Plenty of hopeful parents-to-be face obstacles before they hold their child in their arms. But for many LGBTQ+ families, the path to parenthood is impossible without the assistance of a third party. Because of that, LGBTQ+ couples who have already grown their own families often reach out to others in the community to try and help them bring their own genetically linked children into the world.
For example, lesbian couples rely on sperm donors to help create embryos. In gratitude, lesbian couples may then search for ways to pay it forward, occasionally acting as gestational surrogates for gay men. “I know, as an LGBTQ+ person, that we face tremendous barriers that heterosexual people do not.
And we deserve to have the families that we dream of,” says first-time gestational surrogate . "If we can help each other out, then we have everything we need.” Here are three stories that demonstrate the deep parental bond that links members of the LGBTQ+ community to each other.
When , 37, married his husband, Elliot Epstein, 39, he knew that their path to parenthood would be unconventional. "We both always knew that we wanted kids, and I think, at different points in our life, didn't always know if that would be possible," Zafran tells TODAY.com.
After considering adoption, the couple decided instead to identify a fertility clinic, a doctor, and then eventually a donor and a surrogate. "It's daunting, and overwhelming, but it also works. And my two daughters are proof positive of .