What Garon & Jamie did when Adoption Fell Apart

WHAT GARON AND JAMIE DID WHEN THEIR ADOPTION FELL THROUGH

Husbands Garon Wade and Jamie Suriano had hoped to make their 3-year-old son Matteo a big brother this year. But after the birth mother chose to keep the baby, the couple had to learn how to accept the emotional costs that come with adoption.

Garon Wade grew up knowing he wanted to be a dad. What’s more, he knew he wanted to be an adoptive dad.

“Even before I recognized that I was gay, I always knew that I wanted to be a parent,” he said. “And I always wanted to adopt. I’m adopted, my sister is adopted, my father is adopted. So when it came to my family, adopting a child wasn’t a result of me being gay. That was a result me being adopted, too, and thinking what an amazing experience it is to give somebody a parent.”

Both men believed Matteo would be their only child, but after two years of raising one son they realized they wanted to grow their family.

“We originally thought when we adopted Matteo that we were only going to have one kid,” Suriano said. “Right around his second birthday, we started talking about having another and thought it would be good for him to have a brother or sister. You see how much fun they are and how much happiness you get out of having a kid.”

Wade and Suriano went back to the same agency they used for Matteo. They followed all the right steps — updated their home study, worked with their social worker and attorney. Finally, the call came through. They would be bringing home a little girl.

Matteo was so close to meeting his baby sister — until that second call came. The birth mother had decided to keep the baby.

“Once you get that call, once someone says you have a child, your heart just goes there,” Wade said. “When you get that second call, it’s such a disappointment. I can remember with Matteo saying, ‘OK, we’ll take this baby, we’ll take care of him the best we can.’ And a part of you wants to remain unattached because there’s the possibility that something could happen.

“That doesn’t work, though, with a child. It’s hard to go halfway.”

The couple lost this chance at a daughter, but both men have learned how to accept the risks of adoption.

Click here to read the entire article.

December 21, 2015 by Michael Lambert via gayswithkids.com

in Adoption / Family Stories / Legal / Personal Stories  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

The Story Behind America’s Youngest Gay Dad

Twenty-year-old Brian Mariano finds the normal life overrated as he explores being a gay dad with his 2-year-old son Aison.

Mariano became a father with then-girlfriend Kelly when he was still in high school, and the two are negotiating all the struggles of young parenthood – plus a few extra. As a father, Brian Mariano feels lucky to have close family and friends who support him. But the gay dad (the youngest American gay dad we know of) from Newton, Massachusetts, admits that sometimes some people just don’t get him.

“Everybody in my life is really supportive of me,” he said. “If it’s someone new and a friend mentions I’m a dad, they will stop. ‘Wait, what? How are you a dad? You’re gay.’ It’s like that ‘Mean Girls’ quote sometimes. You know – ‘if you’re from Africa, why are you white?’”Gay dad

Still, Mariano knows that from the outside looking in, his story is anything but typical. The young man was a junior in high school when his girlfriend, Kelly, became pregnant. They had been dating for a year.

“I like to refer to myself as a ‘Kellysexual,’ which may sound really weird,” he said. “I’m gay, but there’s Kelly. Everybody kind of knew that I was gay. I didn’t really have to say it. People will come along and ask if our relationship was a cover-up. And I say, well, I got her pregnant, so I don’t think that’s the case.”

Kelly gave birth to Aison Mariano-Nichols, who will be turning 3 years old in March. The two stayed together for the first two years of Aison’s life before they eventually split.

Click here to read the entire story

 

gayswithkids.com – December 12, 2015 by Michael Lambert

in Family Stories / In the News / Parenting / Personal Stories  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

The Family I Never Thought I’d Have

By Anthony M. Brown – November 21, 2015

What is it about families?   Wars have been fought over them. History has been made because of them. Comedians and therapists have made millions talking about them. But when it all boils down, family makes us who we are, whether standing with them or running from them.

familyMy husband Gary’s blind Aunt Elda died about 5 years ago. We got her cancer diagnosis a year or so  before her death, and it took a while for it to hit home that there was no successful treatment for her ovarian/GI cancer. She had lived outside Gary’s family for many years, in large part due to her husband Chuck. Chuck was perhaps the most prejudiced, bigoted, intolerant man I had ever met. His willingness to make racist or homophobic statements in my husband’s and my presence was almost as strong as his love for Elda. But he physically removed Elda from the family by moving out of state and at one point actually said to her, “you better hope you die first because your family will never be there for you.” Chuck died first.  And we were there for her.

