Man Spends Almost $400,000 on a Surrogate To Become Single Dad

A man who was desperate to have kids has spent almost $400,000 just to become a single dad.

Dr Conrad Cean, 44, pain management specialist from New York City, had been longing for a family for years, and not having met Miss Right has led him to look for a surrogate to attain his goal of fatherhood around the age of 36.

He said that he felt his biological clock was “ticking” during his mid-30s, when “a man’s sperm is already past its prime.” He also said he didn’t want “to postpone fatherhood” until his 40s or 50s, when he said he might be too old to be an active, hands-on dad.

Conrad said that while he wanted a child to call his own, he didn’t want to rush into finding a wife or girlfriend only to have kids, and his work as a doctor means he didn’t have time to meet different women.

He said he briefly considered adoption, but learned that it’s not easy for a single guy to adopt in the US and he wanted children of his own flesh and blood.

In 2011, he started researching surrogacy and contacted a few surrogacy agencies in the US, but hated how lawyer-driven it was. So, he looked for overseas doctors who were more amenable to surrogacy.

His first attempt at surrogacy was in Mumbai, India but the implantation failed. Then, in 2012, he worked with a Johns Hopkins-affiliated hospital in Panama City and found a young, college-educated Panamanian donor and a surrogate, who was already married with two children of her own.

After two more failed attempts, the third one finally succeeded, with two embryos implanted in the hope he would have twins and amazingly, he did, even though it cost him about $US300,000 ($AU394,000) after all the hospital and legal fees and airfares across the world.

On August 30, 2013, Kennedy-Josephine and her brother Konrad were born at 32.5 weeks. Conrad said he immediately bonded with them, and held them for the first time at four days old.

Six weeks later, he was able to bring the twins home after securing their paperwork and American passports at the US Embassy in Panama.

Interestingly, Conrad met his current girlfriend, Shawna Thompson, 37, who was a friend, just four months before the twins were born. He said he told Shawna about the surrogacy arrangement, who went with the flow.

Through all he went through, Conrad has this to tell men about surrogacy.

“I definitely think more single men should consider surrogacy, but I realise it’s very much a personal choice and, if a guy wants kids, adoption is another route, too.

To the naysayers, I say we all have our different beliefs, but I haven’t done any harm by creating these beautiful babies.”

Source: News.com.au