This body of work portrays my time being a gestational surrogate for a family member and the honor I felt to be part of the journey.  As a surrogate you are opening your life – physically and mentally to carry someone else’s load— for me this was a choice, a joy, and not a burden.

This work takes the form of a large mixed media installation which chronicles the complex journey I had as a gestational surrogate. Wall-mounted assemblages take viewers through a timeline documenting the different chapters of this experience. Stages include contracts and legal status, medical examinations and preparation, implantation, and my relationship with the family. The assemblages contain altered medical documents, medication, correspondence, tins, hair, breast milk, and personal items collected during the surrogacy.

While this pregnancy was not always easy—the hard work and challenges do not make it less important or rewarding. I am devoted to sharing this story and remove the stigma that surrogacy would be an impersonal service or doomed to end with a sense of loss.  The gift of surrogacy is invisible after the baby is born.  This work provides visual evidence of this intangible experience.