In the perfect ironic twist, Chuck’s mentor and most respected business manager, a man named Ralph Thomas, was also my father’s best friend. He cringed when I would talk about Ralph and his wife in very personal terms as I saw them often before my father died. On Uncle Chuck’s deathbed, everything changed.

Chuck had suffered a series of strokes, the last one leaving him unable to communicate. Gary and I were visiting him in the hospital when I noticed that he was agitated. I knew from my father’s deathbed experience how to shift a person up in the bed by lifting the small blanket placed under the patient and on top of the bed linens. I asked Chuck if he wanted to move up. He blinked his eyes rapidly. Gary and I lifted the blanket, and Chuck, successfully up in the bed. As our eyes met, I could swear I saw him crying and with that, a world of misunderstanding and homophobia flew right out the hospital window.

I don’t know what chuck would have made of the fact that I am a donor dad and have two beautiful little girls with two wonderful women who are their parents or that my husband and I have a son  who has a surrogate mom, but both my family and Gary’s family get it.  And it couldn’t have happened at a better time.

Gary’s father throughout this time had been enduring a prolonged battle with Parkinson’s disease, which, toward the end of his life, left him mentally aware, yet unable to communicate. If he could have, he would have probably yelled. Italians yell, that’s just the way it is. It took me, a southern WASP, years of therapy to realize that Gary’s screaming had more to do with his heritage than anything I may have done. He learned that from his parents. And while they didn’t really communicate, they yelled, A LOT.

Even with the Parkinson’s, Gary’s parents yelled at each other. It used to bother me, but now I get it. While home over one weekend fairly close to may father-in-law’s death, we watched the ultimate tearjerker movie, The Notebook, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks. It tells the tale of a man who reads a handwritten story to a woman in a nursing home everyday until she realizes, through her dementia, that it is their love story. For a few minutes, she remembers, then he is a stranger again.

At the conclusion of the movie, Gary’s mom was sitting in Gary’s lap, both crying, and I was holding my father-in-law’s hand, also crying. Tears everywhere. Gary’s parents hugged each other and, in a moment that I will remember for the rest of my life, Gary’s dad, who had not been able to communicate clearly for months,  looked at his wife of over 60 years and said, “I didn’t know that this was what you’ve been dealing with.   I am sorry.” In that amazing, crystalline moment – we all lost it. Gary’s mom replied that she loved him and that she wanted to take care of him. Gary and I hugged while this exchange occurred knowing that a gift had just been given to everyone in that room.

Enter Michael, Gary’s older brother, who had been watching this whole emotional experience transpire with his then girlfriend, now wife, Xiao from the other room. Xiao is Chinese and had never met a gay person, much less a gay couple, before dating Michael. They had only been dating for a few months when this happened. Michael told me that Xiao had also seen the hug–fest and asked, “How long have Tony and Gary been together?” Michael replied, “almost 20 years.” Xiao said, “Do you think we will be like that in 20 years?” Michael said, “I hope so.”

Regardless what people think about their in-laws, there are lessons to be learned from them, joys and sorrows to be experienced because of them. These are the things that only a family can provide and while many on the less tolerant side of the aisle would either discount or misunderstand my family, no one can change the fact that I am married to a man and that I married into a family that loves and respects both me and my husband. I have children that will learn their values from this amazing family and my children will continue to teach me theirs.  It doesn’t get much better than that.

 

 

Anthony M. Brown currently heads the Nontraditional Family and Estates Law division of the law firm of Albert W. Chianese & Associates, PC, specializing in estate planning and second and step-parent adoptions. Anthony is the Board Chariman of Men Having Babies, and is the Executive Director of The Wedding Party.  He can be reached at: Anthony@timeforfamilies.com.

 

About MHB

Men Having Babies, Inc. is a nonprofit organization that was spun off in July 2012 from a program that ran at the NYC LGBT Center since 2005. It started as a peer support network for biological gay fathers and fathers-to-be, offering monthly workshops and an annual seminar. Over time, elaborate online resources were developed, the group’s mailing list expanded to about 2000 couples and singles from around the world, and it teamed up with LGBT family associations to develop similar programs in Chicago, San Francisco, LA, Barcelona, Tel Aviv and Brussels.

 

Our mission includes:

  • The provision of educational and practical information to assist gay prospective parents achieve biological parenting.
  • Promoting the affordability of surrogacy related services for gay men through financial assistance and the encouragement of transparency and customer feedback.
  • Promoting surrogacy practices that minimize the risks and maximize the potential short and long-term benefits to all involved.
  • Raising awareness about the potential benefits and meaningful relationships surrogacy arrangements can bring about.

 

Beyond the seminars and workshops, Men Having Babies runs several programs to promote its educational, advocacy and affordability mission, including:

Assistance in academic studies about gay parenting and surrogacy.

in Family Stories / Featured Articles / Known Donor / Personal Stories / Second Parent Adoption / Surrogacy  by Anthony Brown 1 comments

Coming Out and Being Out as a Lesbian Mom

Coming Out and Being Out as a Lesbian Mom

I came out well before I became a parent, but even being out from day one of parenthood doesn’t mean visibility is easy. Here are a few things my experience has taught me.

It has become something of a truism in LGBTQ parenting circles to talk about how having kids means being out to everyone — teachers, plumbers, cashiers at the grocery store. Kids, as any parent will tell you, can’t keep closet doors closed. One “Hey, Mommy and Mama!” across the produce aisle, and your cover is blown.

lesbian mom

Coming Out & Being Out as a Lesbian Mom; I came out before I became a parent, but even being out from day one of parenthood doesn’t mean visibility is easy.

For me, however, the problem is not being outed, it’s assuming everyone knows I’m a lesbian when in fact, I tend to blend in with my mostly straight suburban neighbors. (The fact that many of my clothes come from boys’ departments doesn’t seem to register.)

Even when I try to be open about it, people hear “Alan” when I talk of my spouse “Helen” and miss my use of pronouns. My son once received an invitation to the birthday party of a new school friend, and Helen and I got a double-take at the door because one of the friend’s parents hadn’t realized we were a two-mom family. Sometimes I think it would be easier if I’d gone to all of the school’s beginning-of-the-year events wearing an “I’m a lesbian” t-shirt. It would save us from those awkward moments and the “Who are you?” questions.

The other problem is that as a matter of overall identity, I’d rather be known as my son’s mom, not his “lesbian mom.” The commonalities of parenthood far outweigh the differences of sexual orientation. More importantly, I want my son to be known for his own qualities, not for the fact that he’s “the boy with the lesbian moms.” Yes, his lesbian moms will always be part of his identity, but I want us to be a piece of a much richer whole, not a leading indicator. I hope he never wants to hide the fact that he has two moms, but I also realize that as he gets older, he may want to come out about his family in his own time and in his own way.

Coming out is often described as an ongoing journey. As parents, it is a journey we take with our children. Sometimes they will want to be more out about our families than we are comfortable with; sometimes less.

Click here to read the entire article.

 

HuffingtonPost.com, by Dana Rudolph – October 9, 2015

in Family Stories / Parenting / Personal Stories  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

Gay Fathers Offered Assistance by M.H.B.

Men Having Babies (MHB) offers assistance to gay fathers

Anthony Brown said, while growing up, he never saw a future where he’d be able to get married or have a child. However, today, because of how much society has changed in the past decade, he shares a 6-year-old son with his husband. Brown and his husband were fortunate in that they were able to afford to use a surrogate to start their family. For many would-be dads, the cost of surrogacy is prohibitive, reaching between $110,000-$140,000, Brown said. That is why, two years ago, the nonprofit Men Having Babies, which was founded in New York nearly a decade ago, began its Gay Parenting Assistance Program ( GPAP ) to help gay men afford surrogacy, start a family and become gay fathers.

Brown, a Men Having Babies board members, said GPAP is a program for gay men and trans women that offers assistance in the form of donated or discounted services and cash grants to eligible applicants who are accepted into the program.

“There are two stages,” Brown said. “In stage one, you get certificates for discounts from participating agencies and clinics.

“If you qualify, you are then invited to apply for stage two, and we actually give donated services and cash grants to people who pass through the grant committee selection process.”

Brown said the program has completed two full grant cycles and will soon enter into its third cycle.

“In those two years, we have given away at least $1.5 million worth of donated or discounted services or cash grants,” he said.

