- 2 days ago
01:10 - Kenedi's Surrogacy Journey
08:48 - Our Mom Gave Birth To Our Baby
16:24 - Our Sister Was Our Surrogate
24:39 - Brooke & Choosing Her Child's Ethnicity
31:16 - Cherelle's Rare Post-Birth Condition
37:37 - Carrying Conjoined Twins
08:48 - Our Mom Gave Birth To Our Baby
16:24 - Our Sister Was Our Surrogate
24:39 - Brooke & Choosing Her Child's Ethnicity
31:16 - Cherelle's Rare Post-Birth Condition
37:37 - Carrying Conjoined Twins
Category
🎈
FunTranscript
00:00I'm addicted to surrogacy. I've been a surrogate three times. People have accused me of selling my body. I'm a
00:06f***er. It's my body, my choice.
00:08We never ever anticipated my mom being the surrogate. I was really shocked to see how many people were accusing
00:14us of incest.
00:16I would have done this for any of my children that needed it done.
00:19My sister Brianna is carrying both our twins. Brianna being the carrier was the most important thing to us.
00:25People thought, this is sick, you guys are freaks.
00:28I'm a single mother and none of my children have anything to do with their dads.
00:32I realised that I didn't really need to go out and date someone to find someone to have a baby
00:37with
00:37because I knew that I could do it by myself. I chose a sperm donor based on their race.
00:42I gave birth to my daughter and had a really, really traumatic birth.
00:46I have an allergy to water. After I had Willow, broke out in this awful rash.
00:52Callie and Carter are umphalo-ischiopagus conjoined twins.
00:55There's been old ladies who've been like, oh, God wouldn't have wanted those children alive.
01:01Very beginning, we thought abortion would be the best option.
01:05No one wants to, you know, carry their kids through and I want to just have them die.
01:10Hi.
01:10Hey, how are ya?
01:12Welcome back everybody to Stop Sit Surrogate with Kennedy and Ellen.
01:15Hi.
01:16My mom's name is Ellen and she was a surrogate three times as well.
01:19So, I started a podcast with my mom and it's just been phenomenal.
01:26We talk about the good and the bad and we've both had six experiences with surrogacy
01:32and we've had good experiences and we've had not so good experiences.
01:36How did I inspire your surrogacy journeys? Like, what made you want to do this?
01:40Your second journey.
01:41What was my second journey?
01:43When you had the triplets and I saw, I was like eight and like I saw your relationship with the
01:49dads
01:50and like they were just so loving on all of us and I was just like drawn to them
01:55and I was just like, wait, this is so cool.
01:57How did you feel when I told you I was going to be a surrogate?
01:59Oh boy, that's mixed.
02:00Oh!
02:01Yeah.
02:02Not happy.
02:03Oh!
02:03The first initial reaction was not happy because I really flashed back in my head and went,
02:07my three.
02:09Two were not good.
02:10Sure.
02:10One was phenomenal and just thought, oh no, I don't want her to go through that pain.
02:13Oh.
02:14Then as I started to think about it, I thought, well, she's a single mom, right?
02:17Yeah.
02:17Got a little guy.
02:18Yeah.
02:18I thought, what better way to change her life?
02:20I had my son at 20, so when I turned 21, my mom had said, hey, you qualify to be
02:25a surrogate
02:26and I started doing my research and I went online and I googled agencies and when I came across
02:32one that I liked, then I signed up and I met the qualifications and my journey began.
02:40I did gestational surrogacy.
02:41I started to get on board with it and I started to, all right, she's going to do it here
02:45regardless,
02:46so.
02:46True.
02:46Might as well, maybe I can help with giving you injections.
02:49I know, you gave me all my injections.
02:53I'm hungry.
02:54Can I have a snack, please?
02:55Sure, let's go.
02:59Hi, Dad.
02:59Hi.
03:00Are you hungry?
03:02Starving, actually.
03:03Okay.
03:05How did you feel when I told you that I wanted to be a surrogate?
03:08It brought back memories of your mother, of course.
03:11Well, how did you feel when Mom learned to be a surrogate then?
03:13Well, at first I wasn't too keen on it, but...
03:15Why?
03:16Well, I didn't know a lot about it.
03:17It was a new journey and it was a new experience that I knew nothing about, so it was a
03:23learning
03:23curve for me.
03:24Okay.
03:25Ashton, how do you feel about Mom and doing another surrogacy, buddy?
03:29It's okay.
03:31Can you tell me what it means to be a surrogate, buddy?
03:33Um, to help other people have babies.
03:36Do you think being a surrogate has impacted your son negatively?
03:40I think being a surrogate has not impacted my son negatively.
03:45When I started surrogacy, my son was almost two, so I really didn't describe the first journey
03:51to him, and then my last journey, he was almost five, and with that, I explained a bit more.
03:59Mommies tell me you can't carry a baby, but mommies can, and this isn't your brother or
04:04sister, but we're going to help them have a baby so that way they can go to Disneyland
04:10and, you know, equate the things that he would do.
