Background

I had never really thought about surrogacy before. Let alone, something that I would ever consider. This was something that people on Oprah talked about and had tragic stories to tell. This wasn't me.  Even now, sometimes I'm surprised at the road that we're on.

This is how we came to be where we're at today.

It started with my husband's cousin, and the birth of their beautiful son. Due to several complications and severe bleeding, to save mom's life they ended up doing a hysterectomy. I still remember thinking how devastating this was - their first child, to be so young and suddenly the option of more kids was no longer theirs to make.

Life goes on, and we were all busy raising our babies so I didn't really think too much about things. They came for a visit in the spring of 2011, just after the birth of our second daughter. They were on their way to enjoy some quiet time on one of the smaller islands north from us for a few months, and take advantage of the end of maternity leave without any work obligations. I remember at the time, the topic of surrogacy came up, and I think they mentioned that it was something they were going to look into once they were settled back at home. I was intrigued and curious, yet never thinking that it would be something I would ever do.

That summer, for our family vacation, we decided to do a 3 week road trip with our 3 year old and 3 month old. A little ambitious, but we loved it! Their place was our first stop, as we drove across the west coast of BC and made our way to Alberta, seeing friends and family along the way. I remember while we were there, asking about how the surrogacy thing worked, because at the time the little knowledge I had came from TV. Having just given birth a few months ago, I found the whole topic fascinating, but again, it was merely curiosity. There was no way that I was keen to do *that* again!

Little did I know where we'd be - less than one year later.