In addition to GPAP, Men Having Babies puts on annual conferences in five global cities: New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Brussels and Tel Aviv.

The conferences offer a wealth of information and personal experiences to prospective fathers, including how to choose a provider, costs associated with the process, resources available, the legal aspects of the process and much more.

A big decision prospective fathers need to make is whether they will use a domestic surrogate or look internationally for a surrogate.

Gay Fathers Offered Assistance by M.H.B., Men Having Babies

Men Having Babies focuses on domestic surrogacy, but at the organization’s Chicago conference, held in September, it brought in Canadian fertility lawyer Cindy R. Wasser, founder of Hope Springs Fertility Law, to talk about Canadian surrogacy options.

“There are some very good Canadian options, and law in Canada for surrogacy is very positive,” Brown said.

Wasser discussed some of the differences she has seen between surrogacy in the United States and surrogacy in Canada.

“One of the key differentiators for anyone coming to Canada is the cost,” Wasser said. “Our services are less expensive, and the dollar is good for Americans.”

She noted one of the issues parents need to consider when looking at international surrogacy is domestic citizenship/immigration for the baby.

Despite some differences, there are many issues that remain the same for couples, whether they are using international or domestic surrogates.

For potential gay fathers considering surrogacy, Wasser said one common consideration is which member of the couple will provide sperm or if both will, and, in that case, if they will be fertilizing together or at different times.

“If one partner is contributing and the other cannot, is there a family member of the non-contributor who could be the egg donor to establish a full family genetic connection?” was another question she posed.

While horror stories are few and far between, every so often one makes the headlines. Wasser said those situations arise from a “lack of good legal advice, respected agency assistance and proper medical care.” Brown also noted some of the horror stories he’s heard involve a lack of laws and regulations around surrogacy that make the surrogate legally vulnerable. “A lot of the controversy around surrogacy has been in third world countries,” he explained.

He said there have been cases where the surrogate doesn’t fully understand the contract she is signing or doesn’t receive the proper care and assistance she should be receiving, and she often doesn’t have proper legal representation looking out for her best interests.

He said Men Having Babies is committed to working with agencies with strong ethical commitments.

“Men Having Babies is developing ethical guidelines for intended parents,” he noted.

 

Click here to read the entire story.

Windy City Times – by Charlsie Dewey – October 14, 2015

in International / Legal / Personal Stories / Surrogacy  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

Legal Surrogate: One Gay Couple’s Journey

legal surrogate, legal surrogacy, surrogate nyc, surrogate lawyers, surrogate lawyer

Legal Surrogate: Inside One Gay Couple’s Journey to Fatherhood

The decision to become parents was an easy “yes” for Jonathan Rollo and Joey Gonzalez. The gay couple have been together for a decade and legally married in California and New York well ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling that recognized same-sex unions nationwide.

“Obviously, if you grow up with a great family that is supportive and shows unconditional love,” says Gonzalez. “That’s something that most people feel passionate about passing on themselves.”

The bigger question for the would-be dads was how they would go about having a baby.

Gonzalez, 37, is CEO of Barry’s Bootcamp, an international fitness boutique concept with locations throughout the United States and Europe. Rollo, also 37, is a chef, owner and founder of Greenleaf Gourmet Chopshop, a chain of organic restaurants in California. With 14 nieces and nephews between them, “we both have always wanted kids,” says Rollo of the couple, who split time between N.Y. and L.A.

Their desire launched them last year on an emotional journey through intense, complicated discussions focused on finding an egg donor and then a surrogate – discussions that put them at the front of two emerging trends.

From 2000 to 2010, the number of same-sex couples raising children more than doubled from 8 percent to 19 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. And for those couples – as well as straight couples and single people both straight and gay – surrogacy is on the rise, says Stuart Bell, co-owner of Growing Generations, a California-based agency that assisted the couple.

And Why Their Legal Surrogate Wants to Fulfill Their Dream of Parenthood

“Twenty years ago, infertility was such a cross to bear,” says Bell. “There was kind of this shame around ‘I can’t have a baby.’ ” Although it’s still a topic of legal and political debate in parts of the country, surrogate contracts are now recognized in at least 17 states. And as surrogacy is discussed via social media, “Women now realize, ‘I’m not alone,’ ” he says.

