Gestational Surrogacy Now a Family-Building Option for Hopeful Parents From All Walks of Life
Chevy Chase, MD (PRWEB) May 07, 2014 -- At first glance, Jody and Shannon Bowen appear to be living the traditional suburban dream. The Richmond area couple is happily married, with a new baby who is the center of their world. The Bowen family may seem unremarkable until one considers that baby daughter Hazel arrived with the assistance of Creative Family Connections LLC, a law firm that provided the surrogate matching and legal services to support Hazel’s birth through gestational surrogacy.
Although Jody and Shannon always dreamed of being parents, they also knew that Shannon’s medical history would not allow for them to realize parenthood in the conventional way. As time passed, they began to consider the possibility of a future without children of their own.
Then came the moment that would change the Bowens’ lives forever. One evening, as Jody began his regular commute home, he tuned in to a program on National Public Radio. Attorney Diane Hinson, the owner and founder of Creative Family Connections, was being featured as part of a series on “Making Babies: 21st Century Families.” An expert in gestational surrogacy and assisted reproductive technology law, Hinson was discussing how surrogacy was becoming a family building option for people from all walks of life, and was no longer reserved only for the exceptionally wealthy.
“In a surrogacy arrangement, a woman, known as a surrogate, agrees to carry and deliver a baby for an intended parent or parents,” Hinson explained. “There are two types of surrogacy – traditional surrogacy and gestational surrogacy. In traditional surrogacy, a surrogate is inseminated either by the intended father or an anonymous donor, and carries the baby to term. The child is thereby genetically related to both the surrogate, who provides the egg, and the intended father or anonymous donor. In gestational surrogacy, an egg is removed from the intended mother or an anonymous donor and is fertilized with the sperm of the intended father or anonymous donor. The fertilized egg, or embryo, is then transferred to a surrogate who carries the baby to term. The child is thereby genetically related to the woman who donated the egg and the intended father or sperm donor, but not the surrogate. In the U.S., gestational surrogacy is more common and less legally complex than traditional surrogacy.”
For Jody, it was a light bulb moment. “We had never even thought about surrogacy,” said Jody. “We didn’t think it was a real-life option, so there was never any discussion.”
Yet, less than a week later, the Bowens were scheduled for an appointment at Creative Family Connections’ offices to discuss something previously unimaginable to them – finding another woman to carry their baby.
Recalling their initial meeting Hinson says, “I shared with Jody and Shannon that we help every single kind of prospective parent you can imagine. Lots of our parents are just like them – hopeful, ordinary people who, more than anything else, want to have children of their own. It may not be the way anyone dreams of having a baby when they are growing up, but thank goodness the medical technology exists today!”
Creative Family Connections offers prospective parents a complimentary consultation to help shed light on the many complexities of gestational surrogacy. During this initial meeting, Hinson and her team explain the overall surrogacy process, and outline in greater detail how her law firm uniquely finds surrogate candidates, matches parents and surrogates, and supports all parties throughout the surrogacy journey. As an attorney, Hinson also takes time to describe for intended parents how the law plays an integral part of the process; “There is no Federal surrogacy law in our country. Surrogacy laws vary from state to state and sometimes from county to county. Laws may also differ based on who the parents are – straight or gay, single or married, and whether they are using their own eggs and sperm or require the assistance of a donor.” Hinson says, “Our goal is to make the right match, right from the start. And, our over-arching goal is to make the entire journey as smooth and happy as possible, while also ensuring that everything is legal and ethical.”
Creative Family Connections matches intended parents with gestational surrogates only after an extensive screening process, which includes evaluating criteria such as her medical history, lifestyle preferences, geographic location, and her views on critical pregnancy-related issues. Hinson and her team are very selective when identifying potential surrogates. According to Hinson, “The test we use is: Would we trust this woman to be our surrogate? If we cannot say ‘yes’ unequivocally, we will not give further consideration to the surrogate candidate. The result is that only about two percent of the initial applicants we review make it through our screening process.”
