April 21 through April 27, is National Infertility Awareness Week. In the US, roughly 1 in 5 women between 15 and 49 are faced with primary infertility, while 1 in 20 women have secondary infertility, notes Cleveland Clinic. Furthermore, approximately 48 million couples worldwide struggle with infertility.
Struggling to conceive can be a lonely and painful experience. However, one Ohio surrogate, Emily Westerfield, is currently pregnant with her 11th baby to help couples start, grow, and complete their families. And she'd do it a 12th time "in a heartbeat."
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Emily Westerfield is currently pregnant with her 11th baby.
Emily, 37, and her husband, Max, live in Celina, Ohio. So far, she has delivered 10 healthy babies — three of whom are her biological kids, Mckenna, 13, Jack, 11, and Charlie, 10. Now, she's pregnant for the 11th time and due in July.
“I’m probably the unicorn in this industry,” Emily told Today.
A cousin who struggled with infertility inspired her to become a gestational carrier.
Before Emily became a "unicorn" surrogate, she spent time with her husband's cousin, who struggled with infertility.
“She just continuously kept having loss after loss, and it was heartbreaking,” Emily told Today.
Emily conceived and delivered her three children with no issues, prompting her to offer to serve as a gestational carrier for her cousin.
“They did not feel that surrogacy was the path that they wanted to take, but I knew that there were probably so many other people in the world who needed help in a very similar way," she explained. "Maybe I could help.”
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She has now delivered eight healthy babies for other families in addition to her own three children.
After welcoming her third child, Emily looked into becoming a gestational carrier. She has delivered healthy babies in 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022, and she is due with another baby in July 2024. Included in the count are two sets of twins!
“I noticed that as soon as I had the first one, I wanted to do this again," Emily shared. "It was almost just like, ‘Now who else can I help?’” Emily even started a full-service agency called Carrying Dreams.
Emily explained how being a surrogate is different from carrying her biological children.
Being a gestational carrier is different from carrying her biological children in many ways, Emily explained, including having to undergo psychological evaluations and screenings and signing contracts. Additionally, her husband doesn't accompany her to doctor's appointments.
“I get attached like a loving aunt," she told Today. "You want to hand that baby over when you get to the end of this.”
She is 'so proud' to be able to help families struggling with infertility.
At 37, Emily is aware that the window of opportunity to serve as a surrogate will eventually come to an end.
“I am so proud to be able to do this for other people," she explained. I know my time is very limited as we’re getting closer and closer to how many people I’m able to help, but still I’m young enough and I’m healthy enough to be able to do so. And I’ll continue to help as long as my body and my family allows me to.”
