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My journey into helping intended parents create their families started back in 2014, when I began doing egg donations. I started off with a smaller company located in my home state before I heard about Family Source Consultants. When I spoke with the coordinator, I was more than impressed with how the company handles things and makes sure that the egg donors and the intended parents are kept up-to-date and taken care of. I went on to do 2 more egg donations by 2015 with a total of 4 altogether. I love hearing updates and a lot of my curiosity in surrogacy spawned from these updates.
   
How do they match surrogates to their intended parents? I wonder how connected surrogates are with their intended parents after carrying a baby for them. How much of the process is controlled by the intended parents and the surrogate?
 
So in August of 2015, two months after my last egg donation, I decided I would reach out and get in touch about being a surrogate mother. I was matched with a wonderful couple from Spain, who’s last resort to enjoy parenthood was surrogacy. Their determination to have a child was admirable, and led to a big fat: YES, LET’S MATCH, for both of us! From there, curiosity turned into determination to pass tests, determination to start medications, and hope that we would transfer a sticky embryo. Which we did on the first transfer!
 
fb_img_1479607519600We transferred one embryo and he stuck! We had scary moments, such as the doctor telling us that I may miscarry, and a big bleed at 12 weeks gestation. BUT, it is the good memories that I remember the most. The best highlights from my journey were getting the news that I was indeed pregnant, sending pictures of the little guy to my intended parents (they loved him so much just from looking at ultrasound photos), meeting my intended parents for the first time face-to-face and exchanging gifts. And of course, can’t forget about the day they got to meet their son and I got to meet the little guy I had been carrying for nine months.
  
For those of you ladies who seek to do surrogacy, the only advice I can really give is to enjoy every single moment of the journey! Take lots of pictures, create a blog, stay in contact with your intended parents, etc. I feel like my journey flew by quickly and saying goodbye to my intended parents and baby J was bittersweet. I didn’t realize that saying goodbye would be so hard (probably a mixture of hormones and emotions), but I get to look at all the pictures we captured and it makes me really look forward to receiving updates and pictures in the future. We are the Stork’s helpers!
  
This was by far, the best experience I could have ever lived. I was so lucky to be matched with such wonderful people, who I now consider to be a big part of my family and they consider me a big fb_img_1479607467682part of theirs. I hope to one day go through another journey for another wonderful couple, but for right now, I will be focusing on raising my kids and watching baby J grow up. Also, remember that the journey doesn’t always end with pregnancy, that the next series of chapters in the surrogacy book include watching your little one grow up, loved more than anyone can imagine.
  
I couldn’t have made it through this journey without the help of my loving fiancé, who cheered for me from the very beginning when I filled out the surrogate form. Also, I am fortunate enough to live close to loving family, friends and coworkers who did everything they could to make this as smooth of a pregnancy as possible. Between all of their efforts and mine, I delivered a healthy baby boy on November 13th, 2016! 7lbs, 3oz and 21 inches long! Thank you FSC for making this dream a reality for both myself and my intended parents. We couldn’t be more blessed!

Staci Swiderski, CEO and owner of Family Source Consultants, has been a prominent leader in reproductive medicine for over two decades. Through her strategic vision and dedication, she has developed Family Source Consultants into a globally recognized agency specializing in comprehensive egg donation and gestational surrogacy services. Under Staci’s leadership, the agency has become a trusted partner for intended parents, surrogates, and egg donors worldwide, known for its rigorous standards, compassionate support, and commitment to excellence in third-party reproduction.

Her professional insight is uniquely informed by her own family-building experiences. As an intended parent, Staci welcomed her son via gestational surrogacy in 2005, and as a known egg donor, she assisted an infertile couple in expanding their family. These experiences lend a rare depth to her leadership and have fueled her ongoing dedication to ethical, empathetic, and professional support within the field of reproductive medicine.