Hinson emphasizes that, “Creative Family Connections’ surrogates are becoming surrogates to change someone’s life. They live for the moment when the new parents hold their baby for the first time. This gives reassurance to the prospective parents.” She explains, “It is not uncommon for prospective parents to have an underlying worry that the surrogate might change her mind and want to keep the baby. So, when we share with parents that our surrogates are equally concerned about the possibility of parents changing their minds, they are both surprised and relieved. Nevertheless, to protect all parties from a legal standpoint, we obtain a pre-birth court order during the second trimester declaring that the prospective parents are the sole legal parents and the surrogate has no legal rights or obligations.”
Looking back, Jody acknowledges, “Knowing that Creative Family Connections was managing the process eased our worries. For us, having that security and peace of mind was beyond worth it. The Creative Family Connections team walked us through everything and took care of the hard parts. We could never have done this on our own without having a nervous breakdown!”
Creative Family Connections proposed to match Jody and Shannon to gestational surrogate, Jessica, a married mother of two who lives just a few hours from the Bowens. The ability to be within driving distance of their surrogate was one of Jody and Shannon’s preferences. Creative Family Connections facilitated a “match meeting” between the Bowens and Jessica, to allow them to determine if there was a mutual desire to move forward with the process. Upon the agreement of all parties, the match was made, and their partnership had officially begun.
Jody recalls that he and Shannon eased into the surrogacy relationship cautiously because, “You are afraid of getting hurt.” The couple admits that using an experienced surrogate matching firm helped ease their concerns, though. Shannon added, “Knowing how well surrogates are screened at Creative Family Connections, we were not worried about what she was or wasn’t doing. We knew this was the best possible situation.”
Indeed, their surrogate understood the Bowens’ concerns, but it did not take long for Jody and Shannon and Jessica to establish the levels of trust and support essential to a successful surrogacy partnership. Jessica explains enthusiastically why she chose to become a surrogate, “I guess the reason I do [surrogacy] is for the feeling I get when they see their baby for the first time and the enjoyment of knowing that I help bring someone into this world that they will love forever. I feel like we become family in a way and are connected for life. Shannon and Jody are awesome – so laid back and easy going, loving and caring. I know they are going to be wonderful parents!”
Fast-forward to January 2014, and the Bowens are settled with their newborn daughter in a private room on the hospital maternity ward. Shannon looks back on the experience and recognizes, “The hospital staff was incredible. They went out of their way to treat us like any new parents. It was not awkward at all. They related to us as naturally as if I had delivered Hazel myself.” Yet, for all the perceived normality, this was a surrogacy delivery, in which another woman carried and delivered their baby because Shannon was medically unable to do so. To achieve the sense of a “seamless delivery,” significant planning was required in advance of Hazel’s birth. As part of the support services Creative Family Connections provides to its clients, every consideration of the baby’s birth plan was coordinated with the hospital and its team. This level of preparation allows each new parent the opportunity to be engaged completely in the moment that his or her dream of becoming a parent is made a reality.
When Jody and Shannon saw their newborn child for the first time, they describe the moment as, “being swept away in a rush of emotions.” Shannon recalls that she was blindsided by the depth of the feelings she experienced for her surrogate, Jessica, immediately following Hazel’s birth. “I nearly cried when I tried to thank Jess,” she said. “It’s hard to explain how grateful we are.” Jody adds, “Neither words nor money could truly repay Jess for the gift that she gave us. I wish there was some way we could express our infinite gratitude. She really is our angel.”
Creative Family Connections LLC is a boutique law firm, headquartered in the metropolitan Washington, DC area, that helps prospective parents of all kinds (gay and straight, partnered and single, domestic and international) to build families by providing surrogate matching, support and legal services in one integrated firm. Creative Family Connections was founded on the principle that “everyone can build a family,” and is dedicated to championing reproductive rights for all prospective parents. Creative Family Connections is proud to have produced the only state-by-state interactive map that summarizes surrogacy laws as practiced in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Pamela Benson, Creative Family Connections LLC, http://www.creativefamilyconnections.com, +1 (240) 235-6006, [email protected]
Share this article