Your First Name:
Melanie
Surro Baby’s Date of Birth:
First journey, September 2, 2010. Second journey, Triplets, January 6, 2013.
Why did you decide to become a surrogate mother?
I LOVE being pregnant, I do it well. I typically heal fast as well. We were done having kids of our own, but I felt that my body was not done having babies. Also, at the time that I made the choice to go ahead with it, I had seen so many friends and family suffer the pain of miscarriages and still births, it broke my heart. I figured that there must be more people out there struggling as well.
How did your family/children/support people react when you told them you wanted to be a surrogate mother?
For the most part, people were supportive. I found that it was those who knew nothing about surrogacy who weren’t supportive. With my kids, the 2 youngest were too young to really understand and my oldest just said “as long as we don’t have to bring the baby home”.
What did you enjoy most about your surrogacy pregnancy?
Everything. I love being pregnant. I feel healthiest when I am pregnant. I also really liked the relationship that developed between me and my IPs.
Pregnancies are not always smooth sailing. What pregnancy related issues did you experience and how did you cope with them?
I never had full blown morning sickness, just all day nausea, it was tolerable. The heartburn was BRUTAL. I took Zantac. The HARDEST part was with my second journey, carrying triplets. I ended up leaking at 21 weeks and was put on hospital bed-rest for a month. During this time, I only saw my kids once the whole time, it was very difficult, not only on me, but on my kids as well. The hospital was great, though. They have nutritionists to help with diet and they had counselors to talk to if needed.
When your surrogate baby was born, what were your first thoughts? What did you say to the intended parents? What was the mood in the delivery room?
For both journeys the IPs were not there. The first one simply because it happened really fast and I was a week early. The second was an emergency c section, so no one was in the room. I was relieved that the triplets were all doing well, despite being 10 weeks premature. When I saw my IPs (both times), I simply said “Congratulations!”.
Having been through your journey(s), what are your plans now? Is there another journey on the horizon? Are you going back to school? Are you focusing on family?
I am done now. Not because I do not want to do it again, but because I promised my family that I would not do another one. I am now focusing on myself as well as my children.
Are there any additional comments you would like to share?
When people find out that I was a surrogate, I constantly get told what a gift I have given, or what a saint I am. The truth is, surrogacy was a gift to me as well. It showed me that I am much stronger than I give myself credit for.