Guelph couple turns to social media to help grow family
Posted Nov 6, 2024 03:00:20 PM.
Last Updated Nov 8, 2024 09:28:56 AM.
The journey to parenthood for Stephanie Craig and Mike Murphy has been fraught with heartbreak and disappointment.
They began trying for a family in 2017. A year later it looked like their dream was going to become a reality but a difficult pregnancy led to their son being born at 24 weeks. He died just minutes after birth.
A few months after they began trying again, but that resulted in a miscarriage.
So, the couple turned to in vitro fertilization (IVF). What followed was eight more miscarriages.
Following the last miscarriage, the Guelph couple’s doctor suggested surrogacy and recommended trying social media as a way to find the right surrogate.
Craig told The Mike Farwell Show, they were by no means social media experts and they didn’t know where to start.
“I’ll be really honest, we hired someone to help us. There is Not My Tummy. Baden Colt is an amazing support. We hired her back in June/July. She gave us some ideas that were, you know, standard ideas. And, then I started coming up with some ideas. Somehow this has resulted in us going a bit viral.”
The attention has led to several meetings with potential candidates but so far, the couple has yet to find the perfect match.
“I think this whole thing is like dating,” said Craig. “It’s us putting ourselves out there and saying this is who we are. We do have a goofy side, we do have our interests and really trying to make that obvious. We have met some wonderful people but it’s finding that right fit.”
There are few legal issues the couple had to keep in mind. For instance, it is illegal in Canada to pay someone to be a surrogate.
“Surrogacy in Canada is legal. It is altruistic. It’s a bit different in other countries. In the U.S., it is legal to pay a surrogate,” Craid said. “We also want to make sure the surrogate isn’t out of pocket for anything. Legally we are allowed to pay for travel to the clinic or to the hospital.”
They are also allowed to pay for salary top-up if the surrogate has to miss work or if they accrue additional childcare costs.
Craig said she and her husband have no problem with the costs. It’s more important to find the right person to help grow their family.
To follow the couple’s journey people can follow them on Instagram @adventurousips.
