Chelsea's Story
“I will never forget their 2-year-old son saying ‘baby brother’ in his adorable little voice every time he saw the baby on the ultrasound screen.”
Let me start my story with an introduction into my personal life. My name is Chelsea, I am 37 and I’m a single mom to a beautiful 4-year-old girl. I was married for almost 7 years and together with my now ex for 10. When we first decided to start a family, we thought it would happen easily and quick. However, after a year and a half of trying we decided to have my husband go to the doctor. We learned that he had a very low sperm count. I remember feeling so devastated that our family might not come naturally. We instantly started looking into IVF or even adoption as alternates. He also made some drastic changes to a more natural diet. Just two months after receiving the bad news we learned (on my 32nd birthday) that I was pregnant. We were shocked, excited and a little nervous. Nine months later my dream of having a perfect baby girl had come true. I will never forget that hopeless feeling though, feeling that there would be an empty hole in our family.
Our daughter was born when we lived in Washington. I remember being on Facebook seeing an ad for surrogacy. The ad made me think a lot and it stuck in my brain for a couple years. When I was younger I remember my own mother talking about how she had considered surrogacy, too. She never went through with it because back then the carrier was also related to the baby (traditional surrogacy) and she was not prepared for that. So, there it ended. But the thought of being able to help out a family and knowing science had advanced to the point where I wouldn’t have any connection to the baby really stuck with me. I began my research and quickly learned how Washington was not going to be an easy state to do it in (But it’s legal there as of 2019!). I put it on the back burner and didn’t move forward.
Not too long after I had forgotten about it, we decided to move our little family to Oregon. I knew that Oregon was one of the easiest states in which to be a surrogate so I brought the idea up to my husband. He initially thought I was nuts! I convinced him to go to a local meet up through NWSC which made him more comfortable and after much thought he decided it was a good idea. The process began shortly after. We went through the initial interviews with NWSC, met my coordinator and so on.
My coordinator emailed me the profile for the family she thought would be a good fit. They were a straight Californian couple in their mid 30’s. They had lost their first baby due to very early pre-term labor. Their second pregnancy resulted in a son who was also born very early, but he thankfully survived. After two very early deliveries, they were advised to not try again. The dad wrote a blog after they had lost their first and my heart broke. I could not imagine their loss but it made them strong and they are now very active with the March of Dimes. Their story moved me and I knew I was meant to help them. We interviewed shortly after that and it was a great connection!
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A couple months later, I flew to their fertility clinic in San Francisco. Everything looked good… mostly. I learned through my physical there that I had Hashimoto Syndrome, also known as Hypothyroidism. With this condition I was put on Synthroid to help balance my levels. Once my dosing was accurate, we transferred an embryo just 3 months later. The first try was a success! I couldn’t wait to share the news with my intended family. My biggest hope was that I could keep this bun baking to full term so this family could be blessed with a happy, healthy baby… a less stressful welcome to the world than their previous pregnancies.
Throughout my pregnancy we became so close. To this day, I still cannot believe how on-point our matching process was! The intended family flew up for my 20-week ultra sound, which was also the week of Thanksgiving. It was so amazing to share that moment with them and their son. I will never forget their 2-year-old son saying “baby brother” in his adorable little voice every time he saw the baby on the ultrasound screen. We had turkey dinner together and talked about how thankful we were on that holiday that we had met and for the blessing growing inside my belly. Two days later they all flew home knowing the next time we would visit would be when their baby boy was born.
Fast forward to March 2019. My pregnancy was just as easy as it had with my own daughter and on one of my last visits with my doctor, we had planned an induction date for April 4 at 39 weeks because both myself and baby were ready. It was nice to have it planned so the intended family could be here, and my own mother and sister could prepare to help me with my daughter (since throughout this process I had divorced and was now a single mom). On the night of March 28, I started to have unusual feelings. My hands had gone numb. I knew it wasn’t good, so I called my now ex-husband to pick us up and drive me to the hospital. After monitoring and some testing all symptoms had disappeared and I was cleared for release.
But then the real fun began and this baby boy had his own schedule! Once the nurse left my room to gather discharge paperwork, my water broke. I was happy I was already there and hadn’t been released yet. One hour and fifteen minutes after my water broke and 45 minutes of pushing with no time for an epidural, baby boy was born. He was PERFECT. As soon as he came out, a feeling of relief washed over me. I couldn’t believe I had safely grown this perfect little guy! And at the same time, I was so bummed that his family had missed the entire event. I sent video after video and picture after picture to his parents. Twelve hours later they arrived in Oregon and the moment he was handed to his family is a moment I will never forget. No dry eyes in the room and so much love! It is now almost 4 months post-delivery. We keep in contact a few times a week. They send me pictures of baby and I cannot wait to snuggle him again. My daughter and I flew to see them early July. The moments shared between us are cherished. We don’t just talk about baby either. We talk about our daily lives, share silly stories, just anything that is going on. We have grown, I believe, a lifetime connection. My surrogacy process was amazing and was over in a whirlwind, but we have shared something so special and I cannot feel more honored to be a part of it all.
Ready to see if you qualify as a surrogate?
If you are a healthy, nonsmoking woman between the ages of 21 and 41 years old and have had previous healthy, full-term pregnancies, we would love to hear from you!
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Schedule a free consultation with our team to answer your questions and discuss the surrogacy process, including matching times and costs.