If I haven't bored you yet, then I know you're now wondering - Who is she helping? What does she need to do? Where is she doing it? When will she do it? WHY is she doing it?
So let's start from the beginning....
Back on July 19, 2010, I received an email from a woman named Kate who said she was seeking a gestational carrier, we both belonged to the same surrogacy forum, www.surromomsonline.com. The first email was short and quick, but I loved what I read - she was my age, her and her husband had been together several years, they were local (within 60 miles). She said she couldn't have children because she had cervical cancer at 21. I responded 4 hours later, we met in person the following week with our husbands and we haven't stopped talking since!
It took a lot longer than we had imagined to get some of the "must-dos" out of the way, such as insurance and pre-screenings but it was actually a good thing because it gave us plenty of time to get to know each other and bond - as much as you can bond through an email, that is.
On December 20th I had my psychological screening in Boston and I got to see Kate for the 2nd time in person. The screening wasn't too hard, basically I had to be able to prove to a psychologist that I was normal, not crazy, and that I'd be able to carry someone else's baby and then hand it over to them - I passed! So next time Kenny says I am crazy, I have proof that I am, in fact, sane :)
On January 10th, Kenny and I both went to Boston to the fertility clinic at Brigham and Women's - we got to see Kate and her husband, Nain, in person again and chat a little. It was the day after Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head and it was all over the television, so we were all consumed with the headlines but it was still nice to spend time together, you can tell how much they love each other - they're absolutely adorable!
We had blood drawn - I remember I had SEVEN tubes taken, Kenny had 3. We filled out paper work and I had an exam by Kate's doctor, Dr. Fox, and an ultrasound that looked at my uterus - they even gave me a picture of the inside of my uterus, a colored picture, that they said I could hang on my fridge (although it's still in my folder - don't want to freak anyone out!). We also sat down with the social worker and talked, first just me and Kenny, then just me and the social worker (which was a tad emotional and I cried, a lot! - nothing to do with surrogacy!) and then it was me, Kenny, the social worker and the IPs - we discussed pretty much everything, from privacy rights, to what will happen, what may happen, what could happen, how many eggs to transfer, about selective reduction, about what we all want for the future - basically, it was a way to help us outline the contract and it was nice because a lot of things she mentioned, I had never thought of - like discussing it with my children's teachers and ways to explain the process to a 5 yr old! So very helpful!
So far everything was going smooth - I did have to retake one blood test, which I did and everything was fine - thank goodness!
The contract writing was probably the easiest and quickest part in this whole thing. We had so many months to discuss exactly what we all wanted and expected so the contract was simple. We both had our own lawyers which looked out for everyone's best interest. Kenny and I signed it, sealed it and sent it on March 17th! We were officially and legally ready to begin!
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