It was February 10, 2012. Just a couple of days after submitting my application to Simple Surrogacy I received an email stating that I had been accepted. Now it was just a waiting game. I felt excited but I also knew that there was no guarentee I would be matched with intended parents, so I kept the excitement in check.
About a month went by and everything was business as usual. Then, on March 12, I received an email from Stephanie, the Executive Program Director at Simple Surrogacy. She had sent my profile to a same sex couple in Tennessee and they were interested in me so she sent me their profile to review. Oh my goodness! I had subjected myself to the idea that it would take months at least to match me to someone so the fact that it could be soon excited me again.
Stephanie said for us to look over the profile and if we were also interested in potentially working with them, the next step would be to set up a phone meeting. Sorrell and I read over it immediately. What was not to like? Their names were Grant and Russ. Grant was the older of the two and worked as a teacher and Russ had worked as a technical writer. They had met by chance at church when one of them attended the other's service and they had been together for three years.
We liked them on paper. There really wasn't any reason at this point to not want to continue the process so I emailed Stephanie back to let her know that we wanted to move forward.
March 13 was our phone conference. Although that seems a little clinical it was really more of a discussion. We talked about what we all did, what our daily lives were like, why I chose surrogacy, what my own pregnancies were like and what we were all expecting out of the process. They both seemed very kind and loving and unless our personalities simply didn't mesh or something came up that we couldn't agree upon, I saw no reason to not be a surrogate for them.
Several week later (though it seemed like months) Stephanie gave me a call. She mentioned that Grant and Russ were still interested in working with me and so the next step was to set up a face to face meeting. She sent them my contact information and sent me theirs. We would set up our meeting between each other.
Fortunately, Russ has family here in Florida, just a few hours north of us. So Grant and Russ drove down from Tennessee over Easter weekend. We met at our house in Bradenton on Saturday, April 7 in the afternoon.
I don't know why but I was so nervous waiting for them to come. I felt like I was preparing for an interview. Esentially I was, the greatest interview of my life. My personality was being interviewed. Fortunately for me, I happen to have an amazingly stunning personality! ;)
We talked for a few hours, Sorrell, Grant, Russ and me. They were just as nice in person as they had seemed on the phone. We discussed all kinds of things; many related to surrogacy and pregnancy and many not. It was all very relaxed and natural and nothing seemed awkward or forced. It was like meeting with good friends.
We learned that Grant and Russ had already looked into adoption but it had seemed too difficult for a gay couple. They had even tried surrogacy with someone in the Ukraine but it had failed to work. I had already pretty much decided that I was willing to be their surrogate if they still wanted to work with me after our meeting. But everything became very real and that decision was solidified when I would listen to Grant and Russ talk about the idea of having children. Their faces would just light up and they'd get this big heartfelt smile at the thought of their own children and raising them together as a family.
Here were two perfectly loving and deserving people who wanted to grow a family together and share that love and joy with their children and they couldn't do it on their own. I knew then that I was meant to do this. This was something greater than just me and I could be the person to give them the greatest gift they could ever receive - life.
About a month went by and everything was business as usual. Then, on March 12, I received an email from Stephanie, the Executive Program Director at Simple Surrogacy. She had sent my profile to a same sex couple in Tennessee and they were interested in me so she sent me their profile to review. Oh my goodness! I had subjected myself to the idea that it would take months at least to match me to someone so the fact that it could be soon excited me again.
Stephanie said for us to look over the profile and if we were also interested in potentially working with them, the next step would be to set up a phone meeting. Sorrell and I read over it immediately. What was not to like? Their names were Grant and Russ. Grant was the older of the two and worked as a teacher and Russ had worked as a technical writer. They had met by chance at church when one of them attended the other's service and they had been together for three years.
We liked them on paper. There really wasn't any reason at this point to not want to continue the process so I emailed Stephanie back to let her know that we wanted to move forward.
March 13 was our phone conference. Although that seems a little clinical it was really more of a discussion. We talked about what we all did, what our daily lives were like, why I chose surrogacy, what my own pregnancies were like and what we were all expecting out of the process. They both seemed very kind and loving and unless our personalities simply didn't mesh or something came up that we couldn't agree upon, I saw no reason to not be a surrogate for them.
Several week later (though it seemed like months) Stephanie gave me a call. She mentioned that Grant and Russ were still interested in working with me and so the next step was to set up a face to face meeting. She sent them my contact information and sent me theirs. We would set up our meeting between each other.
Fortunately, Russ has family here in Florida, just a few hours north of us. So Grant and Russ drove down from Tennessee over Easter weekend. We met at our house in Bradenton on Saturday, April 7 in the afternoon.
I don't know why but I was so nervous waiting for them to come. I felt like I was preparing for an interview. Esentially I was, the greatest interview of my life. My personality was being interviewed. Fortunately for me, I happen to have an amazingly stunning personality! ;)
We talked for a few hours, Sorrell, Grant, Russ and me. They were just as nice in person as they had seemed on the phone. We discussed all kinds of things; many related to surrogacy and pregnancy and many not. It was all very relaxed and natural and nothing seemed awkward or forced. It was like meeting with good friends.
We learned that Grant and Russ had already looked into adoption but it had seemed too difficult for a gay couple. They had even tried surrogacy with someone in the Ukraine but it had failed to work. I had already pretty much decided that I was willing to be their surrogate if they still wanted to work with me after our meeting. But everything became very real and that decision was solidified when I would listen to Grant and Russ talk about the idea of having children. Their faces would just light up and they'd get this big heartfelt smile at the thought of their own children and raising them together as a family.
Here were two perfectly loving and deserving people who wanted to grow a family together and share that love and joy with their children and they couldn't do it on their own. I knew then that I was meant to do this. This was something greater than just me and I could be the person to give them the greatest gift they could ever receive - life.
Four days later Grant and Russ called me on the phone. They officially asked me if I would be their surrogate. I said yes and teared up a bit with happiness for them and excitement for myself. Corks were popped and toasts were made in Tennessee and Florida.