Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

Jimmy Fallon surprised the world with big news a little while ago. He introduced his baby girl to the fans. He said that he and his wife have been trying to conceive for a while and after trying different kinds of methods they chose to have a surrogate mother.

The Nowadays Couples

More and more couples decide to have a surrogate to grow their family. In the majority of the cases we are referring to gestational surrogacy which means that the surrogate mother isn’t genetically related to the little one.

Statistical Data

Starting with 2004 the number of babies born to surrogate mothers has increased from 750 to over 1,500 in 2011. Since celebrities also opt for this kind of surrogacy, the option has a lot of advertisement and so more and more couples consider it when facing infertility.

James and Heather Gwinup

The couple decided that they would include the surrogate mother in the public announcements as well. Their surrogate, Jennifer Irwin is a good friend of Heather’s. Heather had one successful pregnancy but she suffered several miscarriages and went through multiple surgeries for ovarian cysts, polyps, and endometriosis.

Touching Story

Irwin suggested she would be a surrogate mother for the couple on the day when her friend found out that she won’t be able to carry to term another pregnancy. She says that she thought it was something she could really do. Heather believes that this was the first easy moment since they started thinking about a second baby.

Jennifer Irwin

Jennifer is a mother of twin boys and she really cares for the families who can’t have children. Even more, she is also a member of a support group regarding this problem. She thought that it was unfair for some couples not to have children, so she decided to act on it.

The Process

Naturally the surrogate needs to take some tests and to follow the orders of the doctors. The entire pregnancy cost the Gwinups about $50,000 including the fees. Nonetheless, the costs can become much higher. The specialists advise the future parents to be prepared for spending about $75,000 or even $100,000 until the baby is born.

Cost of Medical Care

Depending on where the insemination takes place, medical care itself could cost up to $20,000. Background checks, agency fees, surrogate fees, and legal fees also add to these expenses. If the couple will have twins, the future parents have to add another $10,000 to the expenses.