Expanding Via Surrogacy

WHILE Hollywood chooses surrogacy, we give you the deets.

- Angela Bekiaris

AS Kim Kardashian and Kanye West prepare to follow in the footsteps of Giuliana Rancic, Tyra Banks and, more recently, Cristiano Ronaldo, we dig into the world of surrogacy. From what it costs to what it all entails, we share some must-know facts with you – along with a real surrogate experience.

Sharon*, 36, is a mother to three beautiful kids and has been married for 15 years. She welcomed twins via surrogacy 16 months ago, thanks to her sister, who was her gestational carrier.

“My daughter is 14 years old and a big sister to two handsome little boys who are 16 months old. Our struggle to fall pregnant started eight years ago.

At first we didn’t think anything of it, however, as the months and years went by, we decided to visit a fertility specialist.”

Sharon explains that they tried everything from a homeopath to acupuncture combined with IVF treatments. “We did a few egg retrievals and transfers with different protocols with the one specialist, but never had a positive result – every negative blood test nearly drove me to depression. I just couldn’t give up. I was desperate to have another child, so we decided to try another specialist who told us it was an unexplained infertility problem. He told us to never give up so we kept trying and did a few IVF treatments with him as well, but the test always came back negative.” After years of struggling and during a tearful conversation with her over the phone one day, Sharon’s sister suggested they do a transfer to her with Sharon’s embryos.