We sat down for an interview with one half of an incredible Intended Parent duo whom we’ve had the pleasure of not only working with in the past and knowing personally but now working with again! Between the bustling and oftentimes hectic schedule of his work life, Jamie and his partner have been working on growing their family via surrogacy (though “between” may not be the correct term, Jamie is very adamant about prioritizing his dream of becoming a parent and being very hands-on both during the process and in his future children’s lives). Jamie Hurley, the CEO of Lobeline Communications, a prestigious PR firm with locations in Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, and Toronto, has worked with our team in the past to become a parent through surrogacy, and while his past journey wasn’t the success story we had all hoped for, he’s giving it another go. This time around, the process is shaping up to a much more positive outcome. We dove right in with Jamie on how the process has been, his past experience, and a little on his future plans with his children!
How did you decide on Simple Surrogacy as your agency?
I actually went through the agency 13 years ago in an attempt to start my family as an Intended Parent with my partner. Sadly, we went through multiple transfers with two different Surrogates, and, as on occasion, complications arose with each attempt being unsuccessful. Despite the outcome not being what we had hoped for, Simple Surrogacy was amazing each step of the way and stood with us through the entire experience, fighting to get us to the next stage. If they hadn’t kept fighting, we wouldn’t be here today waiting for our children to come.
I would also have to say that there is no better, more experienced agency and team out there when it comes to surrogacy. Each member of the team is personally involved in the community in some way – either as an Egg Donor, being a Surrogate themselves, or having grown their own family via Surrogacy. That kind of in-depth knowledge and experience is invaluable and gives them a step up above the rest.
Where are you currently at in your process as an Intended Parent?
We have now matched with a second Surrogate, as we had previously matched a couple months ago but encountered some issues with the Surrogate’s insurance. Some insurance policies have exclusions, which often happen to include surrogacy exclusions.
As anyone in the surrogacy community can tell you, there will be bumps along the way but in the end you have to believe that it will all work out for the best, and in this case we were lucky enough to match with another incredible Surrogate and continue our journey. We are actually quite fortunate to match with another Surrogate so quickly after the first fell through, as it typically takes 6-9 months to match for a double embryo transfer. Thanks to Simple Surrogacy and all of their hard work to make our dreams a reality, we’re on the path to soon becoming parents.
Now, our Surrogate has passed all screening and is waiting for on-site medical check-up for next steps!
Is your Surrogate in the same state as you and your partner? If not, how will travel be arranged, and how frequently do you expect to see your Surrogate?
Our Surrogate is located in Austin, Texas (as Simple Surrogacy offers the Texas Advantage, finding a Surrogate located in the State was ideal). Because she is already located in Texas, our Surrogate will do the check-up and transfer on-site in Dallas.
My partner and I fully intend to travel and be present at all of the important appointments in Texas, such as the transfer and ultrasounds. We also intend to assist with further items such as providing healthy meals for our Surrogate, should she desire, even from a distance when we’re not present in the State.
Our Egg donor is also out of Texas, though not Austin. She’s been an egg donor a few times, with another couple currently carrying twins with her eggs which makes us even more excited and hopeful for the double embryo transfer. While we only recently matched with our Surrogate, we matched a little over a year and a half ago with our Egg Donor, and she wants to meet the children when they are born and grow up, to which my partner and I are very welcoming of. We plan to be very open with our kids and had previously hoped for a good relationship with whomever we matched with as our Egg Donor for this very reason.
Well, that actually answered part of our next question, which is how involved do you intend to have your Surrogate and Egg Donor be in your children’s lives, and how will you approach the topic of surrogacy with your kids?
Well there we go, glad I already answered part of that! But yes, as I said, we would love for our Egg Donor to meet the children and give her updates on their lives as they grow up, and we want the exact same with our Surrogate. She obviously will have played the biggest role in bringing them into this world, so we want her to be able to keep up with their progress as they grow.
We want our Egg Donor and Surrogate to be in contact with the children. We also plan on being very transparent about the fact that they were born via Surrogate – there’s nothing wrong with it and we hope it will show them how much we love them.
We love it; help to end the stigma surrounding surrogacy through transparency!
So of course we have to ask, especially with the current surge in the Omicron variant, how does it feel to be taking these next steps in your journey to become a parent amid the global pandemic?
Hah! Well it has caused some delays and additional stress, particularly when it came to matching with a Surrogate as the pandemic has caused a shortage in Surrogates around the country, due to a number of reasons but largely because potential Surrogates with young children of their own often can’t spend so much time isolating at hospitals when they need to care for those kids.
Then there’s the issue of travel; I actually have to travel a lot for my company so I’m very familiar with all of the protocols at this point, but no familiarity is going to help when there’s a shortage of flights due to a lack of pilots and flight attendants, not to mention all other employees at airports. It does make it a bit more tricky to navigate going to Texas since we don’t live in-State.
Understandable. So, despite the delays and stress from the global pandemic, how has your experience been with Simple Surrogacy overall?
They’ve been amazing! And they’ve helped guide us throughout the entire process. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been through this process before with Simple Surrogacy, and while we weren’t successful last time, I obviously chose to come to them again in my dream to achieve fatherhood and that is entirely due to how incredible this agency was years ago in supporting my partner and myself through that process and the tough times.
One final thing: Is there anything you wish you’d known going into the process that would have simplified things
Well you know, since I’d been through this before I knew what to expect this time around… but still, patience is key, and you absolutely cannot rush the process. It’s best not to let that impatient side of you come out in this process (which I’ll admit can be a bit difficult for me as I don’t like to wait on things!). But yes, trust your agency — there is nobody more experienced in the industry. It’s a waiting game.
The last bit of advice I would personally add is to not get your hopes up too high — nothing is certain. But trust the process and what’s meant to be will always happen.
If you are interested in beginning your journey as Intended Parents, or are looking to become a Surrogate or Egg Donor for another wonderful couple like Jamie and his partner, contact our team today.
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