#surrogacy
#ivf
#surrogate
Lyndsey’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lstrickland1026?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
A single decision—stick to your non-negotiables—can reshape an entire surrogacy journey. We sit down with an experienced surrogate from North Carolina who takes us from the first late-night Google search to two very different matches, one declined for an NDA and one embraced for connection and trust. Along the way, she reveals the real timeline of IVF: long stretches of waiting, injections that sting, a failed transfer that tests your resolve, and the quiet shift from self-blame to science-informed acceptance.
You’ll hear how clarity changes everything. She wanted a relationship, not a transaction—and that boundary led to a delivery room filled with joy, grandparents peeking from behind a curtain, and intended parents who went from “we might not watch” to cutting the cord and hearing their son’s first cry. She shares how kids understand surrogacy with disarming honesty (“They’re the bakers; I’m the oven”), and how family members learned what genetic links, consent, and privacy actually mean. The postpartum chapter is refreshingly grounded: handing over care, pumping briefly, donating milk, prioritizing sleep and home, and using agency-backed mental health check-ins to stay balanced.
We also cover the nuts and bolts that rarely make it to social posts: mock cycles and why clinics request them, mini-legal for mocks and ensuring compensation, life insurance with correct beneficiaries and timelines, and a crucial clause granting her husband medical decision-making if international parents are mid-flight. It’s practical, tender, and fiercely honest about what protects everyone—the surrogate, the baby, and the intended parents—when plans shift.
If you’re a first-time surrogate, an intended parent, or simply curious about how love, medicine, and meticulous planning create families, this story delivers hard-won wisdom and hope. Subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs it, and leave a review telling us your biggest takeaway—what boundary would you never compromise?
