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.

GAY FATHERS, GOG IT ALONE

“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.

”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.

THE SURROGACY OPTN: A GENERAL OVERVIEW FOR GAY COUPL

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.

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. 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.

LGBTQ+ SURROGACY STORI | GAY DADS PROMOTG SURROGACY

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.

6 KEY QUTNS ABOUT BEG A GAY DAD!

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.

GAY DADS AND SURROGACY: PARENTG WELL A DIGAL WORLD

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.

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.

SURROGACY COSTS AND TIMEL FOR SGLE AND GAY MEN

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. 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.

‘A FAY LIKE OURS’: PORTRAS OF GAY FATHERHOOD

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. 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.

GAY SURROGACY THE UNED STAT FOR INTERNATNAL SGL AND COUPL

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.

GAY SURROGACY & IVF

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.

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.

SURROGACY FOR GAY COUPL MA EASY AND AFFORDABLE

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

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. 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.

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

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!