Celebrity attention hasn’t hurt. Sarah Jessica Parker and her husband, Matthew Broderick, welcomed twins by surrogate, as did Neil Patrick Harris and his husband, David Burtka. “Mitt Romney’s son used a surrogate,” says Bell. “When we first started 20 years ago, we only worked in California. Now we work in 30 other states. Every year we see four or five new states come onboard. They are starting to understand that it’s not harming anyone involved. This is something that’s building families in a positive way.”

“As there’s more of us and we’re talking about this,” says Bell, himself a gay dad with a 7-year-old son via surrogate. “People are accepting it more.”

Researching Their Options

Surrogacy is expensive, plain and simple. Growing Generations tells clients to budget $150,000 to $175,000. Costs include the egg donor fee of $15,000 to $16,000; surrogate fee of around $35,000; the expense to create and implant embryos; allowances for the surrogate’s maternity clothing, travel and medical monitoring; plus legal and insurance fees, on top of the matching agency’s fee.

For those who want to be a surrogate, there are medical tests, psychological evaluations and background checks. Growing Generations – which doesn’t advertise but accepts online applications – says just 10 percent meet initial qualifications. From there only 1 or 2 percent proceed through review that looks for, among other qualities, empathy, stability and “women who like to be pregnant,” Bell says. “They know what it’s like to have children and how much it’s meant in their life, and getting to share that for another person is important for them.”

Click here to read the entire article.

People.com

By Jeff Truesdell August 31, 2015

in Family Stories / Personal Stories / Surrogacy  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

Becoming A Surrogate: The Quest For Pregnancy

Becoming A Surrogate: The Quest For Pregnancy

Mardi Palan is a hair dresser. She has a partner and a one-year-old son Forest. As a surrogate, she hopes to get $30,000 for a down payment on a home. But first, she has to get pregnant.

Back in July, a huge box arrived in the mail, filled with medications, hormones and syringes.

“I was kind  overwhelmed.”

The box came with a calendar and a list of all the medications she needs to take to help her synchronize her cycle with an egg donor.

“So each day, prenatal vitamin, aspirin, antibiotic and then a shot,” she said. “And then they send you a video of how to inject the shots. And each shot has a different needle, too. So the one that I’m doing right now is just a baby needle. And then later on the progesterone is inter-muscular. So it’s a huge needle. So it’s kind of scary to look at. I’m like, ‘Oh!’”

The first shot is Lupron and it’s used to decrease Palan’s natural hormones. Essentially, it stops her from ovulating.surrogate, surrogate attorney, legal surrogate, legal surrogacy, surrogate nyc, surrogate lawyers, surrogate lawyer

Palan also takes aspirin, to thin her blood. Clots can be a problem when taking hormones.

And she was taking birth control pills to make sure she doesn’t get pregnant before the eggs are transferred, but she stopped taking those last month.

Finally, both Palan and her partner, Caleb Weidenbach, have to take an antibiotic.

Although he agreed to take the pill, Weidenbach said he questions the requirement.

“I understand that if there is some kind of infection, they probably don’t want that to be shared with the egg,” he said.  “But I feel like maybe they should do a test, to see if there’s an infection, instead of just kind of handing out the antibiotics.”

The medicine is used to treat bacterial diseases like pneumonia and urinary tract infections.

Palan is working with Oregon Reproductive Medicine in Portland. It’s one of the area’s biggest in vitro fertilization clinics and has clients across the globe.

Click here to read the entire article.

 

by OPB | Aug. 19, 2015

in Family Stories / International / Parenting / Personal Stories / Surrogacy  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

The Transgender Dad: Paths to Gay Fatherhood

The Transgender Dad: Paths to Gay Fatherhood

Transgender dads obviously come to parenthood in the same way as many lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals, via adoption, foster care and surrogacy. But as we detailed in a Gays With Kids article this past February, some trans men also choose to have their own biological children by carrying them themselves.
“Trans men who are considering fatherhood potentially face an extra layer of discrimination in various levels of the family planning process,” Sion told me, who is a trans dad featured in that article. “Fertility clinics, prenatal health providers and adoption agencies may all discriminate against a person for being transgender.”

Stephen Stratton, another trans man featured in that article, also bemoaned the lack of education and support in the medical and fertility fields when it comes to transmasculine pregnancy. “There is never any guarantee that the people you need to work with are going to be sensitive, understanding or knowledgeable,” he wrote to me via email. “The hospital we birthed at was so welcoming and the nursing staff respected our birth plan and made us feel at ease and at home.” But, he said, not everyone has a “rainbows and transgendersunshine” experience with their health care providers.

