There is a surge of births through surrogacy and Hollywood is taking notice. E! News host Guiliana Rancic has a son by a surrogate mother, born late last month. Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick also have children born of a surrogate, as do Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban.
Crystal Travis has experienced the anguish of infertility herself, and selected surrogacy as a solution. “Every family has the right to realize their dreams of parenthood in an affordable and low stress way,” Travis says. She and her husband have a son born in India, and twins born two years later of the same surrogate mother. Because of their experience, Crystal Travis started a consulting service for intended parents.
Surrogacy costs about the same as adoption, but has an important benefit: the resulting baby has a genetic connection with one or both parents. Choosing a surrogate mother in India is a fraction of the cost of surrogacy in the United States. But it can be difficult for prospective parents navigating their way through the paperwork and ensuring their baby gets good prenatal care. Travis has helped dozens of people become parents through surrogacy in India, overseeing the pregnancy, birth and homecoming every step of the way. More than 25,000 babies are born through surrogate mothers in that country annually.
Travis launched her consulting business after the birth of her twins. “Surrogacy is a 2.3 billion dollar industry in India,” she says. She frequently travels to India to meet with attorneys and have personal contact with the doctors providing prenatal care and delivery. A support staff in India makes frequent calls to check on the progress of each pregnancy, and the well-being of surrogate mothers. There are fewer laws regulating surrogacy in India, which contributes to the lower cost and faster results.
Travis’ website, www.WorldofSurrogacy.com , provides basic information about the process and expenses of surrogacy. She and her husband, Colin, live in the D.C. area with their son Mark, born in 2008, and twins Alec and Elle born in 2010. The children were born of the same surrogate mother in a clinic in Anand, Gujarat, India.