whole lot of hormone supplements.  I've mentioned to few people that it has been really strange having an actual stop date of when certain things need to cease - like drinking alcohol and caffeine, eating sushi, certain cheeses, deli meet etc. - instead of  when you're "trying" to get pregnant and it is somewhat of a surprise end date when you see the "pregnant" lines on the pee stick looking back at you.  I did make sure to enjoy a few glasses of our recently purchased wine & freshly kegged sour beer that is now on tap at my house before my clock ran out :)  Anyways... This morning Mike and I met with our IVF nurse and doctor to go over instructions and timelines for the meds I will be taking before, during and after the embryo is transferred and to do a saline infusion ultrasound to make sure my uterus is in perfect condition to begin the process.  Inject...

I'm honestly struggling on where to start!  So let's start with a few fun filled facts about surrogacy. 1. Gestational Carrier vs. Traditional Surrogacy - Gestational Surrogacy is when a women also referred to as a surrogate mother carries a baby for an intended couple or individual.  The gestational surrogate has no genetic relationship to the child that she is carrying. Traditional Surrogacy is when the surrogate mother uses her own eggs to create the child that she is carrying for the intended parents or individual. Either the sperm of the intended father is used or donor sperm. I will in no way be genetic link to the baby I will be carrying and therefore will be a gestational carrier, although I just prefer the term Surrogate so will use that more frequently. 2. What is an IP, IM & IF? IP = Intended parents, IM = Intended mother, IF, Intended Father aka the people I will be growing the baby for :)  To protect my IP's privacy I will not be using their ...

Mike, the kids and I are about to start - errr continue? - a very exciting and special journey.  We made the decision early last summer to look into becoming a surrogate family (gestational carrier but I'll get into that more later) and after months and months of waiting, medical screenings, psychological screenings and legal documents we have officially be approved and are truly beginning this adventure!  I will backtrack in time, and I promise to catch you all up over what has been happening over the last months and how we got to this point.  But for now - cliff notes! We are working with an incredible agency that without, I don't think we would be half as comfortable as we are with the entire process of growing a child for another family.  Through them we have been matched with some lovely Intended Parents (IP's for short) that we could not be any more excited to be on this journey with.  They are unable to carry a child of their own but were able to retrie...