04:12Are the babies that I don't keep, are they your brother and sister?
04:16No.
04:17No?
04:17Who are they?
04:19They are other people's babies.
04:21They're other people's babies.
04:22So some positive things that have come out of me being a surrogate is I've been able
04:26to show my son different ways that people can have families.
04:30I'm just kind of curious, how do you feel about going into this next journey with Kennedy?
04:34I feel super excited to experience for the very, very first time what a surrogacy journey
04:39would look like, especially with her.
04:41Are you nervous?
04:41Are you scared about any of the process?
04:44Just the shots.
04:48So we have been together for two years and he has not yet experienced surrogacy.
04:54Kennedy told me she was a surrogate on our first date.
04:56I had no idea or anything related to surrogacy before I met Kennedy.
05:01So there was a ton of questions.
05:03Just her experience mainly about it, you know, and just the process of it all.
05:07I was really intrigued by it.
05:09What judgment have you had about being a surrogate?
05:12That I'm selling my body.
05:13I'm a f***ing a f***er.
05:15I'm selling a baby.
05:17I'm affecting my kid negatively.
05:20I'm playing God.
05:22I shouldn't be compensated for being a surrogate.
05:26Just outrageous things that are very uneducated.
05:29But I can combat each one of those statements.
05:33You know, I don't do this just for the money.
05:35I wouldn't do this for free, but I don't do this just for the money.
05:38My son is not affected negatively.
05:40I wasn't affected negatively.
05:42Because my mom did it.
05:44In fact, this affected me positively.
05:45I'm a surrogate now.
05:47I can understand how some people, if they're religious, they think that we're playing God.
05:51But really, you want to do anything in this world to be able to have your family.
05:56And for some people, that's surrogacy.
05:59And I'm not selling my body.
06:01My body, my choice.
06:03So I have, over the span of, let's see, 2015 to 2021, I have collected maternity clothes.
06:13And they are not cheap, so I don't get rid of anything.
06:19Surrogacy isn't all about the money.
06:21It is the fact that both parties are helped.
06:25Let's see, one more box.
06:27I would say to people who think that I'm doing this for the money, to get educated.
06:31In total, out of my three surrogacies, I have received over $120,000.
06:37And I was a single mom, and I was able to afford a house in California by myself.
06:43And that was really important to me, to be able to still provide for my son in that way.
06:49But like I said, I still love surrogacy, and I was addicted to that feeling of helping another couple grow
06:54their family.
06:55I have a friend who makes surrogate clothes.
06:57Her, she's super cute.
06:59Surrogate sister design.
07:01I love it.
07:02When I got pregnant with my son, that's when I started collecting them.
07:06And then as I, as I grew on to more journeys, you know, that leaves me with three buckets full.
07:12So, right now, I'm in the process of my fourth journey.
07:17I would say that I became addicted to the feeling of surrogacy after I had my first surrogate baby.
07:24When I got to see the parents meet their baby girl, that's the feeling that I was addicted to, and
07:31I just had to do it again.
07:32In my fourth journey right now, we are in the process of basically just getting my background check done.
07:39And then once I'm cleared, then I get to do matching.
07:42I'm really excited.
07:43I'm kind of sad.
07:44It's a little bittersweet because I know that it's going to be possibly my last journey.
07:49But I'm, I'm excited.
07:51So, I'm ready to get started.
07:54What I've loved most is being pregnant and delivery, which sounds weird, but it's true.
08:00Another thing is I've actually grown closer to my mom because we've had something else to connect over.
08:06I've grown a huge community online with surrogates, and we all understand each other and are there for each other
08:11and support each other.
08:12Hi, everybody.
08:14So, I just wanted to pop on and just let you all know that even though it's been a year,
08:18I finally signed with an agency,
08:20and I am so excited to see where this journey goes.
08:24So, stay tuned and see what happens.
08:28I've been pregnant all of my 20s.
08:30So, as excited as I am to be a surrogate, I'm also excited to finish my family and be done
08:36being pregnant.
08:37It's like a little bittersweet, but it's, it's also fun and, and hopefully making an impact in, in the surrogacy
08:44world.
08:47All right, little birthday girl.
08:50Birthday.
08:51Our babies are sleeping.
08:52Should we make your hair pretty for your birthday today?
08:55Get all those tangles out.
08:57Uma, how old are you going to be?
09:00Four.
09:00Four.
09:01Yes.
09:02Is this my name?
09:03My name is Matthew.
09:05And my name is Elliot.
09:06And we have a four-year-old daughter, Uma Louise.
09:10Uma is very powerful, so he definitely manifested that.
09:13She both, like, loves knowing rules, and she loves flirting with the idea of breaking rules and pushing boundaries.
09:22Should we put them on?
09:23Yeah.
09:24Can we help you?
09:25Yeah.
09:27You're a fairy.
09:28You're a fairy?
09:30You're such a beautiful fairy.
09:33Elliot and I have been married for eight years now.
09:36When we came back from traveling, we really began to simplify our life and really find a sense of peace.
