Getting to know me!

Hello!!

     I  you have not already guessed my name is Shanda and I am in the process in becoming a surrogate for a pretty amazing couple. I will not be sharing much information on them in order to keep their privacy!
     I can say they are not from the United States they live in a country where surrogacy is not exactly legal there, because of the legal issues they have they have to use a surrogate from another country that is where I come in! I am going to bake their baby in my tummy for 9 months!

     Now for a little about me. My name is Shanda, I am married to the love of my life and we have two little girls Ellie 6, and Emma 4. I am a student going to school for a degree in Human and Family services. I have a very close very supportive family, and a wonderful group of friends who I can count on if I ever need anything.
     I love to dance! I danced and coached in high school, and would love to get back into dancing some time in the future. I also love to cook, one of my favorite things is finding a recipe and then tweaking little things here and there to make it better!
     I also am the family dessert maker, my red velvet cheesecake cake actually won a dessert contest in December! Baking helps me relax when I am stressed out, my first term at school I ended up with so many cupcakes I ended up bringing them in to every class and still had a ton left over.


Now for a few questions I have gotten asked so many times I might as well put the answers in one place.

Why are you doing this?
To be honest because I want to help a couple become a family! I have fairly easy pregnancies, and I love being pregnant! We are done having babies of our own but I would love to have another pregnancy so this would be a way for me to do that.

Are you still going to school?
Yes, I am determined to get my degree in Human and Family services! Right now I am going to school part time so I can give my family the attention they deserve while I do the surrogacy.

What about when you have the baby, or go on bed rest how will you do school then?
Well an amazing thing about college these days is there are TONS of classes I can take online. I plan on taking most of my classes online during the surrogacy so that if god forbid something goes wrong I can still do my classes!

Are you getting paid?
Yes, but I have to say that is not why I am doing this.

How much are you getting paid?
NONE of your business, The amount I am getting paid is what the parents and I both though was a fair number and that is all you need to know!

Do you think you are going to have a hard time giving up the baby?
No I do not. I am going into this knowing that this baby is not mine. I will not be setting up a nursery or buying baby gear to get prepared. I will be bonded with the baby of course BUT the baby is not mine and I know from the beginning that I just want to help out this couple!

Are you using your eggs?
No, I am what you would call a Gestational Carrier. The baby will not be biologically related to me in any way.

How are you going to end up pregnant?
I will be going through IVF (in vitro fertilization) So that is how we will transfer the Embryos to my uterus.

Embryos? How many are you transferring? Could you end up pregnant with like 10 babies?
We will be transferring two high quality Embryos. There is a chance I could end up carrying twins and if the Embryos split there could be more but the likely hood of that happening is low and we have a plan for if that were to happen.

How could you do that? I could never do that.
Ummm ok? Surrogacy is not for everyone and that is fine, but it is something I have thought about for a long time and I have done tons of research on. I can do it because that is the kind of person I am, there is nothing really else I can say to that.

Is your husband ok with this?
My husband is amazing and supports me in this. I would not be doing this is he was not ok with it.

You have to go 9 months without drinking how could you do that?
Well the truth is I don't drink much as it is so I am really not going to be missing anything. I can still go out with the girls, and it will be nicer on the wallet water and sprite is a LOT cheaper than drinks!

I am sure I missed some questions so if I missed one just leave in a comment and I will add it to the post!