As the Fight for Reproductive Rights Continues, Black & Latinx Surrogates Are Stepping Up
In the battle for reproductive rights, there is one area that has so far remained outside the fray of a woman’s right to choose: surrogacy. Surrogates or gestational carriers are women who carry a donated egg and sperm in her womb on behalf of intended parents. It is another branch on the how-to-make-a-family-tree for individuals who want a biological connection with their child. Just as reproductive technology like in vitro fertilization (IVF) has been a game changer for couples who experience infertility, surrogacy offers diverse populations a chance to become parents, whether that’s women who want to be mothers but don’t want to become pregnant; members of the LGBTQ+ community; cancer survivors; working actresses and entertainers with unpredictable work schedules; or people whose infertility is a barrier to viable pregnancies. As surrogacy has become a more common alternative to IVF, adoption, or remaining childless, the face of surrogacy has also changed: from 2020 to 2023, there has been a 400 percent increase in Black and Latinx surrogates, according to a survey from SurrogateFirst.
Zarah Hilliard, a Black, LGBTQ+ surrogate, is one of these women. The Colorado native, who has a toddler of her own, was first introduced to surrogacy by a teacher when she was in middle school. “My teacher carried twins for a couple who lived in Spain,” Hilliard tells SheKnows. “As kids we were very confused and had 101 questions. Our teacher simply explained that all she was doing was carrying babies for that couple who couldn’t have kids.” Those conversations “left a big impression,” says Hilliard, who would go on to carry a baby boy for two dads during her first surrogacy journey. She’s now in the early stages of getting matched with a second family.
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The road to becoming a surrogate has universal guidelines, regardless of which state the surrogate or family resides in. For instance, the American Surrogacy agency requires prospective surrogates to be a woman between 21 to 38 years old who doesn’t smoke or do drugs, is currently raising a child, doesn’t receive welfare, and has had at least one successful pregnancy.
In addition to background checks, women undergo psychological evaluations to confirm that their mental health is strong enough to withstand pregnancy hormones and possible postpartum depression, a common side effect of giving birth. (Therapeutic support groups are mandatory for surrogates during and after pregnancy to process the life changing experience they have endured.) Once the preliminary steps are completed, the match process begins. At the Center for Surrogate Parenting, this means the surrogate will choose an intended family and the intended family has a chance to review a surrogate’s profile to accept or decline.
The relationship between surrogates and intended parents — also known as reproweb, an umbrella term that encompasses all parties: surrogate, intended parents, and donors — looks different for different families. For Hilliard, being part of the family’s journey has been meaningful. She is still in contact with the fathers of the child she gave birth to, and their son will call her “TT” when he gets older. Of course, not all reprowebs form intimate bonds during the pre-baby period. Amber Holloway, a Black cisgender wife and mother of two in California who was a surrogate for two families before the Covid-19 pandemic, recounts a minimal level of interaction. “Other than appointments and a couple of dinners with my family, including my kids, we didn’t interact much. I received a card here or there, but nothing after the baby was born.” Holloway admits she was disappointed not hearing from the couple, but was happy they had the child they wanted.
Although surrogacy is not a new path to parenthood, myths about it still abound, including that surrogates do it only for the money. While some women view surrogacy as their profession — after all, it is reproductive labor — surrogates “can’t be on governmental assistance. [They] have to be financially stable,” says Hilliard. She adds, “It’s frustrating because it’s bigger than that, though some women use the money [to] pay off student loans, purchase land or buy cars.” For Holloway, becoming a surrogate was never about a check. “I didn’t take some of the money,” she tells SheKnows. “I did it to help people and it was easy for me to carry a pregnancy to term.”
There’s also the prevailing and racist myth that Black women do not experience fertility issues and would therefore have no use for a surrogate. According to data from the NIH and the National Survey of Family Growth, Black women have higher rates of infertility than White women (7.2% vs. 5.5%, respectively). Black maternal morbidity is also three times that of white women, according to the CDC, making surrogacy a logical option for this at-risk group. Hilliard, who considers BIPOC surrogates “It” girls, said, “I had a lot of concerns about being a Black woman going through the childbirth and postpartum phase of the delivery but I had many within the agency and some outside of the agency that really supported me and made me feel like a priority. I appreciated the support I received that made me feel safe and taken care of!” The growing numbers of Black surrogates suggests that Black couples in search of a surrogate who looks like them will not have to look far.
For Latinas, meanwhile, surrogacy opportunities in the US and in Mexico have boomed — likely due to the war in Ukraine, which once cornered the market on international surrogates, per a CNBC report. “A growing number of middle-class Americans are seeking a cheaper surrogacy alternative, and a 2021 Mexican Supreme Court ruling struck down a state ban on foreigners and same-sex couples hiring surrogates,” reports Vice, making Mexico a go-to destination for intended parents. Miracle Surrogacy —one of the largest and oldest surrogacy agencies in Mexico, with offices in the US and Mexico — is not only LGBTQ+ friendly, but also open to intended parents who are HIV+. This cross-border connection has led to an increase in Latinx surrogates.
As this shift continues, one thing is clear: cultural norms are changing to match the diverse ways people can build families. Even as some states and politicians attack reproductive freedom, prospective parents are continuing to seek out more paths to build the family of their dreams.
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