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Twin Cities Mom Collective

A Mother’s Gestational Carrier Story

In honor of both Infertility Week and Mother’s Day, we’re presenting the birth story of little Ignacio. 

Ignacio was born in early 2016 via gestational carrier. We’d love to introduce you to him, his parents, and his carrying family in this touching photo series of his birthday. 

A big “Thank You” to Melissa Hogstad for sharing her experience with us! 

“Mom, we should help those mommies and daddies get a baby.”

That’s the response we got from our 4-year old son on the way back from dinner one night after what was to be the first of many simple conversations to build up the concept for our son. You know, the idea of us being a gestational carrier for someone.

It was so simple to him — when we explained that some mommies have “broken bellies” or get sick, and sometimes those mommies and daddies need help in order for those babies to find their families.

In that simple, innocent, reassuring moment, my husband and I looked at each other, and we knew this was going to be an amazing experience for not only us and the intended parents we would be matched with, but it was also going to be an amazing learning experience for our children.

When we initially started talking about potentially going through the process of carrying for someone, I did a lot of research and talked to a few agencies. We chose Extraordinary Conceptions.

Through them, we went through a matching process, connecting us with potential IPs (Intended Parents) who were compatible with us based on the personal criteria preferences that we had submitted to the agency.

Melissa and her husband, Jesse, traveled to San Diego a few times for doctor appointments. Even as a healthy carrier, Melissa still needed to go through hormone treatments so her body took the pregnancy.

Eventually they were paired up with a couple that lived halfway across the world from them! Melissa’s family was very supportive, and her pregnancy went really well.

On February 1, 2016 . . . 

. . . sweet little Ignacio was born to two wildly-happy, loving parents and his carrier family.

As adults, we know that creating the family you’ve dreamt about isn’t always easy. There can be physical, mental and even financial roadblocks, but there are options out there!
If you’re interested in embarking on a journey as a Gestational Surrogate or finding out more on the process, here are a few resources:

Extraordinary Conceptions
Center For Reproductive Medicine
ConceiveAbilities

Photo Credit: [m] brooks photography

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