Last week, 41-year-old Paris Hilton announced that she had had a baby via surrogacy, joining a long list of other celebrities including Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas, Khloe Kardashian and Tristan Thompson, Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma, and even Grimes and Elon Musk, who have all recently taken the same surrogate route.
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The celebrity boom in surrogacy, and stars choosing to be open about their surrogacy journeys, like anything else, has a good and a bad side.
The positive side? Celebrities who have not been able to conceive children naturally for whatever reason – like struggling with infertility, same-sex couples who need a surrogate to have a child, or the legalities that many stars have to face just to keep their on-screen roles – are able, through surrogacy, to have children and raise families of their own.
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Celebrities who are open about their surrogacy journeys publicly are an inspiration to women who may struggle with infertility or who face other reasons as to why they can’t conceive a child naturally. Reading about other women’s journeys and the process, in general, encourages these women to educate themselves further, and think more about the possibilities of having a surrogate baby than they possibly had before.
Of course, there’s a flip side to it, coming from both ends – for celebrities and their surrogates.
It’s not a surprise that surrogacy is a costly process on its own, but for celebrities, it’s even steeper. You’ve got your medical bills and third-party payments, but you’ve also got lawyer fees and you need to fork out thousands for ‘special arrangements’ to ensure your privacy.
Most celebrity surrogates are extremely valued and treated to a whole lot more than just the necessities like medical bills. From lavish gifts and luxury accommodations to health specialists to private chefs, surrogates often land a sweet deal with celebrity parents-to-be. Not without being sworn to secrecy and signing strict NDA agreements, though.
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There is also another side to it. Sometimes, surrogates are landed with a particularly sticky celebrity, who isn’t fully invested in the journey. When you’re bringing new life into the world, you have to be.
In an insider story published on the BBC, a surrogate woman named Shanna fell victim to one such a star.
Red flags were raised from the first conversation Shanna had with the celebrity (who is not named) who asked her to become a surrogate. The celeb had requested that instead of involving a third party to ensure all legalities would be taken care of, not to involve any third parties at all. Instead, she would have their lawyers draft a contract ahead of the surrogacy.
Shanna agreed and went ahead, and the baby was conceived. Then, months later, the celeb in question dropped a bomb on Shanna, revealing that she had found another surrogate, and that surrogate had already given birth to her baby.
Shanna, shocked and unsure of what to do next, with no confirmation from the woman in question whether she would be keeping the baby or not, carried on with regular check-ups. Four weeks later, Shanna’s hCG levels had dipped, and she had a miscarriage.
Shanna then called the celebrity to inform her of the terrible news, but she didn’t respond to a call. She then texted her the sad news. Hours later the celebrity replied, saying she would call Shanna ‘soon.’ Several days later, she hadn’t. So Shanna sent her another message:
“Hi, I hope you and the baby are well. Should I forward the remainder of the bills to you?”
A text popped through with the celebrity’s response:
“Shanna, our relationship has ended,” she said. “I am appalled at your coldness over the birth of my child. Forward your bills.”
Let this be a cautionary tale if you are in the market to ever become a celebrity surrogate. Not all of them are as loving and supportive as you’d expect. When you’re able to enter into an iron-clad agreement, with third parties involved, then you’ve got a better chance at helping someone who is really in it for the journey, and who wants to be a part of the process. After all, if they’re not really in it, then they’re not ready for kids.
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