Surrogacy in Canada: Esther Vergeer's Biggest Win
The story of how our newest surro baby came to be is one very close to our hearts. When Jennifer was first introduced to Esther Vergeer and her partner, Marjin, we felt so driven to help them build their family. The staff at the San Diego Fertility Center had shared about their struggles with other agencies and our heart went out to them.
Here is a little bit about Esther, and what an extraordinary and inspiring woman she is:
When Esther was 8 years old she had a surgery performed which left her paralyzed from the waist down. During rehabilitation she learned to play volleyball, basketball, and tennis while in a wheelchair.
She focused on basketball for many years and was invited to join the National Wheelchair Basketball Association. She became part of the associations Dutch team that went on to win the European championship in 1997.
She then focused on a new passion; Tennis. In her career, she won 48 Grand Slam Tournaments, 23 Wheelchair Tennis Masters year-end championships and 7 Paralympics titles. Esther Vergeer became the world’s number one wheelchair tennis player from 1999 until her retirement in February 2013. She ended her career on a winning streak of 470 matches.
Click here to view a video of Esther’s gold winning match at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, China.
While in retirement, she began the Esther Vergeer Foundation to help children with disabilities learn how to play sports and feel more confident about their abilities and themselves. The foundation has been open since 2004 and has supported many children in bettering themselves. She also released a book in 2014 called “Esther Vergeer - Fierce & Vulnerable”, an autobiography of her life.
While her life has been a beautiful one, there was something that was still missing. Her and Marijn very much wanted a child of their own, and a sibling for Marijn’s daughter from a previous relationship. We were determined to help this dream come true for them. Then we met Jerica, a wonderful woman looking to become a surrogate. We knew right away she would be the hope they had been searching for.
Here is Esther’s story of becoming a mother in her own words:
"For us, this journey started 7 years ago, when I retired as a professional wheelchair tennis athlete. Our dream was to become a family together and we deeply wished for a child. Unfortunately, because of medical circumstances I was not allowed to carry a baby myself. That would be too risky for myself and/or the baby.
The long journey of finding a way to become a family started there. What are the possibilities and how does it all work? In the Netherlands, it is complicated to do surrogacy because of legal restrictions, so Canada and the USA were the only two options left for us. Finding a consulting agency was the next step. But how do you find a good one? The first one we chose left us disappointed with both the agency and the surrogate. After months of spending time, money and energy on the relationship between us and our surrogate, she decided to pull out. There we were…… no surrogate, a lot of time gone, and less money left to continue the journey of becoming parents.
We decided not to just give up. We continued looking for a right match. We left the agency and asked our doctor and his companion to help us find a new agency and a new surrogate. There we were connected with Jennifer and JA Surrogacy. She was a warm hearted, loving and caring person. I remember calling her for the first time, she was almost due with her 4th surrogate baby. I burst into tears because I was desperate, and I had no confidence or trust in people anymore. How would I know who to work with to make the chance of becoming parents a reality? We only had 1 embryo, so the chances were little……
After a couple of weeks, we were matched with Jerica, the most loving and genuine person on the planet. We started to connect and soon after, started the process of signing the contracts and really getting the transfer planned. We knew that this was going to be it. It was super scary, and it felt like there were so many things to worry about, but thanks to the great support of JA Surrogacy, and all the other people that were there to help, we made it work.
On December 20, 2018, the transfer was done. Our surrogate Jerica is the best. She just rocks, and is the most relaxed person we know. She is in this for one thing and that is LOVE. Love for life, love for her family, love for other families, love for helping other people. That is what makes her amazing. We stayed connected in a very nice way during the whole pregnancy. WhatsApp, texting, sending each other pictures and videos, ultrasounds, and family pictures; everything was shared.
In a journey like this, it is all about trust, and you can only gain and give trust if you are sincerely honest and open. This is about the most precious thing in life, and when you find people that are willing to help make dreams come true, you know they are wonderful people. That is how we felt working with JA Surrogacy and with Jerica.
On New Year’s Day, we received the news that Jerica was pregnant. UNBELIEVABLE! Are we really becoming parents?!?!?! The whole pregnancy went well for Jerica, and she did not have too many hurdles along the way. Just a couple of weeks ago, we flew to Toronto and waited for our new baby to arrive. Jerica was pregnant a little over 40 weeks, but from the moment she felt the contractions we were there. We could do little, but were so grateful that we could be part of this whole process from the very start. The birth itself was amazing. I cut the umbilical cord, and experienced the first skin-to-skin. It was all very intense.
We are the happiest people on the planet right now. We finally have this precious little girl in our hands, and will take care of her for the rest of her lives. Love, lots of love, limitless love is what we will give to her. Always in the back of our minds that Jerica was the person who brought Jinte to us. We cannot thank Jerica and JA Surrogacy enough for what they have done for us. We will always remember to “Never give up on something you can’t go a day without thinking about.”
As a full-service agency, we were also felt so fortunate to support their incredible surrogate, Jerica, through this journey. She was always lovely to deal with, incredibly determined and undoubtably in this for love. Here is a quote from her about her amazing experience as a surrogate:
“A lot of people are asking me how I feel after the birth. I am proud to say I feel great! I don’t feel like I’ve lost anything, instead I feel as though I’ve gained so much.
People have expressed their concerns about how it would feel “giving the baby away”, but that’s not how it felt at all. I didn’t give her to her parents, her parents gave her to me to grow, then when she was ready, her parents were there to catch her as she made her way into the world.
When I see her I feel pure joy. I’ll always cherish the time I had with her, she was the best belly buddy, but I’m happy she’s with her family, where she’s meant to be. I know when they leave Canada, to go back home, that a piece of me will be leaving as well, but I’m excited for her. She will arrive home to meet her proud big sister, her over the moon grandparents, her excited uncles and cousins and an entire family whose been waiting for her for years. She will be the most loved little one in the world. How can I feel anything but happiness knowing I helped make her happen?
None of it would have been possible without the amazing JA Surrogacy team! This journey was a special one, everything happened the way it was supposed to. I am so glad to have found such an awesome agency who helped create such a perfect story, and most importantly, helped create such a perfect little girl.”
To say we are overjoyed for these two families is an understatement. They have changed each other’s lives forever and in the most significant way. We feel so honored that they all trusted us with their delicate journey. Every step felt like a celebration. We would like to thank every person that contributed to this journey. It’s stories like this that make us love what we do and inspire us to keep building families.
If you wish to donate to the Esther Vergeer Foundation, click here.
