Meet Our Intended Parents
Explore these heartfelt stories of families hoping to grow
Meet Andreas & Karel
Location: Ghent, Belgium
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A letter of gratitude and hope to the hero helping us create our family
To someone truly extraordinary,
Words cannot fully express the gratitude we feel as we hope to embark on this life-changing journey with you.
We are Karel (33) and Andreas (32), a loving couple with a deep desire to start a family. We are high school sweethearts since 2010 and each other’s first loves, living in the vibrant city of Ghent, Belgium. We both work as hospital pharmacists in the same hospital, and Andreas recently completed his PhD and now works as a postdoctoral researcher. Our careers have taught us the importance of meticulous care and compassion, qualities that we carry into every aspect of our lives. We live in a cozy home that we bought just before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, which we’ve lovingly prepared to welcome our future children.
While we share many interests and a similar educational background, our personalities complement each other in unique ways. Andreas is known for his loyalty, responsibility, empathy, and intelligence; qualities that shine in both his professional and personal life. Friends often turn to him for advice, jokingly calling him the “professor” of the group. Karel, on the other hand, is best described as a structured yet chaotic, impulsive, and humorous individual. His adventurous spirit includes two tattoos, an ear piercing, and recently he shaved off his beautiful curls without hesitation, coolly stating: ‘they’ll grow back’.
Karel is also deeply caring; he took a day off each month for three years to babysit his godchild and enjoys cooking daily for our small family. Over the past 15 wonderful years, we have built a strong and loving relationship, grounded in mutual respect and understanding. This solid foundation has given us the confidence and desire to start a family together.
We live in one of the largest cities in Belgium, Ghent, where there’s always something happening every day. We enjoy exploring the city on foot and seeing where the day takes us, whether it’s relaxing on a sunny terrace, having spontaneous encounters with friends, enjoying the lively city atmosphere, or shopping. We both have green thumbs and enjoy spending time in our urban garden and participating in community-supported agriculture. When it comes to holidays, we love to do city trips. These city trips usually last a few days and include destinations like Stockholm, Paris, London, Lisbon, and Rome. During the summer holidays, we travel to Southern Europe (France or Italy), where we not only relax by the pool and soak up the sun with a good book and a refreshing drink but also explore charming towns, visit markets, and engage in various sports activities. Our hearts skip a beat when we think about doing these little things together with our future child.
Our journey to parenthood began in 2019 with a focus on adoption in Flanders (the Dutch-speaking northern part of Belgium). Despite our hopes, progress has been slow, and we have been on a lengthy waiting list for more than six years now. Nearly losing hope, we were introduced to Men Having Babies through a colleague and attended their conference in Brussels in November 2023. Since surrogacy is not legally regulated in Belgium, we looked to countries with established regulations. The clear and supportive regulations in Canada, combined with the altruistic nature of the surrogacy system, felt like the perfect fit for us.
In October 2024, we were matched with a truly wonderful surrogate. Over the months that followed, we built a deep and meaningful connection with her. She became much more than the person who would help fulfill our dream. She became a true friend. After completing both the medical and legal clearance processes, we were just two weeks away from our first embryo transfer!
But then, devastating news struck her family. In light of those events, continuing with the surrogacy journey became impossible for her. Our hearts broke. Both for her personal tragedy, and for the painful realization that our own dream suddenly felt so far away again.
Yet from the friendship we formed with her, we drew strength, courage, and renewed hope. It reminded us of the kind of connection we’re looking for, one rooted in trust, care, and mutual respect. And so, with open hearts, we’re ready to begin again.
Hopefully, this time with you!
We are fortunate to have 18 healthy, PGS-tested embryos, and we dream of giving them the chance to grow into the children we long to welcome into our lives.
While we await our own children, we find immense joy and love in spending time with our three godchildren (Frances, 7 years; Conner, 5 years; and June, 1 year) and our niece and nephew (Jack, 4 years; and Billie, 2 years). We love babysitting and hosting sleepovers. We cherish our time with them, whether they visit us or we go on trips together, including a memorable holiday in Tuscany, Italy. We are deeply grateful to their parents for the trust they place in us and for involving us so actively in their children’s lives. We can’t wait to see our own children playing and having fun together!
If you share our values of responsibility, empathy, honesty, care and humor, we hope we can be a great match. We envision building a relationship based on trust, mutual respect, and open communication. We want you to feel valued, supported, and appreciated throughout the entire process. Honesty and empathy are at the core of who we are, and we want to ensure that you and your family are completely comfortable in this partnership, free from pressure and with a space for your thoughts and feelings to be heard. While the pregnancy is an incredible and pivotal part of this journey, we hope our connection will extend beyond that. After the birth of our child, we would love to share milestones and keep you updated on its growth and development, fostering a lasting bond that grows over time. We believe this relationship is unique, and as such, we hope it will be filled with warmth, gratitude, and shared joy.
We understand the physical and emotional commitment that comes with surrogacy, and we will do everything we can to make this experience as positive and supportive as possible. This is a journey we want to navigate together, with an open heart and the utmost respect for you who choose to help us create our family. In short, we hope to build a relationship that’s based on kindness, understanding, and deep gratitude; a connection that goes beyond the pregnancy and celebrates the amazing person who made our dreams come true.
We are keeping a journal of our entire journey. One day, our child will be able to read this story. We fervently hope that your name will be written in its pages as the one who made our dream come true.
A fun fact: during our trip to Toronto in May 2024, Karel proposed to Andreas at Niagara Falls, making our journey and year even more memorable. We are getting married in June 2025!
We sincerely hope to find a match with you!
Warm regards,
Karel & Andreas
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