I suppose our decision to consider surrogacy as an option is similar to many others who have faced infertility. We were unable to have any (more) children on our own and we desperately wanted more and needed help.
My wife had an emergency hysterectomy a week after the birth of our daughter in 2008. She was 24 years old. As a distraught husband in the emergency room waiting area, I can still hear our doctor’s first few words after the completion of the surgery. “We left her ovaries, so you guys can still do surrogacy if you want.” At the time, I hardly gave the suggestion any consideration. I had a newborn baby and a wife who had undergone a serious and difficult surgery.
After a year or so, my wife and I began talking about number 2. There was never a question in our mind about having more than one child. We talked briefly of surrogacy but dismissed it quickly. Frankly, it just seemed too weird and prohibitively expensive. We were determined to adopt, believing that it was the selfless thing to do. Soon we had had a home study completed, signed up with several adoption agencies, spammed our friends with “Help us adopt” emails, and created several postings in newspapers. Over the course of a year, we were considered as potential adoptive parents on four separate occasions. Each time, the birth mother changed her mind or the child went to a different couple. By the fourth rejection, we were emotionally spent and determined to take a different path. We began to set our sights on a different path. Surrogacy.
After significant research we decided that pursuing a gestational surrogacy in India would be our best option. There were several factors influencing our decision to do this. Of course, a major contributing factor to our decision was the cost difference. A surrogate birth in Indian compared with places in California is nearly a third the cost.
The purpose of my blog is to share the experience we had (are having) with surrogacy in India.
