Surrogate forced to raise baby for a year

Emily Chrislip, 25, from Idaho, in the US, gave birth to the young girl on May 18, in the middle of the pandemic, The Sun reports.

She and husband Brandon, who have a son of their own, agreed to look after the baby for four weeks, but it has now been nearly 12 months.

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“At first, we thought it would be a max four weeks, and then it kept getting longer and longer,” Ms Chrislip told People magazine.

“At this point, we’ve just accepted that we don’t know … but we wouldn’t have it any other way. She is so loved and right now, we are the constant in her life.”

Ms Chrislip made the decision to be a surrogate after the birth of her son Camden, who is now two years old.

She said that she couldn’t imagine not being able to have her own biological child, and had been lucky enough to have an easy pregnancy, so looked into the process.

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The mother-of-one was chosen in September 2019 to be a surrogate for a couple in China, explaining that the initial plan was for her parents to be here for the birth.

“We were going to let them be in the delivery room to see her be born and then they would have had their own room at the hospital with her and my husband and I would have had our own room,” she said.

“At the time of birth, my job was supposed to be completed.”

However, two months before she gave birth, the coronavirus pandemic put everything on hold, and the biological parents were unable to travel to the US from China.

The baby’s parents asked the couple if they would care for their daughter, instead of her being left with a nanny agency.

Although it was a tough decision to make at first, they decided it was the right thing to do – but they had no idea it would last nearly a year.

Ms Chrislip said she tries to put “barriers up” knowing that they will one day have to give her away.

“We definitely love her and will always care for her, but we understand she is not ours,” she said. “We just treat her as our own because at this stage in life it is so important to have the proper attention and love.”

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In exchange for being a surrogate, Ms Chrislip received between $US35,000 ($A44,000) and $US40,000 ($A51,000) in compensation – which they used to pay off student loans and buy a bigger home.

It is illegal in the UK to pay a surrogate, except for their reasonable expenses.

After the year they’ve had, Ms Chrislip admits she’s not sure if she could be a surrogate again, although would consider it for the same parents if they wanted more kids.

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission