Jarret and Elliot are NYC-based dads to two young daughters through surrogacy and egg donation. Unlike our typical GWK stories, we’re not going to focus on how these two became dads, but instead look at what came afterwards: Brownstone Surrogacy, a boutique agency passionate about prioritizing a personal and ethical experience.

Here’s why, and how, Jarret plans to shift the agency experience.

Jarret and Elliot met in 2013 and from the beginning shared a desire to become dads. They decided that surrogacy was the right family-building path for them.

“We talked to friends and acquaintances who had been through the process and spoke with some of the clinics and agencies they had worked with,” said Jarret. “Our process moved quickly, as we identified an egg donor of interest, created embryos, and matched shortly thereafter with our wonderful surrogate, Jenny.”

They welcomed their first daughter in March 2020, and it was after her birth that they started to process the whirlwind they had just been through. Her birth also coincided with the long-awaited legalization of compensated surrogacy in New York.

“While we had a smooth journey overall, in retrospect we wished things had been different in a few important ways.”

Jarret became inspired to leave his job as a lawyer at a big firm to start his own agency. His three main goals, based upon his own journey, were…

• to create an agency where the Intended Parents (IPs) feel connected to someone who truly knows the IPs and their surrogate;
  
• to focus on bringing home the baby AND what happens next – the broader implications of having a baby through surrogacy; and, finally…
  
• to focus on the ethics of a journey through surrogacy.

“We wished we had been more attuned to the ethics of how this process operated,” said Jarret, “which is something the New York law emphasized, including by creating a Surrogate’s Bill of Rights and by having the government regulate surrogacy agencies for the first time in our nation.”

It’s been three years since Jarret began Brownstone Surrogacy. They’ve welcomed babies (including his own younger daughter), have more babies on their way, and matched dozens of fantastic IPs with incredible surrogates.

“My work at Brownstone Surrogacy is far more fulfilling than being a litigator in a private practice,” said Jarret. “I find it incredibly rewarding to meet future parents at the outset of their journey, to be trusted to provide honest advice and guidance at each step, and, ultimately, to witness the building of their family!”

Jarret has a message for gay and queer dads-to-be: “Brownstone was built specifically with your journey in mind, because it was our journey too!”

Brownstone’s promise is to be with future dads and their surrogate every step of the way, providing candid and transparent advice, cheering you on.

Editor’s note: We at GWK Academy are proud to welcome Jarret and Brownstone Surrogacy into our exclusive network of trusted family-building partners.