And the Common Denominator Is...

So, I had a thought.  I know... scary! :)

This week, as it was announced that Elton John and his partner David Furnish had welcomed their baby boy into this world, I felt so happy for them.  I saw it on Twitter first and was excited to read the article.  Although the article revealed just the basics, the comments were what I found interesting.  Basically, 15 minutes after the news was revealed, this particular article had 37 comments.  2 of the comments were negative, claiming that the ONLY successful family is one with a mom and a dad, that the child will have a horrible life and even going as far as to say that the child would never be able to get a job due to the fact that he has gay dads.  I am thrilled to report that the remaining 35 comments were people bashing the 2 negative comments.  There were many arguments that supported gay parenting, but it got me to thinking...what IS the common denominator for a "successful" family?

Now let me start by saying, no family is perfect.  We all know this.  However, there are the families that we know about, read about, hear about, etc. that are clearly "unsuccessful" families. Parents who have truly failed their children.  Some of these parents are moms, some are dads. But, there are a great number of families that have parented children "successfully".  These families look nothing alike. There are children being raised successfully by a mother and a father, single mothers and single fathers, divorced parents who are co-parenting the children, gay moms and gay dads, widows and widowers, foster and adoptive parents, legal guardians, etc.  And what do these successful families all have in common?

LOVE.

You may have noticed that I have titled this blog "Love Makes A Family", but what you may not know is that when I received the profile for my Intended Fathers, they had written a personal letter at the very end that really hit home for me.  In that letter, they discussed their soon-to-be family which will be led by gay fathers.  They stated that they believed that gender didn't play a role in making a family, and that instead, it is LOVE that makes a family. 

That's it. 

Plain and simple.

...And I love that.

2 weeks...

...from today we will be in NYC!! I'm very excited!  Can't wait to see the guys and be in their neck of the woods!  It sounds like we will at least get to hang out on Tuesday night, after we land, and then Rick and I will drive into Connecticut late that night for my appointment the next morning. Of course, the trip is primarily for my medical screening where I will have a complete physical, bloodwork and an ultrasound to make sure Jeni's uterus will make a happy home for little George and Farid babies!  Fingers crossed!!

More proof that vibes DO count!!

When I decided to work with an agency, Circle Surrogacy just kinda fell into my lap!  I had seen some Classified Ads posted by them and liked what I saw.  I guess there was nothing in particular about the ads, but I kept getting good vibes! (I'm a huge vibe person.)  I decided to check out their website and have a look around.  I still really liked what I saw, and after some encouragement from my mom and sister, I decided to fill out the online application.  And it was a LONG application! :)  As I would submit each page, I would think, surely this is the last one, but no!  Page after page after page!!  Then at one point, I submitted a page and it said, "Thank you for completing the application.  Someone will contact you within 24 hours."  I freaked out a little bit at that point!

We all know how most companies do business.  They might SAY they will do a, b, or c, but they NEVER do!  You should probably know that I am a very organized person.  I follow rules to a tee. I am extremely committed. I am loyal.  I follow through.  It's actually a little scary/borderline OCD sometimes. Lol!   But I also live in the real world and know that unfortunately, not everyone functions this way. Well, good news for me, Circle manages to function just like me!  Hooray!  I heard back from Circle about 23 hours after I submitted my application and was given tons of really great and exciting information!  Everything from what I could expect regarding surrogacy, to what I needed to do on my end to start the "real" application process.  I was so excited to get the info. and of course I read over it time and time again to make sure there was nothing I was missing. The next day, I went to work contacting doctors and hospitals to send over my medical records, filling out paperwork and faxing it back to Circle, etc.  Every time I contacted Circle, I would hear RIGHT back!  They would immediately let me know when they had received documents and provide me with the next ones!  I know I shouldn't sound so shocked, but I was!  I would shoot off an email and before I knew it, I had a reply.  Truly amazing!  The even more amazing news is that they have continued to be that on top of it!  I have been so impressed with their level of efficiency.  I feel so fortunate that I happened upon the best agency ever! 

See!  All you vibe non-believers...it really does mean something! :)


http://www.circlesurrogacy.com/

So here we are...

Welcome!

When I first began considering becoming a gestational surrogate, I got online.  I researched, and researched, and then I researched a little more! :) I found quite a few blogs that I started to follow and I found them to be so helpful.  They allowed me to get a sneak peak at what surrogacy is REALLY all about.  The good things and the bad things. The things that will make you cry with joy and the things that will make you scream in frustration.  I never anticipated that I would write my own blog, yet here I am, figuring that since there were surrogates out there who helped me on my way, why not pay it forward???

So here we are....

After just a few weeks, all applications, medical evaluations, psychological evaluations, and social worker communications have been completed and I have been matched with an absolutely amazing couple from NYC! And when I say AMAZING...you have no idea!! 

It's very stressful, wondering who you will be matched with.  From our very first phone call, which lasted about 2 hours, I felt extremely comfortable with the guys.  Just 2 weeks later, they were here, in Denver, meeting me and my family in person!  We went out to eat, explored Red Rocks and Boulder, hung out downtown with my sisters, and even managed to fit in some tennis! It was pretty great to build a strong foundation as we start this journey together!  Over the course of 2 and a half days, I was able to see that these 2 men are simply amazing human beings. I absolutely cannot wait to help make them fathers!

So...next steps.  Our contract is in it's final stages and I will be so happy when it is done!!  I have started birth control pills. My husband and I will travel to NY in January for my medical screening and although it's a quick turn-around trip, we are really looking forward to it! The clinic has informed me that after the screening, we will be given a specific timeline, but that we will more than likely be transferring in March. 

So in the meantime, it's a matter of "hurry up and wait".  I'm really bad at that, but it's just part of this process. 

My hope is that having this blog will allow me to document this amazing journey that we are on and that maybe, just maybe, there will be others out there who might benefit from it too!