Monthly Archives: April 2014
Why I was an egg donor
In my job as the owner of CFC, I am often asked what drives me, where I get my motivation, and more importantly, after Seven years, am I still as passionate as the day I opened CFC.
The answer today is the same as it was six years age. I started this business after being a Birth mother, after being a Mom, after being an egg donor, and after being a Surrogate. All of those unique experiences have given me the opportunity to do this job! It has always been a privilege and honour for me to share my children with the world. I know that I have the most amazing children, and that I was able to prove it, by sharing them with the world, through adoption, as well as Egg Donation.
I often wonder why the young women we work with donate. Especially women without children. Do they really know what it is they are giving away- Do they know the love of a child?? The answer has to be No, but what they do know is the Love of family, and how blessed they are to be a part of an amazing family. Is that enough???
Should donors be required to have kids of their own first??? As I think about the above questions, I start to question my own motivations as well. I am definitely a work in progress, and as I get older, and have a daughter approaching the age of many of my donors, I wonder if she will be interested in donating, and if so, how I would feel, knowing that she hasn’t had kids yet, but will be contributing to another family, before she starts her own.
Over the month of May, in celebration of Mother’s Day, I will be posting more personal blog pieces, as I look back at the various roles I’ve played, whether egg donor, surrogate, birth mom, or Mom. I hope that in sharing these stories, I am able to inspire those considering egg donation, or Surrogacy to take the plunge, or for those Intended parents waiting with open arms, to know that their is HOPE! For further information on Surrogacy, Egg Donation, Fertility consulting, please email us at info@fertilityconsultants.ca OR, by calling our office at 613 439 8701
Alberta, Thanks for having us
CFC’s CEO Leia Picard, and Intake Worker Angie Campeau hit the road, travelling to both Edmonton, and Calgary, Alberta this past weekend. Angie, and Leia both have new babies, and so as part of living out our company culture, Families first! babies came with them, and kept them company during any and all down time that they had.
Here’s Angie’s post about their trip!
What a whirlwind of a trip that we just had
During our Alberta trip we were able to visit past, present and hopeful Intended parents, current, and hopeful surrogates too. We jam packed so much fun into two days. It was a blast!
I can
CFC takes a Road Trip to visit our Surrogates in Alberta
Surrogates in Alberta will have two Dinners planned- Calgary, and Edmonton
This month has been a very busy, and exciting month at CFC so far. We have had Eight new Surrogates join our family, and have had Six confirmed pregnant. It is always so great to get this news from our Surrogates, but tough when the news come from Surrogates in other provinces, that we have not yet been able to meet, other than via Facebook, and telephone.
Next week, me and Angie are hitting the road, and heading to Alberta to host Surrogate Dinners, and to meet new Surrogates in our program that we haven’t yet been able to meet. We both have young babies, and so will be bringing them with us, as we did to our Retreat in BC. It is so important to me as a business owner that Family comes first, and for that reason, whenever our kids can travel with us, or attend events, we will have them there with us, and Lucky for us, Alberta is going to be one of those times when Babies are Definitely welcome!!
Our trip will start in Edmonton where we will host some information sessions for new surrogates, considering working with CFC. We will then hold a dinner in both Edmonton, and Calgary for our Surrogates there. We are hoping to have a turn out of ten surrogates in each location- all in various stages of the process, from pre match, to ready to pop!
It is always a pleasure for us to spend time with our Surrogates, sharing with them any advice we can give about the process, and of course learning from them, how we can support them, given the geographical distance between us.
Alberta has become a destination for our many international clients, as the post birth process is very fast, and our clients are typically home within just a couple of short weeks. This link explains the differences between each Canadian province, and their post birth process. You will note that BC, and Alberta are the most progressive provinces, with the fastest turn around time post birth http://fertilityconsultants.ca/blog/…llen-k-embury/
In March we were in British Columbia where we hosted a weekend retreat with close to twenty women in attendance over the three days. This month we are in Alberta, and are excited to plan/host events in other provinces in the months to come.
Meeting, and sharing time with our Surrogates is such fun for us, and we look forward to coming to a city near you!
For more information on becoming a Surrogate with CFC, please email our Intake worker Angie at angie@fertilityconsultants.ca Or, by calling our office at 613 439 8701.
Our Surrogacy Support Worker on the Road, to Chicago Birth Without Fear
I had bought tickets to the Birth Without fear (http://birthwithoutfearblog.com/about-bwf/) meet up on a whim one day, as I love what BWF stands for and I just wanted to be a part of the movement in one way or another.
As the date approached closer and closer I still hadn
Should my Family be complete before starting a Surrogacy journey
Surrogate Mother Delivers bundle of Joy to parents
Should my family be complete before starting a surrogacy journey
This is a question that I am asked all the time. It’s something that I personally have done myself, so my opinion is defiantly based on personal experience, and obviously the answer will be different for everyone.
One sunny day, I was out for a ride with a friend of mine who offered the topic of surrogacy to me. She had just been matched and was pretty passionate about it. I had so many questions for her, and she luckily had lots of answers.
At the time I had two vibrant 4 year olds who were a whole lot of energy, and a whole lot of work. My husband and I knew we wanted to add to our family, but not for some time. I was young (24), and we honestly had no time line in sight of adding to our family. We just knew that one day we would like to add 1 or 2 more.
After lots of talking, we decided that it was time to move forward with a journey. But something we both agreed on was that I would need to be ok with the possibility of never having any more children. Having a baby, whether your own baby or a surrogate baby, comes with risks. During pregnancy and birth, especially in the case of multiple gestations (twins, triplets), a woman always has the risk of experiencing complications that could permanently damage her fertility. And so for me this was a question that I felt any women considering surrogacy should truly ask herself. Although the risk is small- is it something I was ok with?
For me, that answer was yes. My family is already non-traditional. So if it meant adding to our family thru adoption down the road, we agreed that we were comfortable with it. That and we already had the million dollar family too. So I knew it wouldn’t be an awful thing if we got to just enjoy the two we had!
Luckily I went on to have a wonderful surrogacy birth, and no complications to my fertility at all. My husband and I got pregnant 6 months after my surrogacy was done. And now have a beautiful 3rd child. Would I do my surrogacy again before adding to my family? HECK YES! Was hands down, an amazing experience and I’m glad I did it when I wanted to instead of waiting.
We would love to add more to our family still- and funnily enough we are again in the talks of another journey again before our family is complete. For now, I’ll enjoy my 3 healthy, happy kids!
When it comes down to it the bottom line is; making the decision to become a surrogate is something that should be carefully considered, but it also can be one of the most rewarding experiences of a person’s life.
Angie Campeau
Surrogacy Support Worker
Canadian Fertility Consulting
226-373-0638
www.fertilityconsultants.ca
CFC welcomes a new Surrogate Support Worker
Angie has joined CFC in April 2014 and is the point person for our Surrogates. She gave birth to a surrogate baby in 2012 and brings with her a lot of experience, advice and compassion for our Surrogates. Giving comes as a second nature to her