Quick Summary:

Introduction:

Thank you for taking the time to review and consider our application. We are Alex & Jake, a loving couple from midtown Toronto. Married in October of 2022, we have been on a journey to become parents ever since.

About Us and Why Surrogacy:

Alex – I come from a very close knit family of six. I have an older brother, and I am a triplet. Our entry into this world was made possible through the incredible advances in fertility medicine. I always felt a profound sense of gratitude knowing that my parents were able to bring my siblings and me into the world, and they always reminded us that we were their gifts. Being a triplet has given me a special connection with my siblings. We share a bond that goes beyond the typical sibling relationship, and this unity has shaped my understanding of the importance of family in a unique way. I remember feeling that from a young age, I wanted to have lots of kids and a big loving family like the one I grew up in.

Unfortunately, this all changed when I developed an eating disorder at the age of 16, a disease that plagued me until my early 20’s. In this time, I became so close to death that I was sent to a rehab hospital in Colorado, where I ultimately began my long road to recovery at the age of 19. Throughout my late teenage years, I often recall my mother and doctors warning me about how the choices I was making might impact my fertility as an adult and my ability to start a family. Being so entrenched in the eating disorder, I was unable to understand the repercussions of my actions until much later.

Almost a decade later from when I began my recovery, I am 28 and facing the challenge of infertility. It has taken a long time for me to feel secure, happy and confident with where I am at in life, and pregnancy would pose a huge risk to my mental and physical health and stability. After discussing my situation with my doctors, they have recommended surrogacy as our best path forward to creating our family. We will be forever grateful to the woman that altruistically decides to be our surrogate and helps us to start our family.

Jake – My mother and father were married in the early 80s and also quickly began to build their family. Or so they thought. However, their family planning was halted in its tracks when my mother found out that she was not able to carry children for medical reasons. So, they chose the path of adoption…and so came my older sister, two years later my older brother, and then five years after that, me. I think about how brave a decision it was for my biological mother to give me up for adoption, and what an incredible blessing that became for my mother and father. I have never met my biological mother, but I am so grateful that she had the bravery to make a tough choice in the early parts of her life. And am thankful for my wonderful upbringing filled with opportunities to follow my own path in life.

As I think about starting my own family, having biological children is something that would mean the world to me. I have never had family relatives that look like me or are biologically connected, and I think that would be very special. Seeing my sister start her family (she has two kids – Olivia and Nathan who are 12 and 10 years’ old) it was incredible to see how much her daughter looks like her, and the bond that they have built over the past 10+ years.

I am humbled by the idea of starting a family through surrogacy. To think that someone would be willing to do such a good deed for my wife and I makes my heart full. I am fully supportive of this path, and can’t wait to one day meet our little baby, becoming parents together. Alex will be a fantastic mother.

Values:

“Family-first” would be a good place to start. As you will read more about us below, we both spend a lot of time and deeply care about our families. There is not a day that goes by when we don’t speak with our parents, and at least one sibling. All of our siblings marched in our wedding last year, Alex’s sister as maid of honour and Jake’s brother as best man. We spend countless summer weekends organizing activities to be together; cycling, going to concerts, long walks, and planning birthday parties (there are at least two every summer). We lean on our families heavily for their love, and support. We are so grateful to have loving parents, and dedicated siblings who care about us so much. We know we can count on their support no matter what our journey to parenthood looks like.

“Help others in need” is another important value to us. Alex is a dedicated teacher in elementary school, working mostly 1-on-1 with children that require additional support due to difficulties that they are overcoming in their own young lives. It gives her a great sense of purpose. And it helps that she has the patience of a saint. Jake’s mother passed away last year after a long battle with cancer, and since then he has raised over $50K for Princess Margaret Hospital Cancer Centre and Campfire Circle, an organization that provides summer camp experiences to children affected by cancer and other serious illnesses.

“Take on challenges” is something that we both love to do. Whether career oriented or physical pursuits, we don’t shy away from setting out to achieve difficult tasks. One of those challenges has included organizing a 200km ride (cycling) around Lake Simcoe to raise money for the Princess Margaret Hospital Cancer Foundation. Which we have done for 3 years in a row now, raising $50k. Starting a family is our next challenge, and we are excited for the journey ahead even if it won’t be easy. We are confident that we will overcome this next challenge with the love and support of our family and friends who have always been there to help us through the bumps in the road we have already faced in life.

Commitment to Surrogate:

We are committed to supporting our surrogate in every way possible with open hearts. We recognize the incredible gift that surrogacy is for those like us longing to start a family, and we will be FOREVER in their gratitude.

This experience is one that we feel will create a special connection with our surrogate that will bring meaning to us for years to come. While we want to respect our future surrogate’s own boundaries and relationship expectations, our hope is that we build a true friendship grounded in open communication, trust, and care.

We would love to be a part of as much as the journey as our surrogate is willing. We would look forward to joining doctor’s appointments, meeting at clinics for routine check-ups, but also spending time together getting to know each other as well. In the future, we see our families having a longer term relationship which could mean staying in touch via email, text, phone and sharing photos of our families as they grow older. That all said, we also recognize that everyone has their own hopes and dreams for this shared experience and want to hear what that looks like for you.

Financial support – We are committed to supporting you and your needs throughout the entire journey together. This means all expenses will be reimbursed promptly and fully and any other support, whether that be emotional, wellness, etc. – we’re all in.

Conclusion:

We both have big smiles on our faces as we write this profile knowing that it’s one step closer to us one day having a baby of our own to bring home to love and take care of together. We appreciate you taking the time to read our story. We hope that you have had an opportunity to learn more about us, and how excited we would be to go on this journey together. We would love the opportunity to tell you more should you feel comfortable, and to learn more about you.

Love,