CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in five married women battle infertility while trying to start their families. Gestational surrogacy is one method that can help.
A gestational carrier carries and gives birth to a baby for someone else and does not have a genetic link to the child. According to the law firm Claiborne Fox Bradley Goldman, which specializes in adoption and fertility law, there are no laws about surrogacy in North Carolina.
Partner Amy Wallas Fox said there are still legal and medical considerations that everyone involved must consider.
“The first thing would be the legal contract between the intended parents and the gestational carrier, and for that each side needs their own attorney. They want to have … both people should have attorneys who are experienced in this area, and then once the gestational carrier’s pregnant … we’re able to get a pre-birth court order,” Wallas Fox said.
She explained that the pre-birth parentage order will put the intended parents’ names on the birth certificate. The process also involves mental and physical health screenings. Wallas Fox said the cost varies and that gestational surrogates must have their own successful pregnancies before carrying a child for someone else.
Eleisha Leach, a nurse, wife and mother of two, knows how the process works firsthand. She said she always wanted to be a mother and dreamed of giving that gift to a family that couldn’t have a child. She chose to be a gestational carrier after having two children of her own.
“Having the ability to give them something so precious is something you’ll never forget. It’s kind of like a little tattoo on your heart,” Leach said.
She said being a gestational carrier was a challenging, life-changing experience. She went through the pain and hormone surges of just having a baby, but without having the child at the end. She described going through a failed transfer, the sickness from the hormones and the tension of experiencing other complications after the baby was born.
Through it all, she thought of the love she has for her own children.
Dr. Matrika Johnson, the founder and medical director of Reproductive Specialists of the Carolinas, and her husband, Jason Weil, were the recipients of that precious gift. Johnson said it was an emotional process.
"Coming to terms to need to use a gestational carrier was really, really hard,” Johnson said. “Wrapping my heart around it was a whole lot harder than wrapping my head around it.”
She said that some people believe gestational surrogacy is just for those in the spotlight, like Hollywood actresses. She explained that there are plenty of regular people who need this method to start their families for a multitude of reasons.
“There are some people that are born without a uterus but have ovaries that will need a gestational carrier. There are some people that have health conditions that preclude them from being able to get pregnant that will need to use a gestational carrier. You know, there are some people who have, just, uterine factor infertility like I did that need a gestational carrier,” Johnson said.
After all the stress, legal steps and preparation, she welcomed her daughter into the world in a way she will never forget — thanks to her doctor.
“We’re there, and it was time, and she looks at me and goes, 'You can do this just as well as I can,'” Johnson said. “They brought me all the things that I needed, and Dr. Avery let me deliver her. It was amazing.”
The process of gestational surrogacy was a long and emotional journey for both families. Leach said being able to do it for someone else brought a feeling she can’t fully put into words.
“Even though they’re grateful to me, I’m also grateful to them. This is still a dream that I wanted to do, and I was able to do it,” Leach said.
More information for those interested in learning about gestational surrogacy is available here.