How We Made Our Family | A Surrogacy Story

Ellice and Rhys have set up a GoFundMe to help pay for their unexpected $100K NICU bills. Please go support them here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/franklin03... Film by: Alyssa Kellert Photo + Film http://www.alyssakellert.com Still Photos by: Morag Hastings of Apple Blossom Families http://www.appleblossomfamilies.com Some clips in video from: Kendal Blacker + Ellice and Rhys "Franklin is our blue-eyed, chubby-cheeked, beautiful and healthy little boy who was born in July 2019. Due to health reasons, we were unable to safely carry a pregnancy, but thankfully we were able to turn to a surrogate in Canada. There were unexpected complications, however, and Franklin’s medical expenses weren’t covered by health insurance. He came almost six weeks premature and had to spend a week in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which left us with a hospital bill of over $120,000 AUD. We’re Rhys and Ellice from Sydney, Australia, and we’re the proud parents of Franklin. Ellice was born with cystic fibrosis, a genetic condition that caused her lungs to deteriorate to the point of failure. She received a life-saving double-lung transplant in 2012, which gave her a second chance at life and made it possible for her to envision a future. This opened up the possibility that we might be able to have a child together one day (you can read a story she wrote about that experience here ). Unfortunately, after an episode of rejection, which reduced her lung function by half, her specialist advised her against carrying a pregnancy because it would pose a serious risk to the life of the baby, to Ellice, or to both of them. This was a huge blow to us emotionally, and it took some time to come to terms with. But we decided that we still wanted to be parents, and if we were able to make embryos via IVF, then we would try to find a surrogate to carry our baby for us..." To read their full story, please visit their GoFundMe page https://www.gofundme.com/f/franklin03...