Kim Kardashian West Opens Up About Her Decision to Hire a Gestational Surrogate for Baby No. 3
For Kim Kardashian West, gestational surrogacy was anything but the easy way out.
The new mom of three and husband Kanye West welcomed their third daughter, via surrogate, on Monday, with the reality star using her website to share the baby’s birth date, time and weight.
And on Thursday, Kardashian West wrote on her website once more to share a few details that went into the couple’s decision to hire a surrogate — and their experiences along the way.
“I have always been really honest about my struggles with pregnancy,” she began. “Preeclampsia and placenta accreta are high-risk conditions, so when I wanted to have a third baby, doctors said that it wasn’t safe for my — or the baby’s — health to carry on my own.”
“After exploring many options, Kanye and I decided to use a gestational carrier,” added Kardashian West, 37, explaining, “Although I have used the term surrogate in the past, a gestational carrier is actually the technical term for a woman who carries a baby that she has no biological relationship to.”
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“A traditional surrogate donates her egg, is artificially inseminated with the father’s sperm and then carries the baby to term,” she writes. “Since we implanted my fertilized egg in our gestational carrier, our baby is biologically mine and Kanye’s. You can either choose someone that you know or you can go through an agency, like Kanye and I did.”
Kardashian West has been open about her emotional struggles in using a gestational carrier, further expanding on them on her website and comparing the situation to her pregnancies with Saint, 2, and North, 4½.
“Having a gestational carrier is definitely different, but anyone who says or thinks it’s the easy way out is completely wrong,” she notes.
“People assume it’s better because you don’t have to deal with the physical changes, pain or complications with delivery, but for me it was so hard to not carry my own child, especially after I carried North and Saint.”
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But despite the struggles, the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star and KKW Beauty mogul is counting her blessings surrounding her new daughter.
“I’m so grateful for modern technology and that this is even possible,” writes Kardashian West. “It’s not for everyone, but I absolutely love my gestational carrier and this was the best experience I’ve ever had. Our gestational carrier gave us the greatest gift one could give.”
“The connection with our baby came instantly and it’s as if she was with us the whole time,” she adds. “Having a gestational carrier was so special for us and she made our dreams of expanding our family come true. We are so excited to finally welcome home our baby girl.”
