September 21, 2008

Circle Surrogacy celebrated its 13th anniversary and the birth of its 250th baby with a reunion party for dozens of families formed through surrogacy, headed by both gay and straight parents, along with some of the surrogates and donors who helped make all this possible. Also attending were John Weltman, Circle Surrogacy's president who is also a dad through surrogacy, with his husband and 12 and 14 years old boys, along with more of Circle's staff, many of whom are also former clients, surrogates and egg donors. While Circle has clients nationwide and in more than 30 countries around the globe, the party on Sunday was attended mostly by families from the Boston area, with some also from the NY tri-state area and as far away as Italy. A similar party in New York three years (and 100 babies) ago was mostly attended by NY gay dads and their children.

Several surrogate mothers attended with their families, evidence of the special relation often forged between them and the grateful parents. One of them, Melissa Jackson-Reep (second from left in the picture), was more than 7 months pregnant in her second surrogacy journey.

The party was filled with fun for kids (with a Magician, animals and the Aquarium) and adults — with great food and a champagne toast and a chance to get to know other couples in similar situations. While some of the children who attended are 7-13 years old, most were infants and toddlers, reflecting the “surrogacy baby boom” of the last few years. It was also nice to see how the children of clients and surrogates mingled and played together. These parties are a great opportunity to be reminded of what we believe surrogacy is all about: families helping create other families.