On December 3rd, Babble (the parenting subsidiary of Disney) flew Brandi, Travis and I to LA to film us for a doc-u-series.
How on EARTH did this happen might you ask???
Let me back up…
In November a producer posted on a surrogacy Facebook group I follow. He said he just started in a new position over at Babble.com, the parenting subsidiary of Disney, and that his first project was to produce a doc-u-series on family. Specifically highlighting different kinds of families that fall outside of the traditional definition.
I sent him this blog and said if he was interested in learning more to pm me. NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS did I think he would get back to me.
But he did.
He said he loved the title of the blog, the humor in it, that he was sure was hard to muster at times.
He emailed me saying that we needed to send him a casting video so that he could send it to his boss and producers to see how we were on camera. . He also said if we were okay with it, that he would love to see what Teagan was like on camera…let’s just say she delivered….in spades. Or should I say…crackers??
Crackers anyone?! The producer’s response was, “I am an animal cracker man myself” Hahaha 😉
The producer then skyped with Brandi and her family a couple days later.
About a week after ALL this, I get a call from a Manhattan NY number on my phone, that said DISNEY CORP.
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR. DISNEY WAS CALLING?!!!?? We were chosen to be the surrogacy family!
They flew us out and put us up at a hotel in Santa Monica. Trav and I flew out a little bit early and got some time in LA! We had lunch on Venice Beach, hiked the Hollywood Sign, saw sand sledding (it was right before Christmas) in Santa Monica, checked out Rodeo Drive Christmas Lights in Beverly Hills and had a wonderful dinner with Brandi and her family.
The next day, we arrived at Disney Studios and were ushered into our own green room. You guys it had a shower, a lounge with a big screen TV, and tons of food. We even were sent to hair and make up where two Hollywood make up artists did their magic. (Please keep in mind I am a stay at home mom – if my hair is washed on any given day its a good day. You can imagine my awe).
In total 20 crew members were there to film us and the other families in the doc-u-series.
(My thought process during all of this was 1. OMG I NEED TO PEE I AM SO NERVOUS. 2. HOW IS THIS MY LIFE?! 3. TOR, DONT MESS THIS UP. 4. GRATEFUL. SO INSANELY GRATEFUL. 5. OMG THIS IS LEGIT. THIS IS REALLY LEGIT.)
Our episode in the doc u series aired yesterday on Babble.com and their social media channels. As I am typing this, the episode has been viewed 27,000 times.
Okay, so why did we do all this?
My HOPE is that this video accomplishes four things. I want people to know:
- Surrogacy is an option for normal people. You can do surrogacy independently. You just have to be scrappy and do the work yourself but it CAN be done!
- A surrogate and intending parents can have a beautiful respectful relationship. The media has very few surrogacy movies and headlines but when you see them they are always about these horrible worst case scenarios.
- Infertility is rarely talked about in our society. Secondary infertility is NEVER talked about. That needs to change. Its confusing and its own special kind of hell.
- You don’t get to see what surrogacy is like from the perspective of the surrogate EVER in the media. Brandi will (and already has) made such an impact.
In life you get chances to be a unicorn. Brandi took hers. It was time to take ours.
#changeperceptions #breakdownbarriers
Our Bun, Brandi's Oven 
What about the cost involved? Was it expensive to hire lawyers, do the paperwork, go through IVF, check embryos, and pay Brandi a contracted amount? Would a middle-class family be able to afford this journey, or only the wealthy? (I am not writing this in judgment, simply curiousity about the process)
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Hey Kat! Would be happy to chat with you. What’s your email?
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