Happy Nurse Appreciation Week! Honoring Four Incredible Nurses on the ConceiveAbilities Team

Nurse Appreciation Week is the perfect time to shine a spotlight on the unsung heroes of healthcare: nurses who tirelessly devote themselves to helping build families. At ConceiveAbilities, we are proud to have fifteen amazing nurses on our team who dedicate themselves to guiding our surrogates and families through the surrogacy process. It is our privilege to take a moment to recognize the remarkable contributions of each of our nurses on staff who go above and beyond each day to make a difference. We highlight here just four of our very special ConceiveAbilities nurses who bring their expertise to helping build families: Kelly, Erica, Kristina, and Nicole, experienced nurses with a combined 75 years of nursing experience and two of whom were surrogates themselves!!

Why did you answer the call to become a nurse?

Kelly: I was actually a pre-med student and getting ready to take my MCATs. A short hospital stay and having an incredible nurse care for me started turning my wheels and I began to ask myself what exactly I wanted to do in healthcare. A short time later I transferred into the nursing program and have been a nurse now for thirty two years.

Erica: My mom works in the medical field and growing up I would sometimes go with her to her patient’s house. I found that I have always enjoyed helping others and when I had my children, I knew that Obstetrics was where I was supposed to be. I have now been a nurse for six years. I knew that God wanted me to be the support person for women and families experiencing the joy and heartbreak of labor and delivery.

Kristina: I have had the honor of being a nurse for eighteen years and a nurse practitioner for five years. Prior to becoming a nurse, I had worked for an insurance company processing health and dental claims and then for two additional companies in health information technology. While I enjoyed my work, I felt a strong pull to become a nurse, to give of myself and to make a difference in someone's life.

Nicole: Growing up the oldest in my family, I was always looking out and taking care of my younger brothers. I have always shown compassion and empathy and enjoy helping others. Becoming a nurse fourteen years ago was the perfect extension of that.

How has being a nurse impacted your life for the better?

Kelly: Being a nurse has given me so many amazing opportunities for growth, allowed me to do something I love while still being home and available for my kids (including many many years on nights), fueled my inquisitive mind for medical research, and gave me the tools to teach other aspiring nurses.

Erica: Nursing has brought many wonderful people into my life. Friendships in the nursing world are founded on a bond of trust and mutual commitment to improving human life and I am eternally grateful for the relationships I have made in my career.

Kristina: Being a nurse and a nurse practitioner has brought fulfillment and purpose to my life. It allows me to care for others in their time of need and to promote health and wellbeing.

Nicole: I have been able to experience the joys of becoming parents with my patients and made so many amazing connections with people throughout my nursing career.

How did being a nurse impact your decision to become a surrogate and how did it change your life?

Erica: My passion for nursing played a significant role in leading me to become a surrogate. Assisting families has always brought me immense joy, and I believe that surrogacy is the ultimate way to make a positive impact on creating families.

In labor and delivery, I have seen many people struggle to have a child and the joy they experience when that finally happens is beyond words. I knew early on that I wanted to be able to help another family experience that joy. I knew I wanted to take an active role in helping someone achieve their dream of growing their family. Surrogacy was the answer for me! There is no greater joy than being a part of this process. The extended families that I have formed though the process of surrogacy are ones that I will cherish forever.

Kristina: I am a three-time surrogate, having carried a total of five babies for three different couples. As a labor and delivery nurse, I had a deep knowledge of the pregnancy process and I knew that I would have the support not only of my friends and family but from my nurse colleagues.....and my obstetricians whom I worked alongside everyday at the hospital.

I've always felt a pull or calling towards obstetrics and truly been enamored by the miracle of life. Creating my family had been relatively easy and I was more than aware that for many that is not the case. I had been raised to give back, to volunteer, to ‘do unto others as you would want them to do unto you.' I felt that if I could do something like this for someone else, why wouldn't I? Would I have wanted someone to do the same for me if the situation was reversed?

How has your nursing background expanded your capacity to care for others while working with ConceiveAbilities?

Kelly: As a nurse at ConceiveAbilities, I am helping to ensure our surrogates have been medically screened and can safely move forward in the process. Ensuring safety, building trust, showing empathy, and rejoicing when the goal is met (sounds like a nurse caring for a patient, right?) are all actions of caring. And each of these actions are stepping stones that create a path for helping to build families.

Erica: Nursing and surrogacy have allowed me to fulfill my calling of helping build families whether it’s through support in labor and delivery or the postpartum period or being entrusted to carry someone’s precious gift as a surrogate.

Kristina: I like to think that as a surrogate I was able to lighten the load of worries for each of my three sets of intended parents. It enabled me to bring happiness into their lives. As an employee of ConceiveAbilities these past 12 years, I've been able to care for surrogates through the education and support I have provided throughout their application process.

Nicole: As a ConceiveAbilities employee, I know that we are all working together to care for our surrogates and intended parents as they go through one of life's biggest moments.

Happy Nurse Appreciation Week to all nurses, and especially to Kelly, Erica, Kristina, Nicole, and all of our nurses on the ConceiveAbilities staff!

Inspired by our nurses?

Are you a woman who enjoyed a healthy and successful pregnancy? Do you have friends or family who have suffered from infertility or need assistance from someone else to build their family? Have you ever considered the role you could play in helping someone else build their family - as a surrogate? Learn more about the process of helping someone else's dream of building a family come true. We would love to talk with you.

Be a surrogate