Introducing...!

In beginning the introduction on here to my new IPs, here is their ad that I saw on SMO about a month ago and am so glad I replied to!

"We are looking for a gestational surrogate, and we are hoping that you might be able to help us. We are both 35 years old. We have been happily married for almost 4 years and have been together for 10 years. We live in our own home in Atlanta, Georgia. We don’t have any children yet, but we would love to start fulfilling our dream of adding to our family. We feel like our lives will not be complete unless we can love, teach, and raise children together.

We currently have 8 frozen embryos created from our own eggs and sperm and are looking to start the pregnancy process as soon as possible. We have our frozen embryos at a local fertility clinic here in Atlanta.

We are flexible to using your OB and delivery at the location of your choice. We hope to be able to attend prenatal visits to the OB. We are honest, pretty low maintenance people with a good sense of humor and won’t be demanding of you during pregnancy. We are just looking for a non-smoking, drug-free person who won’t drink during pregnancy and is willing to take a multivitamin. We would like to find someone who is open to selective reduction/termination, if it was necessary. We are also open to contact after delivery, if that is desired by the gestational carrier.

We are willing to offer appropriate compensation and fees for your time, sacrifices, and efforts. We think it is an amazing thing that you are willing to help others achieve their dreams of being parents. Please e-mail if you are interested."

Jenn and Chad both work in the medical field and are mom and dad to an adorable Shih-Tzu named "Boudin".  We talked through pretty much all the important topics within a couple days of my response to their ad and I was so thrilled that they are open to me posting pictures of all of us throughout our journey and after delivery, they are open to staying in touch and genuinely seem interested in building a good relationship and being in touch frequently throughout the surrogacy which are all important things to me! They are very easy to talk to, and I have really enjoyed the in-person get togethers we've had and our phone conversations. They always teleconference with both of them on the line which I think is awesome - it is great how involved they both are, I think it's super sweet how much of a team the two of them already are in this journey, and hope I will complement their team well and be a really good addition! :)

A somewhat weird but very cool thing is that they know my last IPs! It is crazy! My former IM "L" had actually sent me an e-mail last August when I was pregnant with Miss "S" telling me about Jenn and Chad and asking if I knew anyone searching. When I first read Jenn and Chad's ad their names sounded vaguely familiar to me, but I didn't put it together until after we'd gotten together for lunch the first time and I went home and searched my old e-mails and found their info! They had said after our lunch they were thinking I must have been L&N's surro because I mentioned my FIM had been a transplant patient and Jenn is as well, and the local transplant community is pretty small especially when you add in a gestational surrogate!! "L" recently sent me a note that said: "Congratulations on matching with Jenn and Chad. They are extremely lucky to have you and I wish you all the best. I can't wait to follow your next journey. You are such an amazing person to do this. As I have said before, we can't thank you enough for bringing "S" safely into our lives." That was such a great note to receive from her. I am very glad that she is supportive of us matching as well. I was a little concerned at first that it might be a little awkward, but it doesn't seem to be for anyone and it's kind of neat to think that maybe two babies I carried via surrogacy might get to know each other and grow up together! :)

Kenneth and Kent are both very supportive of this match and feel really good about Jenn and Chad as well.  Kent hasn't had the chance to meet potential IPs before - previously he met our IPs at the hospital during delivery, so it was nice that he's had the chance already to meet Jenn and Chad before the official decision was made so he could truly be a part of it. He already told me how much he likes them and he's glad we get to help them. He practically "claimed" Jenn when they came for lunch on the 12th - bonding to her right away (he loved that she let him tell her all about his lego and bionicle creations and that she was interested in what he was showing her and that she had lots of patience and attention for him!!) :)

So that is my introduction to Jenn and Chad, my IPs for our 2011/2012 Gestational Surrogacy journey and adventure!! Here's hoping things will be smooth for us throughout testing and cycling and that soon we will be well on our way to a positive and successful transfer and a baby or two for them to love!