Community is everything, especially when it comes to infertility and surrogacy. Raising awareness is a large aspect of any community, and is especially needed within ours.
One easy way to help in raising awareness is by starting a surrogacy blog. But why?
Let’s take a look…
3 Reasons You Should Start a
Surrogacy Blog
1. Your Story Will Help Others.
This right here is the #1 reason why I started All Things Surrogacy, to help others. This is why I allow anyone and everyone to share their surrogacy and infertility stories here – because your story will help others walking the same path you did, or currently are. ATS is a platform for you, and others like you, to share your stories, to connect, and to support one another.
The internet makes it so easy to be able to reach a wide variety of people through social media, blogs, websites, message boards, and more. Starting a surrogacy blog, chronicling your journey, and sharing your experiences will reach someone who may feel stuck, someone who may need resources to start their family through surrogacy, or to become a surrogate.
Think back to when the idea of surrogacy first crossed your mind. What did you want, what did you need to know?
Simple: you wanted information. You wanted to know the ins and outs of surrogacy, and to see the personal experiences of what people went through.
It was likely that in your initial search you found a few surrogacy blogs to follow, and as you read their posts and watched their story unfold, you felt connected to those people. You rooted for them, cried with them, and overall were inspired by them in some way. Their story helped you, the same way yours will help another.
2. Your Story Matters.
That’s where you come in. Your story matters. There is someone out there right now searching for a story just like yours. There is someone out there right now who will feel connected to you, and learn from what you’ve gone through.
Each of us has a story to tell – good, bad, indifferent. Each story and experience will resonate with another person, another crowd, differently. We learn by example. We learn by watching what others have been through before us.
Again, think back to when you were first looking into surrogacy – whether as a parent via surrogacy, or as a potential surrogate – what did you do first?
If you’re like me, you probably jumped on Google to search for information. Where did that internet search take you? Did you stumble upon information provided by fertility clinics, agencies, and other surrogacy professionals? Perhaps you landed on a surrogacy blog or two that caught your eye?
Say those personal blogs and stories weren’t there. Let’s say your results returned only information provided by fertility clinics and surrogacy agencies. Would that information be enough for you to understand surrogacy as a whole? Would that information provide you with different aspects and points of view, to be able to see the different journeys possible?
Chances are the answer is no. But why is that?
Because people need something they can relate to. People need people they can relate to.
It doesn’t matter if there are a hundred other surrogacy and/or infertility related blogs out there, because not a single one of those people is you.
So many people do not understand the desire, the emotions, the struggle, the joy, and the bonds that come from the infertility and surrogacy communities, and how will they ever begin to understand, if we don’t share it?
Maybe you’re thinking:
“I’m a private person.”
“My story is boring.”
“I’m not a good writer.”
“I don’t have time.”
Sharing your voice, documenting the details of your journey, and being authentically you is all that is required. You don’t have to use full names, you don’t have to share your location, and you do not have to be a published author to be a voice.
The greatest stories we will ever tell are those we have the courage to share.
3. Community is Important.
We all desire to belong. We all want to find a group of people who just ‘get it’. People who are walking a similar path, experiencing similar conditions, or those who already have. People we can relate to.
When you share your story you allow others the opportunity to connect with you, and as time progresses, a friendship may form. This is the foundation on which communities are built.
Community is about finding your tribe, recognizing your differences and forging shared bonds. It’s about learning from others. Sharing your story adds to that community and creates a safe place for others to share theirs. It decreases the stigma around surrogacy and in turn, can be a powerful way to correct the misinformed about what surrogacy is, or isn’t.