One Last Push: When an OB Nurse Becomes the Gestational Surrogate

Before we begin, a gentle note for our listeners: this episode includes discussion of pregnancy loss and reproduction experiences. Please take care while listening.

Labor and Delivery Nurse Cheyanne first heard the word “surrogacy” during a Parenting/Child Development class when she was a senior in high school.  She remembers telling her best friend about how she thought that “surrogacy would be a cool thing to do”.  Not long after her high school graduation she went on to carry an unplanned, uncomplicated pregnancy and deliver a healthy newborn son.  

During her pregnancy, she became aware of a former high school teacher who experienced a term pregnancy loss.  Even as a teen mom she had the ability to understand that something important happened here where she was essentially “stepping into someone else’s shoes” to reflect on her teacher’s pregnancy loss and understand that not everyone who wants to carry a pregnancy is able to.  She thought that if she could carry her own pregnancy safely could she carry for someone who couldn’t.   She did not know it then but the contrast between her teacher’s loss and her own uncomplicated teen pregnancy experience would quietly shape her reproductive years ahead toward gestational surrogacy.

This is Cheyanne’s story, of empathy that took root early, of care that became carrying, and what it means to grow a life for another family.

OB Nurse Smart Talk