‘I wanted to help another family’: four surrogates on how they feel about the surrogacy discourse

The Guardian spoke with surrogates across the US about what they think of the controversy surrounding the practice

Surrogacy has been thrust into the national spotlight in recent weeks, with both the announcement of Lena Dunham using a surrogate to start a family and the ongoing legal battle surrounding McKenna West, a gestational surrogate who fled to Texas to avoid having an abortion that was requested by the child’s biological parents.

With a renewed public interest on commercial, or compensated, surrogacy, the Guardian spoke with surrogates across the US who shared their experiences and how they feel about surrogacy being part of a global, public conversation.

Liggia Spicer, a 34-year-old woman based in upstate New York, first considered getting involved with surrogacy work after hearing about a mutual friend who was looking into using a surrogate after battling cancer and undergoing a hysterectomy.

“I probably did about two years of research before I turned to my husband and was like: ‘OK I think I want to do this,’” she said.