Dear Prospective Surrogate,

Thank you for the generosity and courage it takes to even think about this journey and being a part of helping a couple like us to start our family. It speaks to the kind of person you are, and we’re grateful to know people like you exist in the world.

We’re R and P, a married couple in our early 40s living in Chicago, and we’d love to introduce ourselves and share a bit of our story with you.

Our Story:

P likes to joke that he fell in love with R’s big laughs first. It’s this infectious, genuine sound that fills up whatever room she’s in, whether she’s reading a particularly good book, watching an absurd TikTok or discovering that her latest baking experiment has turned into something that could double as a doorstop. R says she knew P was special when he listened, really listened, to her stories about her social impact work, asking thoughtful questions and remembering details weeks later.

Our life together is filled with little traditions and big dreams. Friday nights are sacred: Pizza Fridays, where we attempt to outdo ourselves with homemade pies, sometimes delicious, sometimes “creative”, but always fun. We’re also the proudest auntie and uncle to 1 niece and 2 nephews and are known to show up to every play date with silly costumes and the latest DIY crafts. R’s family lives just 20 minutes away so we spend as much time as we can with them, cooking Sunday family feasts together. Every summer, we pack up the car with our family for our annual trip to Door County, Wisconsin, a tradition that has become the highlight of our year. This year’s trip included picking cherries until our fingers were stained purple, playing “train conductor” with our twin toddler niece and nephew (their current favorite), and laughing until our sides hurt over a bonfire every night. It’s our greatest wish to bring our future child on these adventures and share these traditions.

About R:

R grew up in the Chicagoland area, graduated from the University of Wisconsin, and owns a small social impact consulting firm. R loves that she gets to work with organizations trying to make the world a better place for a living. R’s creative side shines through in everything she does, from interior design to throwing her annual Oscars parties cooking up a storm. Robin considers herself a dumpling expert, loves musicals, reading, and is fully up to date on Love Island (P remains shocked at how many episodes there are).

About P:

P is an eternal optimist, and is also a Big 10 alum as a graduate from Ohio State. He’s originally from Maryland but was born in Chicago, so technically, he’s a local! As a director of research at a bank, he is a self-proclaimed data geek. But his true passion is baseball. He’s the husband who considers a summer day at Wrigley Field the perfect date, armed with an endless supply of baseball trivia that he’s convinced will eventually turn R into a true baseball convert.

Our Journey So Far:

Our dream has always been to have a family. Over the past three years, we’ve faced more heartache than we ever imagined: two ectopic pregnancies, countless surgeries, a miscarriage, and, most painfully, the loss of our daughter J during the second trimester. R went into preterm labor and delivered at home before the ambulance could arrive. Losing our baby girl was the most devastating experience of our lives. Through this heartbreak though, we discovered three things:

1. Our love for each other only grew stronger. We became each other’s greatest support and could hold each other through the unthinkable.
2. The love we felt for our daughter, even in the too-short moment that we held her, was so fierce and unwavering that we knew we had more love to give her future sibling, to our first earth-side baby.
3. Our family and friends rallied around us, showing us the power of our community and support system, something we can’t wait to share with our future child.

R was diagnosed with an incompetent cervix, leaving future pregnancies too risky. That’s what brought us to surrogacy: a path we never expected, but one we now see as a beautiful way to start the family we’ve been trying for all these years – with the help of someone extraordinary like you.

Our Relationship with Our Surrogate:

We hope to build a relationship with you that feels natural and comfortable, whether that means sharing milestones or just checking in. We’d love to be involved in appointments and celebrate every step of the journey together, but we respect your boundaries and want you to feel supported every step of the way. Our promise is to honor your well-being: physically, emotionally, and mentally. We want our child to know their story began with incredible courage, generosity, and love from an amazing woman.

Hope for our Next Chapter as Parents:

We dream of adding a car seat to our summer road trips to Wisconsin, of watching our niece and nephews become the most devoted cousins, of P teaching our child to throw a curveball and R sharing her love of books. We believe that some of the most beautiful things in life happen when people choose to show up for each other in extraordinary ways. You’re considering showing up for us in a way that will change everything, and we want you to know that we don’t take that lightly.

Thank you for reading our story. We hope our story resonates with you, and we’d be honored to walk this path together.

With heartfelt gratitude,

R & P