Hi, my name is Shanelle, and I am a gestational carrier. ​ This year I had the amazing opportunity to help someone with their family building, and I am excited to share my surrogacy journey!  Let’s go back to the very beginning. For years I have always thought about becoming a gestational carrier. I wasn’t really sure what the process was or everything that is required, other than you had to have already carried a child of your own. At the time I was doing my research I didn’t have a child of my own yet, so my dreams of becoming a surro ..read more

I am now 36 weeks pregnant, and a lot has happened since my last update. I still get nauseous every once in a while... sometimes I can pinpoint what it is (like eggs, blah!). And at other times I will eat the same thing 2 days in a row and be fine one day and not the next. Haven't been getting headaches anymore! YAY! To be honest, I've been feeling really good. So far, at all of my appointments, everything has been going great with the baby and me. At my 26 week appointment, I had bloodwork done to check for gestational diabetes. I've never had it with any other pregnancy and do not have ..read more

I can't believe it has been 2 months since I have updated this blog! I am almost 26 weeks now! Some days I feel like this is flying but most days it doesn't feel that way and so even though I have not been feeling the best (lots of headaches and back to throwing up occasionally) I am still trying to enjoy every day because I really enjoy being pregnant and I don't take being able to do this for granted. 18 weeks My routine OB appointment at 18 weeks showed everything was looking perfect. I was finally starting to feel better and not be so nauseous and had VERY few puking episodes. I had ..read more

Hi Everyone! It's a NEW MONTH! I am currently 15 weeks and 4 days pregnant! I AM FINALLY FINISHED WITH DAILY INJECTIONS and extra medications to help keep this pregnancy viable! My body has now taken over naturally and everything is going great! (Except for daily nausea and vomiting) 70 injections... DONE! Since my last post, I've had an appointment with a nurse practitioner at my OB office. We talked about my past pregnancies, health, and blood work to check for any issues. I was able to have the Intended Mother on a video call with me so she was able to get any questions answered and just c ..read more

Hello to everyone who has been following me on this journey and to all the new people who are just joining me! It has been a whole month since I have done an update and everything is going fairly well. As I had said in my last post, I have been very nauseous and throwing up multiple times a day. I have currently lost 10 pounds! On May 25th, I was struggling to keep anything down, even Gatorade. The next day I had left a message for my OB and they recommended I come in to get some IV fluids. I didn't realize how dehydrated I was until it was difficult for the nurse to find a vein to put the I ..read more

Hello Everyone! It has been a while since I updated and that is because I wanted to make sure that everything was going smoothly first. On April 21st, I had the embryo transfer, and soon after I already started having symptoms- sore chest, nauseous and tired. I was hoping these were pregnancy symptoms and not just side effects of the medications and injections I was taking. ​ It was a LONG 12-day wait before I was able to get bloodwork done to confirm pregnancy and that the tiny embryo had indeed gotten all snuggled into my uterus. To confirm pregnancy through blood, your HCG levels are check ..read more

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We have parents, we have embryos and we have a gestational carrier! Let the journey begin! With Covid still lingering around, it has definitely crossed my mind that I may not meet this deserving couple until I give birth and that makes this process feel... disconnected. Thankfully, we have been texting, sending photos, and had an occasional phone call so we are getting to know each other that way and I am so grateful for that. I had to wait for my period to come before we could get started with medications. As soon as it came, I sent an email to my nurse at the IVF Clinic and immediately sta ..read more

I feel like some people just think you get selected to do this, get pregnant, have a baby, and go about your life. There is WAY more to it. CLINIC DAY! Since the intended parents agreed to have their frozen embryos sent to the IVF Clinic in Iowa I wouldn't have to travel to New Jersey (where they live). The clinic is almost in Des Moines so it was a little over 3 hours away from one way for me to drive and because of COVID, no one was allowed to come with me. Now that we all agreed this would be a good fit, we needed to start working on a contract to not only protect everyone legally but to ..read more

Since I have already completed a surrogacy journey and trust the agency, I wanted to work with the same agency for my second one - The Surrogacy Experience.   I reached out to Tina, the Managing Principal, and told her after several years and chats with my previous intended mother, I knew I was ready to help another couple with their family. We got down to business right away and I collected my medical records and filled out all the required paperwork/applications. There is a background check, a drug screening, and a phone call with a psychologist.   Next, I was able to create a new ..read more