Oh, You're Pregnant!! Well, technically yes...

Lately the belly has really popped and a few warmer days without a heavy coat result in a lot more questions about being pregnant.  If I am by myself, I get the "Oh, is this your first?" questions and then depending on whether I have one or both children with me, I get the corresponding..."is this your second" or "going for a third" type of questions.  Only once or twice have I just smiled, said this is my third pregnancy and walked on...typically, the answer is a bit more elaborate.

Saying you are surrogate really gets people intrigued.  I have found the most common question (usually prefaced with a "I hope this isn't too personal") is how did you decide to become a surrogate.  Simply put, I think everyone that wants a family should be able to have one.  I was lucky. I got pregnant the first month I tried with both of my children. I enjoyed being pregnant (for the most part). I loved feeling the kicks and wiggles and watching my body change to grow a tiny human being out of almost nothing. The miracle of it all was almost intoxicating. I feel like I was called to give back.  My family was complete but I felt like I wasn't "done" and surrogacy just made sense.

The next most common question is "How can you give up the baby that you carried for nine months?" This one is a biggie. This is the one that most people can't fathom. For me, this is the easy part.  I have my children. I look at them every day and see myself and my husband.  I see my legacy...a little piece of myself.  The baby in my womb is not my baby.  This child will look like her mother and father; when they look in her eyes they will see their future...I will only see a beautiful baby that belongs to some very dear friends.  I am in this for that moment at delivery when I see two people that have struggled for as many years as I have been a mother, finally realize a dream.  To be a part of something like that is overwhelming and amazing.  The moment a family is created is surely as life altering as seeing your own child for the first time. That single moment is why I am a surrogate.