The Gay Surrogacy Journey Starts Here...

“Surrogate Mother's New Niche: Bearing Babies for Gay Couples”

Excerpts from a May 27, 2005, front page  New York Times article  By Ginia Bellafante.

The article describes a “growing movement of surrogate mothers choosing gay couples over traditional families” since “gay couples have developed a reputation as especially grateful clients.” Featured in the article are several of Circle Surrogacy’s surrogates, including Ms. Stiller, 34, a homemaker who delivered baby Samantha for Circle clients Rick & Cary. Three years later Laura also delivered for the couple Samantha's brother and a sister,  Jeremy and Maggie.

“In December, Ms. Stiller gave birth to the baby, named Samantha, for Dr. Friedman and Dr. Wellisch, conceived with a donor egg and the sperm from one of the partners. (They chose not to know which.) In her decision to work with them Ms. Stiller is part of a small but growing movement of surrogate mothers choosing gay couples over traditional families."

“Hundreds of couples are finding ways to create families with or without marriage through surrogates like Ms. Stiller, who are willing to help them have children genetically linked to them and to bypass the often difficult legal challenges gay men face in adoption."

“Within the close-knit world of professional child­bearers, many of whom share their joys and disillusionments online and in support groups, gay couples have developed a reputation as especially grateful clients, willing to meet a surrogate's often intense demands for emotional connection...”

“In the last 13 years, Ms. Stiller has had five children: one with her first husband, two with her current husband and two more as a surrogate."

“Her first excursion into the world of surrogacy, for a Florida husband and wife, left her feeling unappreciated and depleted, she said. A friend in the surrogate world suggested she find a gay couple through the agency Circle Surrogacy.”

John Weltman, a Boston lawyer, had a challenging time finding women to carry children for gay men when he founded Circle Surrogacy a decade ago. Today, he said, 80 percent of the surrogate mothers who come to him say they would be willing to work with gay couples, and half prefer to work with gay couples...”

Some surrogates also say they find the sense of defiance in providing gay couples with children meaningful.

"In all honesty, there's a bit of a rebellious nature in me," acknowledged Shannon Klein, a mother of three in Cypress, Calif., who home-schools her children. "I know that there are people who wouldn't approve of being a surrogate for gay parents, and that has made it more intriguing."

Ms. Klein has borne two children for two gay couples, and she is pregnant with twins for a third.

Related news: Circle Surrogacy fathers featured in 2005 New York Times article have twins from same surrogate!