March

Dr Samit informed us how many embryos we had and again we were so pleased the fertilisation had been successful.  We left the next stages to the clinic.

Our only hope was that now our surrogate mother would fall pregnant. We knew we had left her in very experienced and capable hands. Dr Samit and the medical team would make sure she was in the best health at all times and that she was looked after physically and emotionally for the journey ahead.

We received an email 10 days later confirming that our surrogate mother was pregnant! I am not sure we could totally believe it! We were so pleased for us but also our surrogate mother. We discovered our surroagate’s name is Lalitha; which is a very pretty name. Lalitha and our journey has begun together!

We have to admit that we know very little about Lalitha.  We do know that she has a family of her own; that she probably lives in Hyderabad, or not too far away; otherwise we know little of her life and her own story.  There are so many crucial people involved every step of the way.  Some play big roles, others relatively small, but sometimes no less important.   Lalitha has undoubtedly made the biggest sacrifice of all of us.  She’s the one who has chosen to step up; move away from her dearest family, her friends, and from the life she leads.  We don’t know how big a sacrifice that is for her – as only a mother could understand, I’m sure it’s significant.  I don’t know her motives, nor how she must be feeling – I fully appreciate how tough and what hard work pregnancy is.  We are very grateful for the personal sacrifice she is making every day.  I hope, one day, she learns that what she and other surrogate mothers do to help those of us who have struggled for one of life’s great treasures – having a child – is truly humbling.  When we get to the end, which I obviously hope will be successful, I would love to meet her and thank her from the bottom of my heart.  I also know it may not be appropriate, or even wanted, which is fine.  I can’t force my wishes on anyone, but I hope I can somehow pass on my thanks and best wishes to her.      

We were sent a scan and all the details of the embryo at this (very early) stage. We couldn’t believe it was actually real. Anjani explained we would receive a report which consist of ultra sound photos, ultra sound videos and the baby’s growth measurements, every week for the first 12 weeks of the pregnancy. Then after this we would receive a report every fortnight. We would be able to see our baby growing every step of the way in Lalitha. We were so pleased that this was going to be the case so we could bond with the baby being in Lalitha’s womb.

Each week we waited patiently for the scan and each week we couldn’t believe that this little person was growing. We feel very blessed, but remained incredibly nervous.