Surrogacy

Infertility can devastate the strongest of women, including Adrienne Arieff, a successful media and communications pro, writer, and San Francisco native. But Arieff chose to deal with her fertility issues in a remarkable way, hiring a surrogate in India after reading about the growing popularity of India's "reproductive outsourcing" in The New York Times and watching an investigation into the hot topic on Oprah. Now the mother to 3-year-old twins, Emma and India — who are the biological children of Adrienne and her husband, Alex, but who developed in the womb of an Indian woman named Vahina — Adrienne has chronicled her unique journey to motherhood in the fascinating book The Sacred Thread. "Since surrogacy is controversial, I was nervous to tell anyone in the beginning, but now I'm chanting it more than ever," Adrienne says, citing the growing interest in surrogacy sparked by celebrities like Giuliana Rancic, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Nicole Kidman. "Beautiful things come into this planet in many ways." I talked to Adrienne about the challenges of infertility, of traveling across the world to undergo IVF, and of trusting another woman to carry her children. Keep reading for more of her amazing story.

It's a woman's choice, isn't it? That may not be the case in some parts of Australia, where a mother breaks the law if she has a child via paid surrogate. According to Jezebel:

"Altruistic surrogacy," in which no money changes hands, is allowed in Australia but seldom happens. The new overseas surrogacy ban in New South Wales (Australia's most populous state, containing Sydney, where Kidman grew up and where her parents live) has already been passed but has not yet gone into effect. It would "impose penalties of two years' jail, a $110,000 fine, or both on parents who pay for a surrogate here or abroad to carry their child," according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Despite fertility issues, the ban makes it the government's place to decide which citizens are entitled to have families and how they should go about creating them. What's your reaction?

Sunday Urban is a big sister! It must have been the look of second child bliss on Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban's faces at the Golden Globe Awards last night. The couple welcomed a second daughter, Faith Margaret, via surrogate in late December. The proud parents released this statement to TMZ:

Our family is truly blessed, and just so thankful, to have been given the gift of baby Faith Margaret. No words can adequately convey the incredible gratitude that we feel for everyone who was so supportive throughout this process, in particular our gestational carrier.

Congratulations to the family!

Americans may take access to fertility treatments and the myriad of ways to create a family — even welcoming twiblings — for granted in the states. But across the pond, one couple is making headlines with their announcement to open the UK's first surrogacy center for same-sex parents-to-be. Barrie and Tony Drewitt-Barlow have been in the press since they were named on the birth certificates of their now 11-year-old twins born via surrogate. The couple have since welcomed three more children, and the center will enable other people to do the same. Barrie Drewitt-Barlow said:

Its aim is to bring together intended parents with egg donors and surrogate, along with sperm donors, and offer legal advice from qualified legal professionals.

The British Surrogacy Agency will have a second office in San Francisco.

It was a Christmas baby for piano man Elton John and his partner David Furnish! The couple welcomed their son — Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John — to the world in California. Surrogacy has become mainstream in Hollywood with stars like Sarah Jessica Parker to Neil Patrick Harris and now the Furnish-John family choosing this means to start a family. But having another woman carry your child can involve psychological, legal, financial, and medical aspects. Is the method right for you?

What Do You Know About Surrogacy?	Would You Consider Being a Surrogate?	The Business of Babies Isn't Always an Honest One
Did You Always Know You Wanted to Be a Parent?	Surrogacy Outside the US	Would You Be a Surrogate For Your Child?

Where do babies come from isn't a simple conversation anymore. It's not always about a mom and a dad or a man and a woman since conception happens everywhere — in bedrooms, in hospitals, and laboratories. In some situations there's a doctor, a donor, a surrogate, or even an attorney involved. The birds and the bees have become a bit more complicated, but the sex talk still happens, and children inquire earlier. Kids are sharp, if you give them the 1950s spiel about a man loving a woman, they'll likely have more questions.

How did their friend with two dads come to be — is it time to talk surrogacy? Or what about the classmate who was adopted by a single mother? Fertility treatments are mainstream, should parents dole out the basics of IVF (In vitro fertilization) and IUI (intra-uterine insemination)? As medical breakthroughs continue there's even the prospect of a three-parent conception method, so where should the conversation with our children end? What will (did) you tell your kids?

Men and women craving parenthood often do not happen upon it naturally. For many, parenthood comes via IVF, adoption, or surrogacy. Like any birth method, there are risks associated with all forms of birthing, but surrogacy may have the most. There are five states that do not recognize surrogacy contracts, which leaves many vulnerable to losing "their" babies. Such is the case with Michigan couple Amy and Scott Kehoe.

After paying for donated eggs and sperm, the Kehoes agreed to hire surrogate Shelley Baker to be their carrier. The twin babies were born and all was well until Shelley discovered Amy Kehoe had a history of a psychiatric disorder and was a former cocaine user. While her record was certainly not clean, Mrs. Kehoe had doctors and psychiatrists who applauded her efforts and her recovery and deemed her a fit mother. Still, it was not enough for Mrs. Baker. Worried about the babies' well being, she chose to fight for their custody and won. The Kehoes believe they were wronged and that the children were kidnapped from them.

Who do you think should have custody of the babes?