Blog
Surrogacy in the Workplace
Being pregnant in the workplace under normal circumstances can be challenging, but telling coworkers about your surrogacy can also be stressful. It is not easy to hide your growing belly. While conversations involving your pregnancy may seem overwhelming, you can...
Holiday Tips for Those Wanting to Start Their Own Families
At Shared Conception, we know the holidays can be extra rough when you are trying to start your own family. Every holiday commercial shows happy families celebrating, and that can be especially hard to watch. Of course, every family member, friend, and co-worker will...
Surrogacy during the Holiday Party Season
With Christmas and New Years' Eve approaching, there will be a lot of party invites from friends, family, and even work. Holidays always pose a challenge when you are a surrogate mother having a baby for excited Intended Parents. Here are a few minor adjustments you...
Surrogate Milk Donations
Following a successful surrogate pregnancy, the surrogate may pump and provide the Intended Parents with breast milk for the baby. Breast milk can be used to supplement baby formula or may as the baby's primary diet. Many families wonder if breast milk is necessary or...
Surrogacy and The Upcoming Holidays
The holidays can be stressful for anyone, but for surrogates, it can be a particularly busy and overwhelming time of year. Not only are they often taking care of their own family, but they are taking care of a growing baby for the intended parents. As the Intended...
6 Topics to Cover in Surrogate Contracts
If you are considering surrogacy, it is crucial to have a contract between yourself (the intended parents) and the surrogate. Even when both parties are agreeable, it’s a smart choice to have a contract so there are no misunderstandings about the expectations from...
Pre-birth Order and their Importance
As intended parents, when a gestational surrogate is carrying and giving birth to your baby, one of the most critical steps in the surrogacy process is to ensure that you are legally recognized as the parents by the appropriate court or legal process. Pre-birth Order...
Surrogacy and the LGBTQ+ Community
Surrogacy is often one of the last options for heterosexual couples wanting to have children, but for LGBTQ+ couples, it is one of the only options outside of adoption. Adoption is an expensive and complicated process, and laws vary state by state, with some states...
Exercises You Can Do While Pregnant
You've begun the surrogacy journey, and if you enjoy working out, you may be wondering how that will still be possible. Continuing physical activity during your pregnancy is not only safe but healthy. Exercise can help prevent headaches, stress and depression,...
How to Announce Your Baby’s Birth Via Surrogacy
Announcing the birth of your baby is always an exciting moment. Typically, these announcements are made with pictures of the new baby with the stats such as weight, length, and time of birth. But how do you announce the birth of a baby born via surrogacy? Here are...
What Makes a Great Surrogacy Match?
The process of matching intended parents and their surrogate is one of the most exciting parts of the surrogacy process! Shared Conception’s objective is that the surrogate and intended parents interact in a comfortable environment and that both parties build a good...
How to Tell Your Child They Were Born Via Surrogacy
Parents have always found it a little uncomfortable to discuss where babies come from with their children. When the birth involves social, emotional, or other complexities such as surrogacy, it can be extremely overwhelming. While it can be difficult, experts agree...
How to Prepare for Storms and Power Outages While Pregnant
Being pregnant can be stressful on its own, but when there are things like flooding, power outages, or another bad weather-related emergency, being unprepared can add extra layers of worry. While it is easier said than done, above all else, try not to stress out....
Understanding the Journey of Surrogacy- From the Perspective of a Surrogate
Being a surrogate provides a ray of hope for other families. This knowledge strengthens the resolve of a surrogate and helps surrogates stay strong through the emotional and physical challenges of pregnancy. Surrogates should embrace and celebrate that they will be...
How to Recognize Your Calling for Surrogacy
For couples who have long yearned for parenthood, surrogates are no less than superheroes for them. Selflessness, unconditional empathy, and desire to complete another couple’s family make them superheroes. The amazing fact is that they're ordinary women, but they do...
Surrogate Gift Giving
Our intended parents often ask us about gifts for their surrogates. Gifts are not required nor expected, but many intended parents would like to express their gratitude with small tokens of appreciation along the journey. When Shared Conception matches a surrogate...
Surrogate Compensation
At Shared Conception, most of our surrogate mothers rarely use money as a factor for being a surrogate. They truly enjoy the idea of helping a family, enjoy being pregnant, and feel that the journey is more of a calling for them. That being said—being a surrogate is a...
What Happens if Surrogate is Carrying Multiples
You decided to take the path of surrogacy but find out your surrogate mother is carrying multiples. Now what happens? Multiple pregnancies(this is when more than one embryo implants in your uterus) are not uncommon and are often associated with IVF (in vitro...