Episode 85 – James – gay dad

James and his husband JimBob from Brisbane, became dads to their son, Rupert, in March 2023. Their surrogate, Jemma from north QLD, was previously a stranger whom they met at a Growing Families conference in June 2021. Jemma’s waters broke early at 30 weeks resulting in quick action from all families. Jemma birthed Rupert at 32 weeks via an emergency C-section but he has been strong and healthy since birth. Their egg donor, Zoe, is James’ sister and she offered to be their donor when they were teenagers.

Episode 84 – Mel – surrogate

Mel birthed as a surrogate in Wollongong in January 2022 for a couple whom she knew through the brother of one of her friends. They had a little boy, Jetson, through a home birth. The two dads, Warwick and Jason, live in Sydney. Mel went on to be a surrogate again for this couple, and she once again birthed at home in May 2024 – a little boy Jasper.

You can hear from one of the dads she carried for, Warwick, in the previous episode 83. 

Episode 83 – Warwick – gay dad

Warwick and Jason, from Sydney, became parents to their son (Jetson) in January 2022. Jetson was carried by their surrogate Mel who already had a connection before surrogacy, as a friend of Warwick’s sister. They navigated a journey with some distance (Sydney to Wollongong) and were able to stay near and with Mel in the weeks before and after birth. They have gone on to have another son, Jasper who was born in May 2024. Mel was their surrogate and birthed at home for the second time.

You can hear from his surrogate, Mel, in episode 84.

Episode 82 – Marian – straight mum

Marian is a mum through surrogacy three times! Marian and David, from Adelaide, became parents to a boy in September 2016 and a girl in June 2018. Those children were carried by surrogate Rachel, who lives in QLD, and was previously a stranger. Their second daughter was born in March 2021 by a different surrogate who lives in Adelaide and was also initially a stranger and now friends for life. We will be chatting about the lessons learnt from 3 journeys and from many years in the local and national community. 

She is also an artist and you can view her work online (some of it surrogacy related)

https://www.sandberg.io

Episode 81 – Education – Were you at the birth?

This is a really common question that Intended Parents (we abbreviate that to IPs) have at the beginning of their journey. 

Yes is the answer – let me unpack that for you.

Episode 80 – Bec – surrogate

Bec from Bacchus Marsh is a single mum to 5 and has been a surrogate twice. She birthed a girl in 2016 and a boy in 2024 – for 2 different sets of IPs, each who were previously strangers. She is an admin for the national facebook group and organises catch ups locally in Melbourne. Come and hear from Bec about her observations from her nearly 10 years in the surrogacy community – what it promises and what it’s really like.