The Human Side to Surrogacy

4 women who made the decision to become part of the growing phenomenon of surrogacy

Commercial gestational surrogacy — when the paid carrier has no genetic connection to the baby, is banned in New York, Louisiana, and Michigan.

In her mid-30s Chelsea Frei was inspired to carry a child for someone else. “Yeah. So, I will probably cry. My first daughter would be 10 this Halloween, and she died. And it just really brought to light the desire people have to have families and not be able to have families. For me, the key takeaway really is how beautiful it is to bring life to the world, irrespective of the channel that you're using for that”

Ernesto, the intended parent, turned to surrogacy in the U.S. after trying adoption and surrogacy in Ukraine and Thailand. “The pregnancy was smooth. Nothing was wrong. And then she was born still. And you don't plan for that. But to have that taken away, I feel like I could really relate to Ernesto and families that just want to have a family. And it just really drew me in to finding a way to make that happen for someone.”

Filmmaker Beth Aala, who nearly became a surrogate herself, spent 3 years filming 4 surrogates for the documentary, Made in Boise. “For me, I wanted to tell a different kind of story, because I think that is the narrative that most people presume is that it's for the money. I was really surprised at how the surrogates and the parents connected in a way that I didn't expect them to. It really kind of spoke to like families today and how they are all made up in different kinds of ways. And that solidified that through this experience.”

Made in Boise is docuseries that follows four women who made the decision to become part of the growing phenomenon of surrogacy.

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