09:43The idea of having a child started to creep in, like, someone to share this with, someone to be part
09:48of this story.
09:49The way that it unfolded was not in any way how we planned for Uma to be here.
09:55We decided that if we did the IVF route.
09:58So we just figured if we could take control and come up with the funds that no one could tell
10:03us no.
10:04We never, ever anticipated my mom being a surrogate.
10:07I think that's one thing is people think we went in there.
10:09We're like, we want my mom to do it.
10:14Someone's got a birthday.
10:16Are we going to celebrate today?
10:18And what are we celebrating for?
10:20I love you.
10:21Yay.
10:22Who is that?
10:26Are you hungry?
10:27I'm starved.
10:28Give me your jacket.
10:29Let's go.
10:29They never approached me and said, hey, mom, we're looking for a surrogate.
10:34And I went, I would do it in a heartbeat.
10:36I love being pregnant.
10:37When the boys came to me after they went to tell their doctor, hey, we do have another candidate, but
10:43it's my mom.
10:45And he goes, we were expecting to get her to laugh.
10:47And she's like, no, no, no, bring her in.
10:49And I want to talk to her.
10:50We started everything when I was 59.
10:52I was 60 when I actually conceived with Uma.
10:57Do you remember being born four years ago?
11:00Oh, you do?
11:01What was it like?
11:03I was so happy when I could be there and bring you into the world.
11:08I never felt like it was ever unnatural for me to be doing this for my son.
11:13What I didn't care for was the double standard.
11:16If this was my daughter and something was wrong with my daughter, people would think right away that, oh, that's
11:22so cool.
11:22You're doing that for your daughter, which I would have.
11:24I would have done this for any of my children that needed it done.
11:28The reason why we do feel this need to like break down an elementary kind of like very simple idea
11:34of how surrogacy works is because when our story did break news, I was really shocked to see how many
11:40people were accusing us of incest.
11:42So my mom, you know, isn't like technically, she's what they call a gestational surrogate, meaning she's just like the
11:48oven for the bun to rise, right?
11:51We're able to actually create Uma because Elliot's sister generously offered to donate her eggs.
11:58So then, of course, we use my sperm, not Elliot's.
12:00So we always explain that like Matthew is biologically Uma's father.
12:05My sister is like biologically the mother and Seal is truly biologically the grandmother and I'm biologically the uncle.
12:15It became this huge like global viral story that went out there.
12:19And I think we knew what we were doing was unusual, but it really opened up our eyes to be
12:24like, wow, like the way that we're living is both shocking, but more importantly, really inspiring people to live, love
12:32differently.
12:34I did get a letter that said I was going to go to hell.
12:37And they said they recounted things that happened in your room.
12:41They were watching.
12:42Yeah, it was.
12:43That was the one that was pretty disturbing.
12:45It was pretty specific and it was mailed directly to me at my house.
12:48And that's when I knew I'm like, wow, some people really are upset about this.
12:53Anything else online, Matt would tell me some of the things and we got, you just have to kind of
12:58laugh at it, I think.
12:59Well, like when we went to go get the passport for Uma and you and I had to go because
13:03I was on the birth certificate, but you're the dad and my son was the other father.
13:08And we're trying to explain he's not here, but I'm the legal parent and we're signing off to get her
13:12a passport.
13:13And remember, she just said, she goes, that is going to be one messed up child.
13:17That was my first taste of discrimination of what it felt like to be discriminated against and how powerless you
13:24are.
13:24And I did not like that feeling at all.
13:26That was, and you were very hurt.
13:28I remember you had to leave.
13:29The biggest thing, though, is you truly just lose people at gay dads.
13:34Same-sex couple having a baby is like where you lose people.
13:37A lot of people.
13:38Most of the time.
13:39This baby needs a mom.
13:41Like, it's not even like the like sister egg donor, grandma surrogate.
13:44It's just like this poor child like needs a normal family.
13:49You know, so.
13:50People would often ask us, like, how are you going to explain all of this to Uma?
13:55And we take a lot of pride in her origin story, all of these people coming together.
14:00I want her to relate to it however she's going to as she gets older and can understand it.
14:04And I'm sure it will change and evolve in her mind and her understanding.
14:07But we're really excited that she has such a deep connection to so many people in our family.
14:12I mean, we already have told her that grandma was like the garden for her to bloom.
14:19I think that's why people sometimes think we, our family was weird because they wouldn't do that for each other's
14:24family members.
14:25I think it's funny.
14:25It's ironic that people can like throw stones and say you're going to hell when it's like, it's such an
14:31act of love.
14:32Right, exactly.
14:33I mean, it probably was the most miraculous, bravest, craziest thing you've ever done in your life, right?
14:39As up to date, yes.
14:44Happy birthday to you.
14:47Happy birthday, dear Uma.
14:54Happy birthday to you.
14:59Yay!
15:03Happy birthday.
15:07Are you excited to see your sister be born?
15:14We are going to have more children and we are pregnant.
15:18Tell us a bit about your new surrogate.
15:20So this time around, we're doing something similar in the sense that we're doing like surrogacy, right?
15:26And so we have still another embryo that is Uma's sister, but we did it differently because we wanted to
15:32go a much more natural route.
15:33They did the embryo transfer and we got a positive pregnancy test and she's, what, seven, eight weeks along now?
15:41Actually, eight weeks today.
15:42Just very different sort of journeys to getting our child here.
15:47We're excited about that.
15:49I would describe our family at the core of who we are as very normal because we care about feeling
15:56safe and feeling connected and feeling loved.
15:58I think that some of the choices that we've made in terms of how we created our child, I think
16:04us being a queer couple, having a lifestyle that's off the beaten path, kind of raises some eyebrows and makes
16:11people think that maybe we're unconventional or unusual, but all in all, we're really not that different.
16:16What?
16:20Stella.
16:22No, don't go in the closet.
16:26My name is Nathan Hughes.
16:28My name is Joseph Ryan Hughes.
16:30Oh well, I should have said Nathan Williams.
16:32Yeah, you were, it's branding.
16:34Oh, hey!
16:34Oh my god.
16:34Rewind.
16:36Oh my, his name is Joseph?
16:39I thought you were supposed to do it.
16:40My name is Joseph.
16:42This is my husband Nathan and we've been together for 13 years.
16:45Oh, you did so good on my highlight.
16:48Oh, yes.
16:49About time you got it right.
16:52Nothing?
16:53I get nothing for that comment?
16:54No, because I know it's not true.
16:56You do each other's hair?
16:58We do.
17:00So, I'm a hairstylist.
17:01We literally own a very high-end salon
17:04with a boutique, design jewelry,
17:06style you from head to toe, the sky's the limit.
17:09And he orders me around, he's my boss.
17:11Do as I say.
17:12He thinks so.
17:13We met through mutual friends.
17:15I had a girlfriend that did hair,
17:17and her brother worked with Nathan doing hair.
17:20About a year after I found out about Nathan,
17:23I ended up meeting him.
17:24I didn't go into it thinking I would ever date him.
17:27He wasn't necessarily my type.
17:29Once we realized that we had a good chemistry,
17:33friendship-wise, that's when the romance developed.
17:37And let me go back.
17:38When he says I wasn't his type, fabulous and funny,
17:41and, you know, all the good things.
17:43We've been together for about 13 years.
17:46You're still happy and in love, it seems like.
17:49Oh, yeah.
17:51Since day one.
17:53Being more convincing, Nathan.
17:55I am convincing.
17:57Growing up in Texas, and definitely even more so in a Mormon family,
18:01I felt a lot of, quote, Mormon guilt about my sexuality.
18:05I knew for sure since I was 14 that I was gay, but I was very scared of not only
18:10admitting
18:11to myself, but also disappointing my family or my parents.
18:16Thankfully, I had the support of my sister, Brianna.
18:19She was the first person that I told that I was gay.
18:22Brianna's not only my little sister, but she's my best friend and always been my bodyguard and protector.
18:26And fast forward to our adulthood, she was able to agree with me that she would be our gestational
18:31carrier and help us start our own family.
18:33I have always known that I want children.
18:36I was very clear with Nathan from the time we met that when I was 35, I was bringing babies
18:42home.
18:43When he turned about 33, he started, like, getting on that bandwagon and I was, like, freaking out.
18:49But, of course, now that it's in process, like, I can't imagine not, you know, doing it.
18:55What?
18:55He's gonna be a great dad, and I knew whenever we dated that he had all the attributes I was
19:01looking for, and so...
19:02I mean, honestly, I've been raising a child for, what, 13 years now?
19:05Well, if this is what you did, then I'm scared.
19:07I'm scared, because I'm a brat.
19:08Oh, look at you, working hard.
19:11Here, pull that.
19:13You?
19:14What do you do with this thing?
19:16That goes in the crib.
19:17Oh.
19:18My sister, Brianna.
19:20I'm not your sister.
19:21No.
19:22I was just looking at you.
19:23After discussing it, we decided that Brianna being the carrier was the most important thing
19:27to us, because I knew that if something did happen, I could trust her.
19:33We had our friend, Courtney, our best friend, that was gonna donate her eggs, and then we
19:38would use both of our sperm.
19:39I've known the guys for about 12 years, and I am the egg donor.
19:44And now you are the baby bed creator.
19:48Our first IVF journey was a little stressful.
19:52A little?
19:53That was a lot stressful.
19:56The drama before the first embryo transfer, they called me the morning of the transfer
20:00and told me, unfortunately, Joseph, the embryo of yours did not survive the thawing process
20:07and is no longer viable.
20:08So, I was devastated.
20:10They ended up thawing out a second embryo, so then we did get pregnant with twin girls,
20:14and unfortunately, we made it seven weeks before Brianna had a miscarriage.
20:20And it was the most devastating thing that any of us have ever been through.
20:26We're moving forward.
20:28We've done a second embryo transfer after Brianna was able to recover, and thankfully,
20:32she agreed to do it again.
