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“Follow your heart when making important decisions and your story will unfold exactly as it was intended.”
For Seattle gay dads Jonathan and Pete, their path to fatherhood was incredibly challenging.
“Our surrogacy journey started in early 2020, when we met with Growing Generations in Los Angeles. After finding our egg donor and matching with a surrogate, we had a successful first single embryo transplant in March 2021. Then, just 5 months later in August, our baby girl Èze arrived very early in Boise, ID, at just 1 lb 14 oz.”
She was born 4 months premature.
Jonathan and Pete were open to adoption, but felt drawn to surrogacy so started to explore that path first.
“During the IVF process we considered transferring multiple embryos to increase our chances of a successful pregnancy, or even potentially having twins. Ultimately, our IVF doctor advised against this to ensure a full-term pregnancy and avoid time in the NICU. Turns out, we ended up in the NICU anyway due to a collapsed amniotic sac at 25 weeks into the pregnancy.”
“The first moments we realized we were fathers was the second we met our daughter in the hallway of the hospital, seconds after she was born. We followed her out of the operating room and into the NICU. It was the first time in the process that we realized she was nor fully ours, and that we would be ‘carrying her’ for the third trimester.”
The dads’ NICU doctors and staff “became a family.”
“They helped us overcome the daily obstacles and to celebrate the weekly milestones. After an incredibly challenging 115 days, we were able to come home.”
Their favorite part about fatherhood (other than “adorable snuggles”) is watching in awe as their daughters’ life unfolds, as she conquers new obstacles.
“We were in a unique position to witness our daughter learn how to unfuse her closed eyes, breathe without a machine, and graduate from an IV diet to a fluid diet to a bottle. Since then, she has started smiling, rolling over, and communicating. This will be a lifelong joy to watch her grow!”
“Our advice to future dads is that every journey is going to look different! Do your best to support each other and lean on friends and family when you need to.”
Follow the dads here: @jakehue
One thought on “These Gay Dads Stayed Strong for Their Daughter Born at 5 Months”
Carol O’Reilly
God bless you and your lovely daughter.
March 29, 2023 at 2:20 pm