When Tina Galletti and her husband got married, they didn’t think they would have any children together.

When they did decide to have a child, pregnancy didn’t come easy for the Idaho couple.  When they finally were able to conceive and welcome a daughter, Tina knew her life was changed forever.

“I was nursing my daughter one day and thought, ‘oh my gosh, I can’t imagine someone not having this experience.  I could be a surrogate,’” she says.

“I loved being pregnant, I knew I wanted to be pregnant again but knew I didn’t want more children.”

And so Galletti’s surrogacy journey began.

While raising her daughter, Galletti started researching surrogacy and she along with husband agreed to pursue it.  Although she researched, it was a sort of spontaneous decision which led Galletti and her family down a four year journey of helping other couples.

Gestational surrogacy is when a woman agrees to have an in vitro fertilized embryo implanted into her uterus, and then agrees to carry the baby to term. She further agrees to relinquish her parental rights upon birth of the child.

There are no known statistics, but there have been between 50-100 surrogacy arrangements in Canada and about 1,400 babies born in the United States via surrogacy in 2008.

Galletti was first was matched with a couple in Australia when her own daughter was 16 months old.  She had her first transfer but unfortunately it didn’t take.

“They called me and said they didn’t want to try again because it was too hard, so of course I was devastated too because I wanted to be a surrogate.”

She was matched a couple months later and had a little boy in August 2008.  The baby’s parents, male and female, called every day, came to the big ultrasound to find out the sex of the baby. But after Galletti gave birth, contact with the couple became more limited.

“After that surrogacy journey, I didn’t feel fulfilled. It was not what I was hoping for, the end of that journey,” Galletti admits.

Galletti says that it’s a difficult transition when the surrogate relationship ends abruptly, especially when the surrogate is going through the post-partum experiences.

“You go into it with the mindset that it’s not your baby, but that when it’s over, it’s the end of a journey, the end of talking to those people, all of sudden it just ends.  When that contact is cut off, which happens for many surrogates, you kind of feel empty and a sense of sadness,” she said.

During the interview process, both hopeful parents and surrogates need to be open and honest with one another before making such an important decision and huge commitment.

“It’s very easy to get caught up in everything. The first time you’re so excited and you look past some things that in hind sight you maybe would have changed.  Get to know each other before committing and it’s okay if you have doubts, don’t – it’s alright to say no, it’s not right for me.”

Working out a contract doesn’t just involve money but very serious issues like termination.

“Really know who you are and stand firm – be very specific, and know what you want and make sure it’s in the contract, then you’ll have peace of mind,” Galletti says.

Through reading through surrogacy boards, Galletti decided that she wanted to carry again – but this time for a same-sex couple.

“I was matched with a male couple from New York and fell in love. We always refer to our first meeting as a blind date.  All three of us felt kind of giddy, couldn’t wait to talk again after our first phone call.”

Galletti was pregnant in April 2009 gave birth to twin boys in December 2009.  “We have an ongoing relationship. We talk at least once a week from London and they Skype with me so I can see the boys.”

Her daughter was very understanding of the arrangement and was quite involved in the process.  “She came to my appointments, was very in tune with what was happening.  When someone would say, ‘you’re going to be a big sister’, she’d respond, ‘oh no those are not our babies.’”

While she had no intention of carrying a third time, Galletti decided she would be a surrogate for another male couple again.  Her second set of twin boys were born in November 2011.  She was able to breast feed both sets of twins and pump for them and ship for the first four months.

“My second set of Dads love their boys and try to include our family as much as possible. We have been to see them twice already and hope to move closer to them so we can see the boys often.”

While the relationship with the parents is wonderful, the last pregnancy was extremely taxing on Galletti’s body.  She knew that this would be the last time she could carry when the twins came suddenly at 35 weeks.

“My health was at risk, I hemorrhaged with the last two, placental abruption I had an emergency  c-section and luckily we all came out of it okay.  It was scary – I have a family and if something happened to me, they’d be left without me,” she says.

“There are so many risks involved. I know some surrogates that have come close to dying. That’s obviously something we don’t want to see happen.”

When you become a surrogate and give birth, many people ask – is it hard to give the baby away?

“I say no, I’m giving them back.  I love them as my own but have never felt as though they were mine or want to parent them I just want to be in their lives and watch them grow into wonderful men.  I’m fortunate that both sets of dads allow me in their lives and respect and love my family.”

Galletti has changed three families’ lives forever, given them families of their own. But she sees it differently.

“I think they’ve changed my life in ways I never would have imagined going into this. I never thought I’d get so much out of it for me and my family. It’s a life-long reward.”

“Seeing the parent hold their baby for the first time is the most amazing moment,” Galletti says.

“It’s just amazing, as a woman to know that because of my ability to carry a baby, they are going to a have a life of beautiful things.”

For more information on surrogacy, visit http://www.surrogacy.ca/ and http://unitedstatessurrogacy.com/