Sarah Jessica Parker and Surrogacy

According to several news reports, including Entertainment Weekly, Sarah Jessica Parker (best known for her role in the TV show and movie Sex in the City) and her husband Matthew Broderick are expecting twins via a surrogate mother.

Word has it that they struggled with getting pregnant back with their first son, and now, with their second, they again had trouble conceiving.

I’ve seen some speculation on whether or not the eggs are hers, since a 44 year old woman’s eggs are less likely to lead to a successful pregnancy, even with IVF treatment. I did a little digging, and found sources that say that the eggs are in fact hers – but they are frozen embryos from about seven years before, when they had their now 6 year old son via IVF treatment.

Surrogacy is when another woman carries the pregnancy. The embryos are sometimes from the parents-to-be, and in other cases, they involve an egg donor. In this case, it seems the embryos are “frozen leftovers” from their first attempts at having children.

There’s been lots of speculation on why Parker has chosen to use a surrogate, anything from vanity to movie-schedule practicalities. And I have to say, people online have not been very nice in their judgments of her.

What do I think? Well, I have no idea why she chose to use a surrogate, but I’m certainly not going to right away assume it has to do with looks or movie making. After all, she did have a baby (with her own body) seven years ago, with their first son. It could be a medical issue. It might be something else.

But when it comes down to it, really, it’s none of our business.

Still, it’s exciting to see a frozen embryo to surrogacy story in the news, and in a basically positive light. The media stories around infertility and fertility treatment have not been all butterflies and sunshine lately! I’m happy to have a good story circling now.