"I wanted to do something big in life..."

So decided Anna, a South Australian teacher and mother of two, as she launched herself into the world of egg donation and surrogacy. In this episode, we talked about the legacy we leave our children, and Anna's journey finding and meeting intended parents and offering to be their surrogate. But like all these things, it didn't all go smoothly and Anna and her first intended parents parted ways. And whilst they remain friends, Anna was shattered by the break-up. Anna eventually started 'dating' new intended parents, and they are now part-way through their journey.

You may be wondering why Anna is dressed as Wonder Woman in the photo. Good question. If you look closely, you'll see that her costume is made with the packets from IVF medication, which she kept from her egg donation cycles!

Anna also works with Surrogacy Australia's Support Service and is known within the surrogacy community for her data collection and stats analysis!  If you are interested in Anna's thoughts on finding a surrogate in Australia, you should listen to Episode 20. You might also like to check out The Five Love Languages, which many surrogacy teams consider when building their relationship.

Rebecca is an intended parent, having come to surrogacy after the birth of her second child. Rebecca found her surrogate in her good friend Katy, after she posted about her journey on Facebook to update family and friends about their situation.

Renee shares her second surrogacy journey with us, with different intended parents. Renee and her partner approached the journey with the benefit of their first experience, but they were met with many challenges along the way. Their friendship with their intended parents is strong, but as you'll hear, surrogacy is about so much more than just having a baby.

In this episode, Sarah chats about the current Review in the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act in Victoria. Submissions are open now, and close on 21 September.

If you have experienced infertility or IVF treatment in Victoria, now is your time to make a submission.

You can go to www.engage.vic.gov.au and find the ART Review, where you can answer the survey or write your own submission.

If you are interested in more information, or want to know more about Surrogacy Australia's submission, contact Sarah at [email protected]

Rebecca is a Darwin woman who would like to be a surrogate - but, as she's discovered, the NT doesn't have any surrogacy laws. This means it's virtually impossible for surrogates or intended parents to have a baby in the NT, which forces intended parents to move interstate or go overseas. Rebecca is campaigning for surrogacy laws to be introduced in the NT, and you can help her by getting behind the campaign, signing the petition and liking her page NT Surrogacy Advocacy Group.

Renee tells us the story of her first surrogacy journey, including the ups and downs that eventually resulted in the birth of Ethan for his intended parents. This is Part 1 of Renee's story - stay tuned for Part 2 in a few weeks!

Gareth became a father through surrogacy in January 2018, with the birth of his son Rixon. Gareth's surrogate was Jess, who was a great friend of Gareth's wife, Bec. Sadly, Bec passed away during the pregnancy due to complications arising from cystic fibrosis. This is a beautiful and tragic story of Gareth and Bec's story of becoming parents, and of Bec's legacy.

This is Part 3 of a 3-part episode with Rachel. In Part 3, we hear about Rachel's final surrogacy pregnancy, with baby Matilda, for her parents Marian and David.

Ben and his partner Terry live in Queensland, and earlier this year they became dads when their surrogate, Kath, gave birth to baby Ivy. Kath lives in Victoria, and despite the distance between them, this team had a really positive experience and have built a strong and lovely relationship between their two families.

This is part 2 of a 3-part interview with Rachel. In this episode, Rachel talks about finding her final intended parents, Marian and David, and their journey to the birth of baby Hugo. Unfortunately, Hugo was diagnosed late in the pregnancy with a genetic condition, and he passed away a few days after his birth. This is a truly moving, heart-wrenching and special story of how four people came together and created a family, and survived the saddest of surrogacy outcomes.