'I want to do this for someone else.' TessaSomberg spoke with three women about carrying pregnancies after New York legalized paid surrogacy last year
Portia Zwicker and the couple whose child she is carrying planned a maternity shoot before the birth. Photo: Sara Naomi Lewkowicz This article was featured in One Great Story, New York’s reading recommendation newsletter. Sign up here to get it nightly.
In 1992, paid surrogacy was banned outright and criminalized in New York State following the “Baby M” case, in which a surrogate refused to surrender the baby she carried, who was created with her own egg, after birth. But prohibition didn’t mean the practice of surrogacy disappeared altogether. Instead, these arrangements happened on the fringes, creating a legal limbo in which little to no recourse would be available to either party if a dispute — or, worse, a medical crisis — erupted.
The law’s passing didn’t quiet critics. In the days following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, photos of herself with her IFs went viral on TikTok. Portia, who wore a long red dress, cradled her bump, her IFs in the foreground. Were the three a throuple? Was she placing her baby for adoption? “This is some Handmaid stuff right here,” tweeted conservative writer Bethany S. Mandel, amassing more than 12,000 likes.
This time around, Portia was matched with her IFs in June 2021 through her agency, where she now works part time as an outreach coordinator. Similar to adoption agencies, surrogacy agencies often create profiles for their surrogates and IPs for each other to review, describing their backgrounds, interests, goals, and deal breakers, and set up a “match meeting” should both parties be interested.
“We have a good relationship where I can poke fun at them,” she said. Despite Portia’s openness, discussing the monetary aspect of surrogacy can still feel a little awkward. A common refrain in the surrogacy world: Surrogates are paid for their pain and suffering. Personally, she doesn’t think of it as a job.
“It was a bummer,” she said. “We moved on with life in the meantime and put surrogacy on the back burner until everything was ready.” As soon as they got the call that Alcea was licensed in June 2021, Christina said, “we were ready to rock and roll again.” Bags of breast milk that Christina has been delivering to the infant. Photo: Christina Bramante This pregnancy felt different from those of her own children. “I love this baby in a very different way. In my mind and in my body, I know that I’m doing this for a purpose,” she said.
With the passage of the CPSA, New York IPs can work with local surrogates, making for less burdensome travel and ensuing expenses. Closer distances can also create more intimate relationships. When Britney was matched with her IPs in September 2021, the bond formed quickly; she half jokingly calls her intended mother, or IM, 39-year-old Michelle Tunison, her “significant other.”
“I was gutted,” she said. “It was so unexpected because everything was so rainbows and butterflies up to that point. I was confused on how to process it.” The morning of the transfer procedure, Portia went to the Starbucks across the street from her hotel and completed her medication regimen as usual. She also had to drink water to expand her bladder, which would push her uterus forward so it’s easier to see during the abdominal ultrasound. She tried to time it right so she would be near — but not quite — bursting by the time she arrived at the clinic. She had special shirts made for the occasion for the IFs and herself.
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