CARLSBAD — Strolling down the lively streets of Bangkok, Thailand, Liz Evans soaked up the lavish shrines and temples with her 7-year-old daughter, Alivia, by her side. Despite the beauty around Evans, the most stunning sight she witnessed was her former intended mother holding her baby boy.
Yes, Evans was a surrogate who delivered this baby last fall for a very special woman.
The words Evans heard next were more brilliant than the façade of the Grand Palace.
“While we were walking, she just stopped and looked at me while she was holding her sweet sleeping baby and said, ‘Liz, thank you so much for giving me this gift. I just love him so much.’”
And that was the indelible imprint to last Evans a lifetime.
According to Evans, 30, the whole surrogacy journey came full circle right then and there.
“It’s what I talked about and dreamt about through the whole process. It all came together just like that,” she said.
Evans and her daughter were a long way from home. Evans and her family live in Oklahoma, but she decided to embark on her surrogacy journey in Carlsbad with an international agency named Extraordinary Conceptions.
“A friend of mine completed two successful surrogacies through Extraordinary Conceptions and highly recommended them to me,” she said.
This was Evans’ first time as a surrogate, and she also shared how she was able to pick her intended parent, also referred to many as a future parent.
While reasons for needing a gestational surrogate may vary, the reasons why a woman becomes a gestational surrogate generally pertains to helping individuals and couples who cannot overcome fertility challenges and for same-sex couples and individuals who cannot become fathers without one. In third-party reproduction, oftentimes egg donors are also required. Gestational surrogates have no biological link to the baby they are carrying for their intended parents.
As a surrogate candidate, Evans was given the opportunity to choose her intended parent, and the first profile she read was the one that she chose. The intending mother lived in China. Evans admits she had no expectations as to whom she was going to choose. However, it was her heartstrings that led her.
In her intended mother’s profile, she talked about her life and the missing piece was not having a baby.
“As corny as it may sound, I was crying as I read it,” she said. “I knew I had the ability to change that for this special woman.”
According to Mario Caballero, CEO of Extraordinary Conceptions, the majority of their intended parents are international. Caballero also pointed out that his entire agency was elated for Evans and her daughter being afforded the chance to visit Thailand as a gift from the intended mother.
While Caballero admits a trip such as this is not the norm, the possibilities are certainly there.
“Being a surrogate for an international intended parent can open many windows of opportunities to connect with people from all around the world,” he said.
Evans said that one thing she missed most in Thailand was not having her husband or 3-year-old son with her. But like all vacations, the time flew by for her and her daughter.
“My trip to Thailand gave me the opportunity to see my intended mother in action as a mom,” she said. Evans added, “It was another incredible part of my surrogacy journey.”
Both ladies stay in touch weekly by texting via WeChat. For Evans, the relationship has blossomed between them. So much in fact that she and her entire family have been invited to stay in China this summer.
“If we can’t make it this summer, we will definitely make it another time,” she said.