Meet JoDee!
“Everyone I met or visited with about the situation was overwhelmingly supportive and positive.”
Q: What led you to become a Surrogate?
I was extremely fortunate to have become pregnant easily and I absolutely loved being pregnant with my sons. I wanted to be able to help out someone else with something that is easy for me and my body that I thoroughly enjoy!
Q. Who was/is your greatest support person/s throughout your journey?
My husband for sure! He never once doubted the idea or my ability to do it! He helped out whenever he could with our kids and housework.
Q. What made you decide to choose your Intended Parents?
It was as though the stars aligned. We connected outside of FSC and discovered we were both signed up through FSC. Plus, the intended mother and I attended the same university but didn’t know each other!
Q. What are some of the highlights of your journey?
From the start to finish, it was almost a two year process – from deciding to match to the delivery. Some steps were fast and others were painfully slow, but worth it in the end. The absolute best part was seeing them with their baby at the delivery. It was an honor to be a part of their family’s story.
Also, I never had anyone say anything negative to me about being surrogate. I was nervous about how to handle strangers reactions. Everyone I met or visited with about the situation was overwhelmingly supportive and positive.
Q. Do you have advice for women who are interested in becoming a gestational surrogate?
Practice patience. From the moment we matched, I wanted to be pregnant. There are a lot of steps and waiting in between.
Advocate for what you want. I knew that I wanted to have an epidural during delivery. I made sure that the intended parents were okay with that before agreeing to be matched.
Q. How has becoming a surrogate impacted your life?
Some people call it a journey but it is so much more than that. It is a commitment to strangers that became friends and now family. It challenges your mind and body to change in ways you didn’t imagine. It helped facilitate a conversation with my kids about how all the ways families are made. It inspired our family to help others in ways we haven’t thought of. It changed my life as much as it changed my intended parents’ lives.
Interested in becoming a Surrogate? Click Here to get started!
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.
