Three sgle, gay dads talk about their journeys. : NPR

Contents:

• THREE SGLE, GAY DADS REFLECT ON FATHERHOOD, SURROGACY JOURNEYS
• GAY FATHERS, GOG IT ALONE
• THE SURROGACY OPTN: A GENERAL OVERVIEW FOR GAY COUPL
• LGBTQ+ SURROGACY STORI | GAY DADS PROMOTG SURROGACY
• 6 KEY QUTNS ABOUT BEG A GAY DAD!
• GAY DADS AND SURROGACY: PARENTG WELL A DIGAL WORLD
• SURROGACY COSTS AND TIMEL FOR SGLE AND GAY MEN
• ‘A FAY LIKE OURS’: PORTRAS OF GAY FATHERHOOD
• GAY SURROGACY THE UNED STAT FOR INTERNATNAL SGL AND COUPL
• GAY SURROGACY & IVF
• SURROGACY FOR GAY COUPL MA EASY AND AFFORDABLE
• GAY FATHERS’ MOTIVATNS FOR AND FEELGS ABOUT SURROGACY AS A PATH TO PARENTHOOD
• ONE OF BRA'S FIRST GAY DADS TO MARRY DGHTER'S EX-BOYIEND AFTER PROPOSG ON TRIP

THREE SGLE, GAY DADS REFLECT ON FATHERHOOD, SURROGACY JOURNEYS

NPR spoke to three men, sgle gay fathers, who chose to bee dads via surrogacy, after years of g to terms wh their inti, their fai, and the technologil advanc that have ma journeys like this possible. DUSTIN LING "Sometim the gay muny is seen as, oh, 's the funny guy who's always about fashn or always about travel, " says Dt Lg. As the tradnal ncept of fay ntu to evolve, sgle gay men havg children through surrogacy are begng to Williams and his 4-year-old son, ScherPhotographs by Sara Naomi LewkowiczOct.

Surrogacy agenci across the untry report a surge of tert om sgle gay men the last few Marsh, a spokwoman for Men Havg Babi, a nonprof that helps gay men navigate the surrogacy procs, said that the crease tert om sgle men is part of a broar surge gay fai. ”Most sgle gay men pursue what is known as gtatnal surrogacy: the surrogate is implanted wh a fertilized embryo taken om a separate egg donor.

“Growg up gay a homophobic town, and tough fancial tim, was hard to see how I’d have my own kids, ” he parents stng together several low-wage jobs, and he’s the first his fay to earn a bachelor’s gree. Towers stayed Oregon for three more weeks, until the tws were ready for the long flight home to New unpredictable as the medil prospect of surrogacy may be, some gay men prefer that to the possibily of facg discrimatn Williams had his son, Elan, via surrogacy four years ago.

GAY FATHERS, GOG IT ALONE

”A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn MB, Page 4 of the New York edn wh the headle: Gay, Sgle and Ready for Fatherhood. Introductn to SurrogacyOverview of Gay SurrogacyWhat to Look for a Surrogacy AgencyBeg a Gay ParentTrans ParentgLGBTQ+ Surrogacy LawsSPAR Program for HIV ParentsStartg a Surrogacy JourneyThe Surrogacy ProcsSurrogacy Costs & ProgramsFancial Assistance For SurrogacyFdg an Egg Donor Fdg a Surrogate MotherLGBTQ+ Partnerships and Organizatns. Through IVF, embryos are created a lab at a fertily clic, g the gay tend parents' blogy (one or both) as well as an egg donor.

Although surrogacy for heterosexual tend parents and same-sex tend parents is largely siar, there are a few factors that make 's important to unrstand your rights as parents, and what the surrogacy laws are your state or untry, and the state which your surrogate legal procr for gay parentgPre-Birth Orr (PBO): A urt proceedg that tablish parental rights prr to the birth of the child. When a gay uple liv a state or untry where same-sex marriage isn’t legal, be even more important to tablish the documents.

Ensurg that your surrogate liv a state which you'll be able to safely and securely tablish your parental rights is ccial for a succsful more about surrogacy and the law for gay parentsSee, and why havg proper legal reprentatn is cril for a succsful journey.

THE SURROGACY OPTN: A GENERAL OVERVIEW FOR GAY COUPL

Not every surrogacy agency is a good f, fdg a surrogacy agency wh which you have good chemistry and who shar your views about surrogacy for gay dividual or upl is key to a succsful journey. Surrogate matchg preferenc for gay and trans you're workg wh a surrogacy agency such as Circle, there are certa creria on which you will be matched wh your gtatnal rrier. Regular munitn also helps tend parents feel fortable wh their surrogate, and feel part of the pregnancy and a gay tend parent, buildg a relatnship wh your surrogate also helps you tell your child their orig story, and giv him/her the opportuny to know the woman who helped create your fay.

