00:00Her baby is about to make a surprise entrance in the middle of her maternity shoot.
00:05If you're at the end of your pregnancy, let this be your side to be prepared at all times
00:10because anything can happen.
00:13Can my daughter get on the stretcher, honey?
00:15No, we can't have an on the stretcher.
00:16Can I get an alfajor, please?
00:18What she doesn't realize is, her baby is going to be here in record time.
00:22Honey, lay down.
00:23I can't!
00:27She had reason to be scared.
00:30You need to wait outside on a lift, on one, on two.
00:33No!
00:34They can leave me.
00:37For black women, pregnancy comes with far higher risks,
00:41and they're more likely to be ignored when something feels wrong.
00:45And complications can escalate fast when concerns are brushed off.
00:49Oh, Jesus.
00:51Do you know why they want me to do it?
01:01She has a message for all expecting black mothers.
01:05Let this be your side to be prepared at all times because anything can happen.
01:11And if you're a black woman, especially at the end of your pregnancy, make sure you have your support system
01:17closed around.
01:19Because if it wasn't for my mama, I don't know what I would have been.
01:22But her birthing story was more complex than it seemed.
01:25Talking to a family member recently saying I've been abstinent for three years.
01:31And they said, how have you just had a baby?
01:33I said I was just hearing it.
01:34They said, yeah, you had a baby and you gave your baby away.
01:37Surrogacy is not that.
01:38We do not give our children away.
01:40We have no DNA connection to the child that we're carrying.
01:45We're gestational carriers.
01:47These children are made with the intended parents, made into an embryo.
01:52I made this page and I was going to document my journey.
01:56And there's elements to surrogacy that not everyone is aware of.
01:59They make the baby.
02:01They make the embryo.
02:02They freeze the embryo.
02:03The gestational carrier, me, starts IVF meds.
02:07They defrost the baby, put the baby in me.
02:10And I'm an oven cooking the baby for nine months, give birth, and give the baby to their parents.
02:16And there's a clear difference with this form of pregnancy.
02:20I'm not a parent.
02:21There is something called traditional surrogacy where the intended father's sperm is used with the surrogate's egg.
02:32But I would never be able to do that because that's my child.
02:34This isn't her first time being a surrogate, and it certainly won't be her last, even after the unplanned, speedy
02:41arrival.
02:42She's welcomed two surrogate baby boys into the world, as well as having two daughters of her own.
02:49Each experience has come with its own challenges, its own surprises, and its own emotions.
02:59But for her, it's never just about the birth.
03:03It's about giving someone else the chance to start a family.
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