My name is Ashley. I’m a very proud stay at home mom to two beautiful kids. My son is 8 years old and very intelligent! He’s the best big brother ever! My daughter is 6 years old. She is crazy and fun and very artistic! I married my high school sweetheart 10 years ago and have been blessed with a great life.
I had both my kids at a young age. Neither of them were planned. God surprised us with two amazing blessings! Conceiving was never an issue for me or anyone that I knew of; at least that’s what I thought. The reality is that it was never talked about. It wasn’t until I was older that I met some great people and became friends with them. Over time, I learned about their struggle to conceive and it broke my heart. I saw the pain on their faces as they told me about their struggle from years before, but I also saw strength and acceptance with the knowledge that it wasn’t going to happen for them. It hurt me knowing they’d never experience the love that only a mother and father can feel for their child; the love that I feel for my kids. All I wanted to do was cry for them. I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I wanted to help! I knew a little about surrogacy and asked if they’d ever considered it. They had, but medically, it wasn’t an option for them. I looked into surrogacy a little more and the more I read, the more I knew, this was for me! At the time, my kids were still pretty young and very dependent so I decided to wait until they were older. I’m happy I did! When the time felt right, I filled out an application with FSC and Zara contacted me with encouraging news! This was very much possible for me to pursue! Convincing my husband was a little difficult. He saw it as weird! Weird that I wanted to carry another person’s child; that I even wanted to go through a pregnancy again! For what?? After I got him to see and understand why I wanted to do this, he was on board as has been a huge support for me!
Fast forward to today, I’m currently 21 weeks pregnant with a very active little girl! Zara matched me with a couple that lives in Spain and I couldn’t be happier! They are amazing, understanding, humble and very appreciative people! I was reluctant at first to consider an international couple because I wanted the parents to be an active part of this pregnancy. I wanted them to be at doctor appointments and to be able to call them with news about their baby. While I still think that would be nice, I realized, that’s not what’s important. It’s more important for me that I give them a healthy child. That’s why I’m doing this! I look forward to seeing the joy on their faces when they meet their daughter. Knowing that I helped bring a new kind of love into their life is my motivation. All the sickness and aches and pains that come with pregnancy will all be worth it in the end. God has blessed me with the ability to get pregnant, carry full term and deliver healthy babies. Why not share that blessing with someone in need? I’m truly enjoying this experience and hope to be able to do this again!
Staci Swiderski, CEO and owner of Family Source Consultants has been involved in the field of reproductive medicine since 2002. Staci has vigorously grown the comprehensive egg donation and gestational surrogacy agency to become a worldwide leader in the third-party reproduction field. Staci is a former intended parent herself. She and her husband welcomed their son via gestational surrogacy in 2005. Additionally, Staci had the experience of assisting an infertile couple (AKA Recipient Parents) build their family through her efforts as an egg donor, with her donation resulting in the births of their son and daughter.