20:34And we're now pregnant with one boy, one girl.
20:36We are eight weeks or less away from the due date.
20:40Although it looks like it's a mess, I don't have to worry because Courtney, AKA Aunt Courtney,
20:46will handle all the things, so I am not alarmed.
20:50Look at this.
20:51So cute.
20:52I know I'm gonna feel exponentially more love for these babies than I do any animal
20:57than I've ever had, and so I'm excited for my heart to grow.
21:01I'm a Grinch right now.
21:09Hello Brianna.
21:10How are my babies?
21:13Large.
21:14Large.
21:14Yay.
21:15Hey girl.
21:17How are you feeling today?
21:18I'm feeling very large.
21:21Yeah, so tight.
21:22I'm gonna pop like a balloon.
21:23We still have like two months.
21:25Today is our 29th week appointment, so we're gonna do an ultrasound to make sure that they're
21:30the most vulnerable living and swimming well.
21:33The thing that stresses me out the most about being a parent is just the amount of hate in
21:37the world.
21:38I cannot begin to express how disturbing it is that people feel the need to express their
21:45opinions of my life and my family when it has nothing to do with them and their life
21:50and their family.
21:51A lot of the reactions I get from people are mostly positive, but you'll still find
21:58that there's a lot of uneducated opinions out there because they don't really understand
22:04that it's not my DNA mixing with my brothers or even my brother-in-laws.
22:09I'm literally just housing them for nine months.
22:11Some people were so excited like, this is so perfect.
22:14It's amazing.
22:15I think you're gonna be able to see her every day.
22:16The people that know how it works.
22:18And some people thought, this is sick.
22:20You guys are freaks.
22:22White trash from Arkansas.
22:24OMG, so sad for those babies.
22:26More mental issues ahead.
22:28Live your life.
22:29Don't bring innocent kids into it.
22:31You're mocking God.
22:32What you're doing is wrong to the core.
22:34God forgive you.
22:36Poor baby gonna live in hell one day.
22:38This will be illegal again.
22:39This is sick.
22:41The whole situation is an abomination.
22:44So fucked up.
22:46And they're all adults that are making these comments.
22:49They're the bullies.
22:50Like, and then they have children and they teach their children that.
22:54Shocking.
22:55I knew that people were gonna judge us for being gay and automatically put us in a category
23:01of you shouldn't have kids.
23:03We don't want to focus on the negative and I don't try to give them any attention.
23:07We're gonna rise above.
23:08All right.
23:09So they look good.
23:10Size is great.
23:11Your fluids good.
23:13Your weight and blood pressure are doing good.
23:15So you're cruising.
23:16Good work, Oven.
23:19You guys have a good afternoon.
23:20See you later.
23:21We are about to head over to the new salon.
23:24We're in transition moving into our newer, better, larger location.
23:30The appointment went really well.
23:32I didn't feel very uncomfortable.
23:33Like the doctor made me feel very safe.
23:35Just kidding.
23:36If I could describe our journey in one word, I mean, I would say holy cow.
23:46It's important to live your life for yourself.
23:48You only get one shot, you know?
23:50And if you constantly live your life trying to please other people, you're constantly trying
23:56to be somebody for someone else, you're just gonna have a lifetime of regret.
24:00There's so many haters and ugly people out there, but there's also a lot of loving people.
24:06And I feel like our story is gonna empower people out there.
24:11I think that the beauty of my life is that it's perfectly imperfect.
24:16We're crazy.
24:18We're crazy.
24:18We are.
24:18Mostly him.
24:19I'm the same one.
24:20I don't know why I'm crying.
24:22I really am just extremely emotional about the whole process because it is my life's
24:26dream and it's getting true right now.
24:28There are no words to describe the amount of gratitude I feel toward Courtney and Brianna.
24:34My goal for this family is world domination.
24:38I'm 28 years old and I am a mother of five.
24:43Use words please.
24:45Hi, I'm Brooke.
24:46This is Edward, my eldest.
24:47He's nine years old.
24:48This is Gilbert.
24:49He's seven years old.
24:51This is Odette and she's five years old.
24:53This is Nora and she's two years old.
24:55And this is Mabel and she's nine months old.
24:58I'm a good big brother because I look after my brothers and sisters.
25:02We like having fun together.
25:05You can see those pirate beasts.
25:08Mum's really good at cooking and drawing.
25:12We've got apples.
25:13I do a penguin.
25:14Mum's really good at cooking.
25:16Right Mabel, mum's really good at...
25:21I've always said, ever since I was young, that I wanted five children.
25:24Green.
25:25How about purple?
25:28Can you explain that your kids each have a different father and there's no relationship with them?
25:33Yes.
25:34I'm a single mother and none of my children have anything to do with their dads.
25:38Who's not having a treat tonight?
25:39Gilbert!
25:40Just one of my children were conceived by a sperm donor.
25:44I chose a sperm donor based on their race.
25:47I had three children already and I thought I had gone on a few dates and I just didn't like
25:54dating anymore.
