How do you define “family”?

For most people, it can be hard to define exactly what family is since the word itself can represent both blood relatives such as your mother and father and sisters and brothers but also describe people that you love and are close to, but who are not necessarily related genetically.

We believe that family is what you make it. The people that you love can be part of your family whether they share a blood relation or not. Step-parents, half siblings, god-parents, your mom’s best friend who is “like an aunt” to you; these are just some of the many people who you may consider to be part of your unique family.

Infertility affects every family in one way or another. Millions of people worldwide are struggling to conceive for one reason or another.  If it hasn’t affected you personally, maybe someone close to you has struggled to have children or maybe you know a woman who was an egg donor or surrogate for someone else. The demand for assisted reproductive technology has increased most notably since the birth of Louise Brown in 1978. Both men and women, married and single, gay and straight can be affected by infertility. Take a minute to ask yourself, how has your own family been affected?

Mario Caballero struggled to have children for several years before a family member became the surrogate mother for their twins. He and his wife knew the pain that infertility causes and then the joy of holding their babies for the first time. After their twins were born, he knew that he had to help others find that same love and happiness that they had found and so he opened Extraordinary Conceptions in 2005 to help people become parents through egg donation and surrogacy.

Interestingly enough, the gracious women who donate their eggs and who become surrogate mothers, become part of the families that they help to create. Even in anonymous donations, the egg donor is still the important part of the family who gives the gift of life to the parents. Past surrogates report that they are often considered to be like an aunt to the children that they carry.

Our hope is that we can inspire others and share information about gestational surrogacy and egg donation for not only those who have been dreaming of their families, but for the selfless women who are searching for a way to make a difference in the world. Our blog offers helpful information for all kinds of families through heartwarming personal stories, parenting advice, advances in reproductive technologies and more.

We love to hear from our readers and learn about how infertility has affected them, so we welcome any personal stories that you’d like to share with us. Please feel free to like and share our articles and contact us if you have any questions at [email protected]

*If we would like to share your story in a public forum, we will contact you for approval.