{"id":431549,"date":"2026-05-17T04:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T04:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/431549\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T04:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T04:49:08","slug":"surrogacy-in-auckland-how-a-us-sister-in-law-helped-create-a-kiwi-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/431549\/","title":{"rendered":"Surrogacy in Auckland: How a US sister-in-law helped create a Kiwi family"},"content":{"rendered":"

In early February last year, they arrived in San Francisco, where Travis\u2019 sister Maddy lives, certain they would meet their baby any day.<\/p>\n

Emma laughs, recalling, \u201cWe were all naively convinced she would come early.\u201d<\/p>\n

But little Lila was in no rush, waiting until March 4 to make her entrance into the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept saying it was the ultimate compliment to Maddy, who was such a dream surrogate that Lila was just so content in there,\u201d reflects Emma.<\/p>\n

Living in Auckland, where US-born Emma and Travis moved in 2019, while Maddy was still in America, meant their time together during the pregnancy was limited. So being reunited allowed Emma to feel more connected to her baby.<\/p>\n

\"BeingBeing reunited with her sister allowed Emma to feel more connected to her baby. Photo \/ NZ Woman’s Weekly<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know in theory the baby in her belly is yours, but it\u2019s surreal and hard to wrap your head around the concept,\u201d admits Emma.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so happy we were able to have more bonding time while Maddy was pregnant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eight days past her due date, Maddy, who is already mum to seven-year-old Samantha, went in for an induction.<\/p>\n

Emma shares, \u201cWe got to the hospital with Colby, Maddy\u2019s partner, and it was kind of funny because normally people are used to seeing one couple, not two, come in to have a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Emma was diagnosed at a young age with Mayer-Rokitansky-K\u00fcster-Hauser syndrome<\/a>, a congenital disorder that mainly affects the female reproductive system. It meant she was born without a uterus and only one kidney. While she still has ovaries, and was able to use her own eggs and Travis\u2019 sperm to have their own biological child, Emma always knew her dream of motherhood would require extra support.<\/p>\n

During labour, she was in awe of Maddy.<\/p>\n

\"MaddyMaddy was the first to hold Lila. Photo \/ NZ Woman’s Weekly<\/p>\n

\u201cI was nervous I wouldn\u2019t know what to do or say in the moment, but it came naturally,\u201d Emma remembers. \u201cShe was so incredible and fierce.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a decision that felt deeply important to Emma and Travis, Maddy was the first to hold Lila.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe carried her and delivered her, and had done all that hard work,\u201d explains Emma.<\/p>\n

Then came the handover.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so beautiful,\u201d shares Emma, who will never forget the first moments of holding her girl. \u201cEverything happened in seconds, but Maddy held her while they cleaned her up and then handed her to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the days that followed, the hospital became a hub of celebration with visits from proud grandparents, sushi feasts and a well-earned martini for Maddy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have this hilarious picture of Maddy in a wheelchair, but all she\u2019s holding is a purse, like my job is done, this is all I need,\u201d laughs Emma. \u201cShe had the best sense of humour, even right after giving birth.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"EmmaEmma treasures every small moment with Lila. Photo \/ Carmen Bird<\/p>\n

While they waited to complete the legal adoption process and applied for Lila\u2019s passport to bring her home to New Zealand, Emma and Travis travelled to St Louis with their 10-day-old daughter to introduce her to the rest of the family.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was such a long-awaited baby and we just wanted everyone to meet her,\u201d smiles Emma, who in the past had also tried unsuccessfully to conceive with a selfless Kiwi surrogate for two years.<\/p>\n

In New Zealand, the current surrogacy laws, which are undergoing review, require the intended parents to legally adopt their baby<\/a> after birth, regardless of whose egg is used.<\/p>\n

Now back home, Emma treasures every small moment with Lila.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe loves swimming and the beach, and going on walks, just like a little outdoor Kiwi,\u201d says Emma, who hopes to have another child via surrogacy one day.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI love motherhood. It\u2019s definitely a steep learning curve and I\u2019m in the trenches learning as I go, just like anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

In fact, it\u2019s that \u201cjust like anyone else\u201d feeling which has been so healing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were times I grappled with the notion I was being defined by surrogacy,\u201d shares Emma, who started the podcast SurroTales to connect with and share stories of others on the same journey.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow the message is, for all of the ups and downs on our journey to become parents, it was so incredibly worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In early February last year, they arrived in San Francisco, where Travis\u2019 sister Maddy lives, certain they would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":431550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[51,11164,5232,790,156,39197,2109,71,9832,221,78,2203,194,220943,2882,74205,2891,111,139,69,220942,23569,153565,3040,102],"class_list":["post-431549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-auckland","tag-began","tag-create","tag-emma","tag-entertainment","tag-extraordinary","tag-family","tag-from","tag-helped","tag-how","tag-in","tag-journey","tag-kiwi","tag-lehmans","tag-love","tag-maddy","tag-motherhood","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sisterinlaw","tag-surrogacy","tag-surrogate","tag-us","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}