A second child who is currently cooking 13,000 km away in Las Vegas.
The birth of my son in 2021 was complicated, and my baby-growing bits took a hit.
Our eggs and sperm were great, but the oven had stopped working.
Jessica Sample
Surrogacy was the obvious next step for us.
The previous two years had been tough, so this decision actually felt easy.
It took us around a month to find someone we felt was right for us.
A first-time surrogate, photographer, and mum-of-two based in Las Vegas, Summer ticked every box.
Six months after that first meeting with Summer, we dialed into the embryo transfer via video call.
Its as surreal as it all sounds: Being pregnant but also not being pregnant.
I like thinking of it this way.
For wanting more than my fair share.
For most, a broken uterus would abruptly end any hope of starting or expanding a family.
Surrogacy is not a journey everyone can pursue, not least because of the eye-watering costs involved.
Still, its not without stress.
Taking care to mark the milestones has helped the reality to sink in in the absence of physical changes.
We had a small gender reveal party with close friends and family, and its another boy.
Ive downloaded the apps.
(Hes currently the size of a carrot, soon to be a papaya.)
But Im not alone.
The baby-baking business is quite literally rising.
And so, when someone like Selena speaks out, it helps.
It helps those of us who desperately want to get pregnant but cant.
