Month: May 2021

Gay Parenting, Surrogacy

These twins were born 4 minutes apart. But only one is a U.S. citizen

Intended Parents

Source Los Angeles Times

The two envelopes, one for each twin brother, arrived in the mailbox on the same day in March of last year.

The larger parcel, for Aiden Dvash-Banks, contained a new U.S. passport and a letter congratulating the boy on his American citizenship. A smaller, flimsier envelope came for Ethan Dvash-Banks. Inside, a letter stated that his citizenship application had been denied.

The boys were carried in the same womb, born 16 months ago in Canada, minutes apart. But now, only one of them is in the U.S. legally.

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sister surrogate mother, Surrogacy, UK

UK – The surrogate sister act: Rachael provides the eggs, her sister Leanne carries the baby. As they prepare to hand over a second child to the same couple, they tell what led them to such an unusual arrangement The surrogate sister act: Rachael provides the eggs, her sister Leanne carries the baby. As they prepare to hand over a second child to the same couple, they tell what led them to such an unusual arrangement 

Intended Parents

Source Daily Mail

Twenty-nine weeks pregnant, surrogate mum Leanne Davis, 37, can’t wait to meet the IVF baby girl she’s expecting.

Nor can her excited younger sister Rachael, 34, whose fertilised embryo Leanne is carrying.

Delivering this newborn will be very special. A labour of love. ‘We’re so looking forward to saying hello and giving her a little cuddle,’ says Leanne, 37, a single mum to three sons aged 17, 14 and nine. ‘We’re already joking about whose nose she will have.’

Rachael, who — as Leanne’s birthing partner — will hold her sibling’s hand and give words of encouragement, agrees: ‘It couldn’t be more emotional.’

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Surrogacy

First surrogate baby ever born in the Fox Cities soon to give birth to her own daughter

Intended Parents

Source NBC26

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APPLETON (NBC26) — Lacey Popke likes to say she has two moms: the one who gave her life and the one who raised her.

“I was told that I was a surrogate baby because my mom couldn’t have her own kids,” she said. “It turns out that her eggs were even rotten.“

Almost 28 years ago, her mother Annette’s cousin, Rachel Tolmacs, offered to carry a child for her.

“The one thing my mom always wanted was a little girl,” said Popke. “And she hoped and hoped and hoped. When I finally came out as a girl, she was so excited.“

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Surrogacy Abroad

US citizenship now granted to babies born abroad via IVF and surrogacy

Intended Parents

Source BioNews

The USA will now grant citizenship to more babies born abroad via surrogacy.

A State Department policy previously meant that children born outside the USA via surrogacy were automatically considered ‘out of wedlock’ – meaning that they were not automatically eligible for citizenship and needed to show genetic relatedness to a US citizen parent to qualify. If the genetic parent was married to a US citizen but was not a citizen themselves the child would not be eligible.

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COVID-19, Surrogacy, UK

Surrogacy and COVID-19 vaccine – a UK perspective

Intended Parents

Source BioNews

It is reported that surrogacy agencies in the USA have been so overwhelmed by requests for unvaccinated surrogates that it has now become a new matching criterion that the agencies use when placing surrogates to work with intended parents. 

The anxiety around the potential harm the vaccine can do to a baby in the womb has led to surrogacy contracts being amended to ensure that intended parents can make medical decisions for the surrogate, and in some cases has led to the breakdown of surrogacy teams who cannot agree on whether to vaccinate or not.

Read moreis reported that surrogacy agencies in the USA have been so overwhelmed by requests for unvaccinated surrogates that it has now become a new matching criterion that the agencies use when placing surrogates to work with intended parents. 

The anxiety around the potential harm the vaccine can do to a baby in the womb has led to surrogacy contracts being amended to ensure that intended parents can make medical decisions for the surrogate, and in some cases has led to the breakdown of surrogacy teams who cannot agree on whether to vaccinate or not.

Surrogacy

Kristen Welker Wrote Touching Letter To Unborn Daughter About Surrogacy & Infertility

Intended Parents

Source Babygaga

NBC News’ Kristen Welker is sharing the sweet letter she wrote her unborn daughter about her journey with infertility and surrogacy. It is easy to assume that a public figure has everything in life “handed to them.” Some believe they simply don’t face the same struggles that we all do. However, as more and more celebrities open up about their real-life struggles, the world is seeing that they are really just like us. It can also help normalize the struggles of women who suffer from infertility when they use their platforms to share their stories.

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Surrogacy

Colorado Passes Pro-Surrogacy Legislation

Intended Parents

Source Above The Law

Colorado’s Gov. Jared Polis is poised, any day now, to sign into law new legislation passed by Colorado’s State Assembly codifying best practices when it comes to surrogacy.

A Major Victory

Colorado’s House and Senate Committees heard emotional and compelling testimony over the past few months, in favor of the passage of surrogacy-supportive legislation. One witness testified to turning to surrogacy to have a child after ten (10!) failed adoptions. She explained that the reality of surrogacy is not the stories of celebrities hoping to preserve their figures but those of regular people who very much want to be parents. (And, by the way, please don’t tell people struggling to have children to “just adopt”!)

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Grandmother as surrogate, Surrogacy

A 61-year-old woman gave birth to her granddaughter after volunteering to be her son’s surrogate

Intended Parents
Cecile Eledge gave birth to her granddaughter at the age of 61 after volunteering to be her son’s surrogate. Ariel Panowicz

Loving and her daughter, Breanna Lockwood, opened up to Insider about the pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum depression — as well as the joy that baby Briar brings them every day. 

When Loving first volunteered to be Lockwood’s surrogate, her daughter didn’t even entertain the idea. 

“I thought she was crazy,” Lockwood told Insider. “I didn’t think it was even possible. I just read it and put my phone away. I didn’t want to get my hopes up and get my heart set on something.”

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Source Insider

COVID-19, Surrogacy

One year later, surrogate mum is still taking care of couple’s baby

Intended Parents

Source The Citizen

Emily Chrislip, 25, has been looking after a Chinese couple’s baby for almost a year due to Covid-19. Picture: Instagram @emilychrislip

Emily Chrislip, a 25-year old US citizen is still taking care of a baby she carried for a couple in China as a surrogate mother a year ago.

Two months before Chrislip gave birth to the child, the World Health Organisation declared Covid-19 a global pandemic. Travel restrictions made it impossible for the Chinese couple to travel to the US for birth or for Chrislip to hand over the child. 

In September 2020, Chrislip was interviewed People magazine about her decision to be a surrogate and her experience thus far. 

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Canada, sister surrogate mother, Surrogacy

Canada – ‘Only feeling love’: How a Nova Scotia woman became a mom thanks to sister’s surrogacy’Only feeling love’: How a Nova Scotia woman became a mom thanks to sister’s surrogacy

Intended Parents

Source Saltwire

Sylvia Berrey and her late husband, Wallace, are pictured with their daughter, Lily, and son, Will, shortly after Will’s birth. Berrey’s sister carried Will through a surrogate pregnancy. – Contributed

Sylvia Berrey dreamed of being a mother, but for her, getting there was a harder journey than most women travel.

Berrey struggled with infertility, and medications did not work for her.

The thought of not being able to have her own children nearly broke the Kentville, N.S. woman. It led to suicidal thoughts, Berrey says.

“I felt like I failed my husband. I felt like I failed myself,” she says of that dark period in her life.

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