25:55So at that time I realised that I didn't really need to go out and date someone to find someone
26:01to have a baby with because I knew that I could do it by myself.
26:06My first daughter Odette, she was conceived in Japan and she's half Japanese and that's why I chose to try
26:13and find an Asian donor when I was conceiving Nora.
26:15Oh that's a great penguin!
26:17The donor I chose was a donor of Chinese ethnicity.
26:21Look at this picture.
26:24Mabel!
26:27I didn't really feel the need to go through a clinic when it was quite simple to just go through
26:33this sperm donor group.
26:34The whole process was basically free.
26:37It's illegal to pay a sperm donor in Australia for his sperm.
26:40This is the two pieces of equipment I used when I artificially inseminated myself at home using a sperm donor.
26:46All you basically need is just the specimen jar and the syringe.
26:50So that was about $140.
26:51So the first piece of equipment is this specimen jar.
26:54The second piece is this 10ml syringe.
26:57On the day, the donor is going to put his sperm into this jar here and you're going to pump
27:02it up through the syringe and then insert it.
27:05And that's all you're going to need.
27:10The video that went viral on my TikTok was about why I chose an Asian donor.
27:15There was very mixed emotions in the comment section.
27:19A lot of them were rude comments or judgmental comments.
27:22So the reason why I had a preference for an Asian donor when I was conceiving Nora was because my
27:27first daughter Odette, she's almost five.
27:30She is actually half Japanese.
27:32So a lot of people say that I am racist or that I have an Asian fetish because I have
27:37chosen an Asian donor.
27:39I was very taken aback by all of these comments.
27:42A lot of people online have said that I want my children to be matching and that is why I
27:48have chosen an Asian donor.
27:50Which is, it's not so much about them being matching, just that they have similar features for Odette to have
27:58similar features to another one of my children.
28:01How did these comments make you feel?
28:03The judgmental comments did make me feel a bit upset, but I also know myself and know that I'm not
28:10racist or have an Asian fetish.
28:12So I just had to remind myself of that.
28:16I've faced a lot of judgment online.
28:18I have been definitely accused of living on the dole.
28:21Yes, I do work.
28:23I am currently on maternity leave because Miss Mabel is only three months old.
28:26They're basically saying that I am having more children so I can get the government payments, which is obviously very
28:32much not true.
28:33I also work part time too, so I am contributing to the community, which I think is very important for
28:38myself and for my children to see as well.
28:41Stop judging people on the little snippet you see of their life on social media.
28:45I might have won the lotto.
28:47A lot of people think it's very unfair to have a child knowing that they're not going to have anything
28:51to do with their father.
28:52There was an option to have contact with Nora's donor, but because of my other children I don't have any
28:58contact with their fathers.
29:01So I chose not to have any contact with Nora's sperm donor.
29:07Today I'm on my way to see my best friend Alita and I'm going to tell her that I'm currently
29:12trying for my sixth baby.
29:14And I'm so nervous to tell her.
29:16Hi.
29:17Hi.
29:17Good to see you again.
29:19When did Brooke tell you about how she'd actually conceived with Nora and what was your initial reaction?
29:26I can always tell when Brooke's got something to tell me because she gets really nervous.
29:31She just out, like, told me straight out that she was pregnant and I asked who the dad was and
29:39she told me it was through a sperm donor.
29:42I didn't think it was controversial because I just thought Brooke is an adult, she can do what she wants
29:47to do.
29:47I just always support Brooke, no matter what she chooses to do.
29:52Always there.
29:53Brooke, is there anything else you want to add or, like, anything else you guys just want to talk about
29:57right now?
29:58Two days ago I started trying again for my sixth baby using a sperm donor.
30:03I knew you would.
30:06Even though you were like, no more, I'm not having any more.
30:12I inseminated myself two days ago.
30:15So it's already started going.
30:17I don't know yet.
30:19It takes a while to find out.
30:22And same person?
30:24No.
30:25Different.
30:25Chinese.
30:26Oh, that's cool.
30:27As long as I'm going to be at the birth.
30:28Yeah, yeah, of course.
30:30Alright, same.
30:32I have always wanted a large family.
30:35I am one of seven siblings.
30:38Hello!
30:42You found me!
30:44Oh!
30:46You did it!
30:47Ready?
30:47Can you catch?
30:49Ready?
30:51Oh no!
30:53Are you funny?
30:54As a single mum of five, I would sum up our life as a very happy, joyful house that's very,
31:00very busy.
31:01Oh my gosh, that's beautiful!
31:03It's fine.
31:04The advice I would give other people wanting to go through this path with a sperm donor is to just
31:09go for it.
31:10It's the best decision you'll ever make and it's a lot less awkward than you think it's going to be.
31:17What do you want now?
31:20Raspberry.
31:20I've always wanted to be a mother, so when I did fall pregnant it was just the most amazing thing.
31:29I really actually enjoyed being pregnant as well.
31:32Oh, good girl.
31:35Well done.
31:36The minute Willow was born, I know it's very cliché to say, but just the love that I felt for
31:41her was just like nothing I've ever felt in my life.
