I’m standing amidst nurses, intended parents, and the doctor as my wife gives birth to a baby that is not ours. I see my wife pushing with sweat on her brow and a grimace contorting her pretty face, and every ounce of her body, mind, soul, and heart is going into making sure that the baby comes into the world. I never thought I’d be in the room while she gave birth. This wasn’t how we had envisioned it at all, but that is the way this all played out.
Not wanting more children of our own
My wife and I have 3 kids of our own, and when we became pregnant with Cody, our third child, we decided not to have more children. Both of us agreed to this, but I know that if it was up to my wife, she would’ve had another child. My wife loves being pregnant and being around little children, but she also loves being a paralegal. She put her career on hold to have our children, and I love her for that. We came to the agreement that when our youngest turned 5 she would go back to work, but for that to happen, we must wait 3 more years.
A surrogate mother is a gestational carrier
Last year I found Molly taking out her maternity clothes. She was hanging a red dress that she loved to wear (and she looks fantastic in it) in our closet. That took me by surprise. I sat on the bed, and I asked her what this meant. She told me that she’d seen an advertisement to become a gestational carrier on Facebook. A gestational what? She explained that it was another way to say Surrogate Mother.
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Remember that breakfast I went to with Amanda? The one where we asked your mom to pick up Cody and the kids from school? – Yes I did remember
Well, I went to an Omega Family Global Surrogate Get-together where I met other women who are surrogates for couples who face infertility. I loved it! It made me think that I, too, could fulfill my purpose to help others.
I’ve already done research on the company, and it is solid, professional and it takes care of everything… not only for surrogates and their families, but for the intended parents as well.
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I was concerned for my wife
After that conversation, I was more concerned about her own well-being. Will she be ok? What about the kids? Will she want to give the baby to the intended parents? We now have three children; can she handle it all?
At first, I felt as if I wasn’t providing enough for my family. Why did she need to work if we lived comfortably and we had access to everything we needed? She assured me that I was making enough for the family and that she was grateful for it. What we didn’t have was the down payment for a house. The income from the surrogacy journey could help us get that money together. She was right about that.
I had never considered my wife becoming a gestational carrier. I knew she brought up the financial aspect to appeal to the male part of my brain, but she is truly doing it to help someone else, and to enjoy pregnancy one last time. I also think she was doing it to show off her belly; she loved doing that when she was pregnant with our own kids.
What I like about surrogacy
For starters, I’m especially happy about the fact that we wont be bringing another baby home. As much as I love my kids, I’m happy that I have gone through my last experience of waking up at all hours of the night and changing diapers. No more newborn-baby father chores for me! We don’t have to plan baby showers or have family fly down and make a fuss about the baby. We’ve done that 3 times already. I enjoyed it each time, but I’m happy that we aren’t going through it again. What I’m not very keen about is the limitations surrogacy places on sex, but as my wife says, she knows how to keep me happy!
Researching surrogacy and Omega Family Global
I protect my family the best way I know how. So when my wife got the notion of becoming a surrogate, I did my research on the company. My wife is very impressed by the Surrogate Whisperer (as they call her), Tracy Armato, who has been a surrogate four times and always provides guidance when needed. I did my research on the founder and I even got to meet him.
How Omega Family Global supports Surrogates and their families
My wife applied, and Omega Family Global provided her with a case manager that she could talk to, and a Surrogate Support Team (SST) Specialist that she has access to 24/7. Omega Family Global has a lot of experienced professionals in the field. I did ask her to keep her feelings in check; if there was anything she felt uncomfortable with, she was to let me know, and we would figure it out.
The surrogacy journey has been a good one, for her and for us. She is crying, as she always has, but they are tears of joy: joy now that the mother is holding her child in her arms for the first time; watching the father hug both his wife and his daughter for the first time; experiencing a couple who desperately wanted a child become parents. This is the purpose, this is the reason, and we are happy we were able to make that happen.
Although surrogacy is not a traditional way of generating an income, it is much more than that. It is a humbling experience that makes us more appreciative of what we have, and what we were able to give. During our surrogacy journey, my wife is able to financially contribute to the household while staying at home, and she made friends while becoming a part of the Omega Family Surrogate community.
