#surrogacy #ivf #surrogate 

Brittany’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pavinourway?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ== 

A surrogacy journey can look “simple” from the outside, right up until it doesn’t. Brittany joins us to share what it’s like to be a gestational carrier who knows the fertility world firsthand, from years of trying to conceive to building her own family and then stepping back in to help someone else grow theirs. Her story is honest, detailed, and packed with the kind of real-life context you wish you could get before starting the surrogacy process. 

We talk through how she decided on surrogacy over egg donation, what mental health and family history can mean for eligibility, and how she weighed an agency path against an independent journey. Then things get wild: a literal website glitch leads her to the intended parents she ends up carrying for, and the match moves fast into medical clearance, psych screening, legal, and transfer prep. Brittany also explains transfer meds, travel logistics, working with a large IVF clinic, and why they were comfortable transferring untested embryos based on values and medical history. 

The biggest curveball comes after the first transfer, when her betas rise but no pregnancy can be located, leading to a diagnosis of pregnancy of unknown origin and methotrexate treatment. After the required waiting period, a second transfer sticks and results in a healthy baby, but not without heightened monitoring shaped by the parents’ prior late-term losses. We also get into weekly BPPs, a breech baby who keeps flipping, and a planned induction that turns into a C-section where Brittany’s self-advocacy (and knowing who makes decisions in the OR) changes everything. 

If you’re considering becoming a surrogate, navigating IVF and embryo transfer, or just want a true surrogacy podcast story that doesn’t skip the hard parts, this conversation will stay with you. Subscribe, share this with someone researching surrogacy, and leave a review so more families and surrogates can find these stories.

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