31:50Where's Willow's nose?
31:52Where's Willow's hair?
31:54Where's Willow's ears?
31:56It's just still mind-blowing even now, even 18 months later.
32:13The condition I have is aquagenic urticaria, which is a bit of a mouthful, I couldn't say it for ages.
32:20There are very few cases in the world.
32:23In medical literature there's only about 30 cases worldwide.
32:26Is it in there?
32:27Another one?
32:28Up until I had my daughter, I had no issues with water at all, had three baths a day.
32:35I was obsessed with baths, went swimming, did all of the normal things and then gave birth to my daughter
32:41and had a really, really traumatic birth.
32:43Literally the first bath after I had Willow broke out in this awful rash.
32:51When I touch water, firstly I will itch for a while.
32:58Physically it's quite painful.
33:00It's very itchy, it's kind of like stinging nettles and it's just a prickly feeling and then it's just a
33:05full blown rash.
33:06I'm mostly affected just above my belly button.
33:09It's mostly my stomach, my shoulders, my back.
33:12I sometimes, occasionally will get it on my face as well if I'm having a particularly nasty reaction.
33:19A lot of people have said to me, how do you clean yourself?
33:21You must smell and all of these silly comments.
33:23I usually shower in the morning and the reason why I do that is because I get it sort of
33:28done.
33:29I can kind of have my breakfast then and distract myself whilst the reaction is happening.
33:34A lot of people who do have showers for 10-15 minutes, you're sort of just there enjoying the water.
33:39So for me I don't have that time but I just have the time to clean really fast.
33:43I did a lot of swimming when I was pregnant and I always had this idea that I was going
33:46to take Willow swimming and that was just going to be a thing I was going to do.
33:49And I was even looking at all these mother and baby classes I was going to go to and then
33:54obviously when I developed this allergy and I couldn't, I was really upset.
33:59Here she is finally. Hello! Did you have a late night last night Mrs? Did you?
34:07So Lucy, she's really really good with Willow. She's over like every day so it's really great for me because
34:13I have somebody who can do these kind of things with her.
34:15It's horrendous outside. It's blowing a gale, it's chucking it down the road, isn't it?
34:21Living in Wales, it's very rainy and you can't get away from it.
34:26Every time I would wake up and I would see that it was raining, I had panic attacks.
34:31I'll have to just run.
34:48Missing out on these things like bathing and going swimming, it does make me upset sometimes.
34:58If I did decide to go swimming with Willow, it could potentially be very dangerous for me because I could
35:02go into anaphylactic shock.
35:07That for me is a very scary thing, just not knowing.
35:29I think in time I just sort of realise that swimming is just something I can't do with Willow.
35:36There are plenty of other things that I can do with her.
35:43Having my friends to help me is a massive, massive help and I'm so grateful for it.
35:48We try and see each other as much as we can and Willow's always in tow, which is Lash because
35:53she's the cutest.
35:54It's just nice to have somebody that I can say, hey can we go and do this and I've got
35:59my support there.
36:00I remember that one time where I lost my leg.
36:03I think without that, life would definitely be a lot harder for me.
36:08Hey everybody, welcome back to my channel.
36:10So in today's video...
36:12I think it's really important to talk about the condition I have because it's such a rare thing
36:16and for me I feel like if we all get talking about it, you know, hopefully doctors will know more.
36:21Hey everybody, welcome back to my channel.
36:24I have a rare condition called Aquagenic Urticaria.
36:27Surprisingly quite a few people followed me and we've been sharing stories
36:31and a lot of people message me on that page and they'll say, you know, this page is really great
36:35for me.
36:35And we just chat all the time about our reactions.
36:42It's weird having a rare condition and I never really thought I'd be the type of person to have one
36:46of these crazy things that you see on the TV or the news.
36:50The frog in green.
36:52Now I've kind of embraced it for what it is.
36:54I'm learning more about it every day and almost in a weird way now I'm quite proud of being a
36:59little bit different.
37:01I know it's very cliche to say but she is my world and she's my very best friend and we
37:07have so much fun together.
37:08She's like my little mini-me, aren't you?
37:12You're what I always wanted, aren't you?
37:16Yeah.
37:17I think even with the allergy the future is positive just because I have her.
37:22Hiya.
37:24Seeing a smile every day just pulls on my heart's dreams, don't you, Willow?
37:29She is literally the reason I live, which is very dramatic to say but it's true.
37:37First we kind of take a peek to make sure they're really awake.
37:40Carter likes to sleep more than Callie does.
37:44But Carter will pop back up.
37:46Hi.
37:48Hello.
37:49Hi.
37:50Boop.
37:52Hang on.
37:57It takes two people normally to wash them.
38:01Oh, is that cold?
38:04Ooh.
38:06This part's Callie, this part's Carter.
38:08Their blood supply clashes together like two waves into one body.
38:14They have separate hearts, separate stomachs, separate heads, of course.
38:21What else do they have separate?
38:23Personalities.
38:24Personalities.
