The Second Time Around: First — TWINS. Then a SINGLETON SURROGACY.

Readers of this blog might recall a post entitled “A Super Successful Surrogate Story: When Everything Falls Into Place.”

It told the story of ARTparenting surrogate Gina — a married mom of four from Oberlin, Ohio — who was matched with a male couple from Israel. Gina successfully carried and delivered twins for them: a boy and a girl.

Though not all surrogacy stories are fairy tales, this one pretty much was.

Two Fathers, Two Embryos

Gina had come upon the ARTparenting website in 2014, and everything from the match with intended parents to the trouble-free pregnancy to the healthy delivery of the couple’s boy-and-girl twins went amazingly smoothly. Fortuitously, the two fathers had each fertilized one of the two embryos that were implanted — so one twin was the genetic child of one father, and the other twin was the genetic child of the other father.

The entire surrogacy had gone so well the first time around that the couple reached out to ARTparenting again to see if Gina would consider helping them add another child to their family —with a second surrogacy.

Gina happily agreed.

Choosing a Single-Embryo Transfer

They began talking in January 2018 and the transfer took place that August. The couple ended up choosing a single-embryo transfer this time around. (There are known risks and costs associated with multiple births which are explained in our blog post, “Gestational Surrogacy: Singleton or Twins.” )

A pregnancy was confirmed in October, and the baby was born in May of 2019, a little boy — well, maybe not so little at 9 pounds, 12 ounces!

Gina recalls, “I was really pleased that the dads wanted to work with me on another baby. We had created such a ‘family’ relationship working together the first time around, it was such a natural bond that had developed between us, that it just seemed logical to come together again. They even used the same egg donor the second time around, so it was kind of like ‘the team is back together again!’”

Gina notes that they had harvested a total of 14 eggs from the donor which had been stored.

Was this second surrogacy experience different from the first time?

“Yes and no,” answers Gina. “He ended up being a very big baby, almost 10 pounds, as opposed to the twins, who were each just over 7 pounds. But we were thrilled that he was so healthy.

“But during this pregnancy I did develop a kidney infection, which required a brief hospitalization. I’m told kidney infections are not uncommon during pregnancy, and antibiotics took care of it. I obviously kept in super-close touch, by Skype and phone, with the intended parents in Israel during this period.”

Gina goes on to say that virtually everything else was the same. The intended parents came over from Israel for the “first big ultrasound,” and then they flew from Israel in April and were in Ohio for a month and a half for the birth.

Gina reminds us that she has four children of her own, the oldest of whom just turned 18.

“My 18-year-old was in the delivery room both times — my own four children have been fully supportive of my surrogacies, as has my husband of 22 years. Right after the births, my own kids came to the hospital to see me and the babies. And just like the first time around, I nursed the new boy for the first two days.”

Shortly after this, Gina reports, the intended parents said goodbye and took the baby to New York for the traditional Jewish ceremonies of conversion and of circumcision, and to deal with citizenship paperwork around a passport and social-security card for the newborn, before returning to Israel.

What’s next?

“The two fathers have said from the beginning,” Gina states carefully, “that they eventually wanted to have four children, and they now have three. It’s possible they’re going to ask me again. I have to be honest with myself and say I’m not sure that’s possible at this point — I’m 46 years old, and counting my own four children, the twins, and now this baby, I will have given birth to seven.

“But I feel such an ownership of this relationship I will be sad to see them work with another surrogate, though obviously I have to do what’s best for my health, for the intended parents, and of course the baby. We’ll see. I know that at ARTparenting I can always talk honestly and intelligently with both Meryl and Julie. They’re never anything less than supportive and responsive, and I know that they’ll make the recommendation that’s best for everyone. I absolutely love working with them for that reason, and many, many others.”