There are many roads that n lead to your future fay cludg adoptn and a foster to adopt journey, but here at Gay Parents To Be we specialize helpg dads-to-be build their fai blogilly – through egg donatn, IVF and surrogacy.

LGBTQ+ SURROGACY STORI | GAY DADS PROMOTG SURROGACY

Leondir found Gay Parents To Be as a personal and profsnal journey, after he learned first-hand how challengg n for gay men to have a baby.

Our team at Gay Parents To Be unrstands that fay buildg for dads volv a unique set of challeng, and we strive to support you– whether this is your first step or a stop along the way. Our founrs worked to overe hurdl and unique challeng faced by gay tend fathers—om navigatg and changg legal systems that were signed to acmodate only “mom and dad” to tg doctors and other profsnals about gay parentg. We were there every step of the way, tg and recg surrogat and egg donors exced to help gay men to bee dads, helpg our tend dads to talk to their kids and their support works about surrogacy, and even creatg solutns for HIV posive men to bee blogil fathers via surrogacy.

We, at Growg Generatns, were there om the begng, pavg the way for hundreds of gay men to create fai through our surrogacy program. We had the privilege to chat wh Alec about parentg multipl, havg an onle prence, and supportg other gay parents on their path to parenthood.

6 KEY QUTNS ABOUT BEG A GAY DAD!

There are plenty of bad thgs that may happen the liv of gay parents; but that is not the tent of this blog and this story. For all the gay tend fathers who want to pursue surrogacy, the surrogacy procs works a b differently than any other surrogacy arrangement. At the moment, no reliable statistics exist for the number of gay men who bee parents via surrogacy each year, but there’s no doubt that the numbers are growg.

GAY DADS AND SURROGACY: PARENTG WELL A DIGAL WORLD

For example, if other kids at school have a mom and a dad, a child wh two gay dads who was born via surrogacy may have qutns. Check out the The Gtatnal Surrogacy Procs sgle and gay men, havg a child through surrogacy is an oral that requir vettg, then ordatg, multiple parti. Fdg a clic that unrstands this procs om the gay uple’s pot of view is important, and many of the clics should know both good egg donatn, and surrogacy, agenci.

Celebri like Anrson Cooper have helped normalize the ia of gay men raisg children, and no longer feels revelatory to see them on televisn, as did when “Morn Fay” premiered mon, Mr.

SURROGACY COSTS AND TIMEL FOR SGLE AND GAY MEN

Heynen said, are imag of gay fathers who aren’t Instagram ready — like two men bg their dghters’ hair or tossg a football the ont yard. It’s an unrstandable impulse, which he attribut to a sire among gay parents to feel “normal” after havg their pabili as parents ntually lled to qutn. Heynen said, but rather a celebratn of the day-to-day liv of gay Jt for the YoungCly Rose, 61, and Ryan, 12Cly Rose, who liv Manhattan, was first photographed for “Dads” three years ago after meetg Mr.

‘A FAY LIKE OURS’: PORTRAS OF GAY FATHERHOOD

Heynen “a lot of cred” for cludg a father like him — a sgle dad his 60s — sce he said there is often a lack of reprentatn of olr gay people art and media, which tends to foc on young, f men.

Wele to the GWK surrogacy and IVF knowledge center for queer men, which is the path to fatherhood for gay men terted beg blogil parents. While we have put a lot of time and effort to buildg out this sectn as a valuable rource for you, we acknowledge that the bt way to learn the s-and-outs of Gay Surrogacy and IVF is to enroll GWK Amy.

This will give you accs to our unique curriculum of more than a dozen lsons all created specifilly to gui gay men like you through each step of your surrogacy journey. Gay surrogacy allows gay men to bee blogil dads through “gtatnal surrogacy, ” and GWK Amy will walk you through each step of your journey. Selectg an egg donor is one of the most important and excg parts of a surrogacy journey for gay men, after all, the donor will ntribute to half of your child’s geic make we share the different optns you have for fdg your egg donor.

GAY SURROGACY THE UNED STAT FOR INTERNATNAL SGL AND COUPL

This optn is ls expensive and do not provi the same level of background that an egg donor agency will donors: Some gay upl want their baby to be geilly related to both — and may have a fay member (of the man not providg sperm) willg to donate her eggs. The most mon versn of gay male surrogacy volv the tend dad or dad uple workg wh the egg of one woman to create an embryo, which another woman (lled the "surrogate" or "gtatnal rrier") then rri to term. Tradnal Surrogacy: In this type of an arrangement, you will work wh a surrogate who her own eggs to plete your gay surrogacy jounrey.

