Tania Portela
NEED TO KNOW
Stephanie Levich of Family Match Consulting is debunking some of the common misconceptions surrounding surrogacy
Levich dispels the common belief that celebrities use surrogacy for “vanity reasons”
“That’s almost never the case,” Levich tells PEOPLE
Celebrity surrogacy consultant Stephanie Levich is pushing back against one of the most persistent myths surrounding gestational carriers: that the rich and famous pursue surrogacy for “vanity reasons.”
“That’s almost never the case,” Levich tells PEOPLE exclusively. “There’s so many reasons that people pursue surrogacy.”
Levich is the founder and president of Family Match Consulting, a firm that has worked with high-profile parents. With more than 20 years of experience in the field, she says the assumption ignores the medical, emotional and logistical reasons many people face before ever considering a surrogate.
Tania Portela
“They could have experienced recurrent pregnancy loss, or have uterine issues. They may not have a uterus,” she explains. “They could have a medical condition that’s considered unsafe for pregnancy. There’s also medication that women take for their health or even for their mental health that’s considered unsafe for pregnancy.”
Levich adds that surrogacy is not limited to heterosexual couples facing infertility. “There’s also single hopeful dads and LGBTQ+ individuals or couples who don’t have another path forward,” she says.
Despite some assumptions, Levich says every Family Match client also meets their surrogate. And in most cases, the relationships are deeply positive. “Once it’s the right person… there’s an element of trust that they have that they couldn’t have expected before.”
Levich also dispels claims that surrogacy exploits women. “These are not women being forced into surrogacy by any means,” she says. “All surrogates need to be financially stable. These are not women who are going to rely on the income they receive in surrogacy to feed their family.”
She adds, “Calling it exploitative reduces surrogates to caricatures of poverty, as if they have no agency or ability to make informed decisions. That’s just not real.”
“Surrogacy is rarely a completely seamless journey. It can be emotionally and logistically challenging, with highs and lows and occasional setbacks along the way. Having the right team in place to guide clients through obstacles and to pivot when needed is so important,” Levich says.
Family Match Consulting operates as a consulting and advocacy service, helping clients navigate the many moving parts of surrogacy.
“We’re really like project managers,” Levich says. “We bring in the right mental health professionals, attorneys, insurance brokers, escrow providers. We really bring in whatever’s needed throughout.”
As PEOPLE previously reported, when it comes to celebrity clients, Levich acknowledges added layers of privacy but says the motivation is the same.
“At the core, working with celebrities isn’t fundamentally different,” she explains. “The reason they are pursuing surrogacy is the same as any other intended parent: they want to build a family.”
Read the original article on People
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