Of course, the social stigma attached to being a trans man who is also pregnant extends far beyond the walls of hospitals and fertility clinics. For proof, one need look no further than the tabloids and media circus that erupted after Thomas Beatie publicly announced his pregnancy as a trans man several years ago.

“Not everyone was warm and accepting of how we created our family,” Stephen said. “Some people did and said hurtful things.” Despite the challenges, though, Stephen says he wouldn’t change a thing. “I have an amazing child who I love more than anything, I would… do it over a hundred times to get to be her Papa.”

While acceptance of trans people and parents is certainly increasing in the United States, there are added things to think about, Sion said, when a trans man is considering having a biological child. “Some doctors are not educated on the effects of hormone treatment and may offer a trans patient inaccurate medical advice because of that,” he wrote. “It’s tough.” He also noted that parental rights can often be brought into question for trans men going through a divorce since some lawyers still make the case that being transgender is a mental illness.

Click here to read the entire article.

gayswithkids.com by David Dodge, August 14, 2015

in Family Stories / Parenting / Personal Stories  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

What’s It Like to Be a Surrogate Mom?

by Anna Medaris Miller – May 6, 2015 – US News and World Report Health

Jodie Hayes had something on her mind. For four years, it tugged. For four years, she let it simmer.

Finally, the time was right – or at least as right as it ever would be – to bring it up with her husband, a U.S. Army soldier who was training in another state.

babybump“Do you remember when you were a kid getting asked what you wanted to be when you grew-up?”Hayes, a 38-year-old who lives near Savannah, Georgia, ​wrote to him in an email during the summer of 2013. “I really wanted to be a mom. I didn’t care about a fancy career or getting rich. I just wanted to be the best mom I could be.”

“Fortunately, you and I were able to conceive and become parents pretty easy,” continued Hayes, whose daughters are now 14 and 17. “I can’t imagine how it would feel to not be able to do the most natural thing in the world, experience pregnancy and having a child. Can you imagine life without our girls?”

Then Hayes cut to the chase​:​ “This is why I want to become a surrogate.”

Hayes was talking about becoming a gestational carrier, or woman who carries another couple’s embryo to term. The process involves using assisted reproductive technology to fertilize a woman’s egg with a man’s​ sperm in a lab and then transferring the resulting embryo into the carrier’s uterus. (In the other type of surrogacy, called traditional surrogacy, the woman is the child’s biological mother but became pregnant via artificial insemination.) In a sense, Hayes was telling her husband she wanted to rent out her uterus to another family.

“I wanted to be the answer to someone’s pain or frustration [by helping them] get the family that they wanted,” Hayes said in an interview with U.S. News. “I wanted the pride of being able to do that – being able to get them to smile again – and be able to hold the child that they wanted to hold.”

The Goal: A Healthy Baby

Some women hate being pregnant – they get morning sickness, feel sluggish and tired and wish they could fast-forward to the good part: a baby. Other women love being pregnant – they glow, feel energized and at peace, and enjoy the journey and the destination. It’s the latter group that makes up the vast majority of gestational carriers, says Michele Purcell​, a registered nurse who directs the egg freezing, donor egg and gestational carrier programs at Shady Grove Fertility Center in Rockville, Maryland​.

“Most women have good pregnancies, but I would say [gestational carriers] have exceptional pregnancies, where they really just feel great the whole time,” she says. “And if they don’t at the beginning, it’s so worth it at the end that they don’t mind it.”

There are other, less altruistic reasons, why a woman might want to become a gestational carrier. Namely, the money. Surrogate​ moms are compensated anywhere from $15,000 to $60,000, depending on various factors such as the agency, location, agreement between the parents and the surrogate and how many babies the woman carries. ​(All medical care, travel and other costs related to the pregnancy and birth are reimbursed as well.)

Click here to read the entire article.

in Family Stories / Personal Stories / Surrogacy  by Anthony Brown 0 comments

The 2015 MHB Brussels conference on Parenting Options for European Gay Men – highlights

in International / IVF / Legal / Legislation / Parenting / Personal Stories / Professional Resources / Surrogacy / Videos  by Anthony Brown 0 comments