Meet Ashley!

“My experience was FSC has been amazing! Every step of the way I have felt such huge amounts of support from everyone and they have made this such a flawless and easy process.”

Qsurrogate spotlight: ashley d.: What led you to become a Surrogate?

I decided to look into surrogacy after I had followed a couple of friends journeys. Pregnancy and birth has always been a process I just am fascinated with. I had fantastic pregnancies and births but my husband and I knew with 100% certainty our family was complete. So after seeing my friends go through this I just knew in my heart is was something I had to do.

Q. Who was/is your largest support person/s throughout your journey?

My husband was hands down the most incredible support, better than I could have imagined. He really took it all in stride and did a great job just being there for whatever I needed. But our entire group of family and friends were a huge support from start to finish too. Everyone we know went the extra mile for us during this journey, from helping watch my kids and getting them to where they needed to be when I couldn’t or offering to bring my family meals after the baby was born so I could relax and recover.

surrogate spotlight: ashley d.Q. What made you decide to choose your Intended Parents?

I saw their picture before I read their profile and when I saw them they reminded me a lot of myself and my husband. Then after reading their story, I just knew. They seemed so genuine and caring and I could not wait to see them become parents.

Q. What are some of the highlights of your journey?

Oh gosh, how do I even choose? Every step of the journey just got better and better. A couple of my favorite memories were meeting my intended parents for the first time. They were able to meet my husband and I after my medical screening appointment for dinner. Meeting them and knowing the journey we were about to take together, being terrified, excited, and so hopeful. My absolute favorite moment though was the anatomy scan, they were able to come to town for that appointment and getting to go together and find out they were having a sweet baby girl and seeing her growing and wiggling all around during the ultrasound was one of my favorite moments.

Q. Do you have advice for women who are interested in becoming a gestational surrogate?

Do it! Reach out and find a support system. I had the luxury of knowing a few women who had been gestational surrogates before, so reaching out to them and asking everything from the little questions to the big ones was such a helpful thing.

surrogate spotlight: ashley d.

Q. How has becoming a surrogate impacted your life?

I feel like surrogacy has impacted my life in many ways but the way I feel I have been most changed is that I am learned to relax a little bit. I have always been a huge planner and surrogacy has taught me to slow down and appreciate the little things in life more.

Q. What did you do to prepare yourself for separating from the baby after it was born?

I feel like I prepared quite well for separating from the baby after she was born because I really never let pregnancy slow me down. I have three kids of my own and we are involved in so many activities that I knew I would just have to hop back in to life at home. I left the hospital Monday morning and was at my husbands volleyball game Monday night. I had heard to make sure you have something to plan after giving birth because you spend all this time planning getting pregnant, attending appointments, planning the birth that afterwards having something to keep your mind busy is helpful. Which is exactly what I did.

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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.