38:25They have separate personalities.
38:31It's Jason's first day of school.
38:34This is actually our first time without brother for a couple of hours.
38:38Usually they have brother to play with.
38:40It's okay, Daddy, be right back.
38:45That's when we can see the little faces a little bit.
38:47This is the first ultrasound we had.
38:50This is the day that we found out they were possibly conjoined.
38:54July 15th.
38:55I do believe ten weeks, two or three days as well.
39:00That's when we 100% found out that they were conjoined was in this picture.
39:05It just kind of flipped us upside down.
39:09Yeah.
39:11They told us that they had high drops, which kills almost all the babies that get it.
39:14At the very, very beginning, we thought abortion would be the best option.
39:19No one wants to, you know, carry their kids, or nine months just have them die.
39:25We didn't, but we stuck with our gut, and here we are.
39:34This is the first picture we ever got of them face to face.
39:37There's a face right here, and another face right here.
39:42And this was Carter.
39:44Right here.
39:47This is the first time I've actually, I think, looked at these since the girls were born.
39:51Because I would just think that they were going to die as soon as they were here.
39:55Go get it.
39:58After the 24 hours, once they were born, Carter had a little bit of breathing problems.
40:02But they were doing good.
40:05I have two perfect babies.
40:07A huge pressure was just removed from us.
40:11Because now the dread of my babies are going to die when they come out is gone.
40:16Because they were here, and they were here to stay.
40:19Momma.
40:20Momma.
40:21I'm scared.
40:22This one's Callie.
40:24Callie's the one who lays back.
40:27She's more relaxed.
40:28She has a little bit of scratches on her face because Carter beat her up in the car.
40:33She's just something else.
40:36She fights with her sister.
40:38She'll fight with the dog.
40:40She'll fight with Jason.
40:41She fights with us.
40:43So she's actually very vicious.
40:46Yeah?
40:47You.
40:48This is Callie Carter's room.
40:49They sleep in here.
40:51They take naps in here.
40:52They get their diaper changed in here.
40:54Sometimes they'll get dressed in here.
40:56And they have their little music box that they can't sleep without.
41:00So they just wake up.
41:02I usually will nurse them.
41:03And then that's when they go into the living room where they spend most of their time.
41:08We were vastly unprepared for babies to come home.
41:12We were.
41:12We didn't have clothes completely caught us off guard.
41:18This is the first outfit I made for Callie and Carter.
41:21I actually buy regular clothes from the back.
41:25And I cut them in half a certain way.
41:37They like to play on the ground.
41:39They can scoot and get everywhere around the house.
41:48So Callie and Carter's clothes.
41:51Just like that.
41:53I've made about 20 pieces so far, I'd say.
41:58That's how much I've made.
41:59They like to venture into the kitchen and try to spill the dog food.
42:04But other than that, they just hang out here.
42:09Teacher, did I put it on red or green or blue?
42:13I've been good.
42:14What'd you learn?
42:15I'm on like the ABCs.
42:17The ABCs?
42:18Yeah, the one to T's.
42:20The sisters.
42:21I went to school.
42:23You okay?
42:25Yes.
42:26Jason gets along with them good.
42:27If they are crying and one of us are busy, he'll go in there and play with them until we're
42:32done.
42:33What does Callie do?
42:36She likes to play with things.
42:38She likes to play with things?
42:39What does Carter do?
42:42She scoots.
42:43She scoots.
42:44How many heads does Callie and Carter have?
42:47Two.
42:47Is that different?
42:50Yeah.
42:51Are Callie and Carter, what are Callie and Carter?
42:52Are they special?
42:54Um, they're special.
42:55Mm-hmm.
42:56Are they like other babies?
42:57No.
42:58No.
42:59Go!
43:00Good job!
43:01There's been old ladies who've been like, oh, God wouldn't have wanted those children alive.
43:07Some people just kind of stare.
43:08They don't expect them to walk until about four, but I honestly think it's going to be about eight.
43:14So we don't expect the coordination to start happening until they are a lot older.
43:19Go get it!
43:22We don't feel comfortable separating the twins because they're going to be more unhealthy when we have them separated than
43:28they are right now.
43:29This one.
43:30Play with.
43:31The only way we would do separation surgery for Callie and Carter is if a health issue arise or if
43:37they want to be separated.
43:41We want them to completely understand the risks.
43:47The girls' health is really good. They don't have to take any medication.
43:51They get, like, little colds here and there, like normal kids.
43:55Hopefully the future holds good things for them and that they are just happy in the skin that they're in
44:01and that they don't want to change because we love them the way they are.
44:06Just knowing that they're healthy and, you know, they're learning at an everyday rate.
44:11It's a good feeling knowing that to them nothing's wrong.
44:16They are not afraid to do anything.
44:24They don't sit down and you're missing anything because they're not willing to do anything because they're not afraid of
44:29them to make themsınız sidewalks.
44:29They are the same things they
44:30want to do everything that they can do with and not necessarily trust them.
44:37They have to be done somethingzig辸 ele everytime the rest of them
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