Gay surrogacy will look a ltle b different for everyone, but here are the steps you n expect most gay male surrogacy journeys. Step 1: Hire Profsnals: First, you will fd and hire your LGBTQ petent surrogacy 2: Deci Whos Sperm to Use: For a gay uple surrogacy procs, you will then need yo ci on whose sperm to e. You will then need to nduct some tts on the sperm to make sure is 3: Choose an Egg Donor and Create Embryos: Next you will select your egg donor, and your IVF clic will help you create 4: Match wh a Surrogate: Now ’ll be time to match wh a surrogate — your surrogacy agency will help you fd and match wh a surrogate who will be a great f for your gay surrogacy 5: Embryo Transfer: Once your surrogate is screened and cleared, you will then transfer your embryos to your surrogate’s utes through 6: Pregnancy and Birth: Lastly your surrogate’s pregnancy — and the birth of your baby!

Most gay surrogacy journeys stead volve a gtatnal rrier, who rri the embryo created by fertilizg the egg donated by another woman a lab, and then implantg the rrier to rry to term. It’s important to work wh a surrogacy agency wh a long track rerd of succs and passn for helpg gay, bi and trans men bee dads through surrogacy. You will also want to ask how many gay surrogacy journeys they have helped plete — and ask to speak to prev LGBTQ clients.

GAY SURROGACY & IVF

It’s important to work wh an IVF clic wh a long track rerd of succs and passn for helpg gay, bi and trans men bee dads through surrogacy.

SURROGACY FOR GAY COUPL MA EASY AND AFFORDABLE

There are four ma areas that ver the sts of a gay surrogacy journey::Agency fe: $35, 000 - $55, 000: The agency fe refer to the profsnal sts associated wh the ordatn of your journey, legal work, social work screeng, and the surrogate matchg procs. You may like to nsir seekg the help of an experienced ternatnal surrogacy nsultant, who n provi rmatn about safe ternatnal untri for gay men. Unlike hetero parents, where mostly both parents’ geic materials are utilized to create embryos, the gay parent needs to ci whose sperm will be ed to create the embryos.

In the USA, gay-iendly Stat (like California and Neva) do provi legal protectn to missng parents who wish to grow fai the USA. ALL tend parents, sgl, married hetero upl, gay upl, or live- partners are allowed, the only thg is that at least one IP should have a geic lk wh the baby.

GAY FATHERS’ MOTIVATNS FOR AND FEELGS ABOUT SURROGACY AS A PATH TO PARENTHOOD

It means spe the wrten nsent given by a surrogate mother; she nnot be forced to hand over the baby to the gay tend parents. Recently, UK Laws have accepted and regnized sgle parents and gay parents to apply for a parental orr for a surrogacy baby.

Wh non-discrimatn legislatn for same-sex marriage and adoptn, Canada is regard as one of the most gay-iendly natns the world. SUMMARY ANSWERMost fathers chose surrogacy bee they nsired adoptn to be a ls sirable and/or accsible path to IS KNOWN ALREADYLtle is known of gay fathers’ motivatns to e surrogacy as a path to parenthood over and above other forms of fay buildg, such as adoptn, and no studi have examed fathers’ satisfactn wh the surrogacy DESIGN, SIZE, DURATIONThis study ed a cross-sectnal sign as part of a larger vtigatn of parent–child relatnships and child adjtment 40 gay father surrogacy fai. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODSemi-stctured terviews, lastg ~1 h, were nducted the fay home (65%) or over Skype (35%) wh 74 gay fathers (35 geic fathers, 32 non-geic fathers and 7 fathers who did not know or did not disclose who the geic father was), when the children were 3–9 years RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCEGeic and non-geic fathers were jt as likely to want to bee parents and had siar motivatns for choosg surrogacy as a path to parenthood.

ONE OF BRA'S FIRST GAY DADS TO MARRY DGHTER'S EX-BOYIEND AFTER PROPOSG ON TRIP

Due to the high average annual e of the fathers the study, fdgs may not generalize to gay fathers wh lower IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGSIt is often assumed that parents’ primary motivatn for g ART is to have a geic nnectn to the child.

This study revealed that whilst geic fatherhood was important for some gay fathers surrogacy fai, was not important for all. Keywords: surrogacy, gay father, geic relatedns, same-sex upl, gtatnal surrogacy, geic surrogacyIntroductnIn 2014, ~37 800 male same-sex upl were raisg children the USA (US Cens Bure, 2014).