Felicity & David, British Intended Parent in Tasmania, Australia

Explain your reasons for wanting a surrogate/donor:

Last year we realised that the time was finally perfect to start our family, we love our jobs, our home and the area we live in – life was perfect.The start of *** was a magical time, we felt like we were starting a really special chapter of our lives.Then out of the blue, I was diagnosed with bowel cancer.I have no family history, I live a super healthy lifestyle and had no symptoms.And I was 40 years younger than the normal demographic. I won’t go into the details here, I’m sure I don’t need to try and convey to anyone reading this how hard it’s been, nor do I think I could even if I tried.I’ve had amazing support and just as I did before I got sick, I’m still able to count so many blessings in my life and remember how lucky I am for so many reasons.Action needed to be taken fast.In the short space between surgery to remove the golf ball sized tumour in my bowel and the commencement of chemo I had some fertility treatment and we managed to preserve 4 embryos. I remember early on, telling myself ‘don’t worry, a bit of surgery, a bit of chemo and then we can put this all behind us, we’ll be pregnant in 6 months’ time.The thoughts of someone who has never had to face cancer before. I’ve since been told that I should never attempt to carry a child myself, it would be far too dangerous to me and the child, and that chemo will make me infertile.So those 4 embryos couldn’t be more precious to us.We’re now on a quest to find that special someone we can trust to bring our future to life.

How would you best describe yourself(s):

Felicity and David - Childhood sweethearts.We met in our teens and have been together for nearly 19 years.We are a great team and have an incredible relationship. And that is the only thing that really matters.But I understand that detail is useful here, so going against my naturally private and minimalist nature, here is a great big pile of detail! US: We both grew up in the UK and had many adventures together, outside of our full time jobs we’d go for walks in the woods, go to live music shows and festivals, and go on holiday to Cornwall where we’d pitch tents and hire surfboards.In *** we packed in our jobs and went backpacking around Australia, and after a few more adventures finally made the permanent move to Australia in *** moved Hobart, Tasmania and finally felt settled.Our adventures are very similar to how they’ve always been – bushwalks, beaches, live music.We both love taking photos too – Dave is even good at it! Felicity: I’m doing most of the writing here, but I often refer to ‘us’ or ‘we’ instead of ‘I’ – I guess when you’ve spent more than half your life with someone you do sort of morph into one unit.We’re actually both very independent people, which is funny as it also sounds like we’re joined at the hip like a couple of love-struck teenagers.I had a rather rural childhood, mostly on horseback.I studied until I was 18, then got a full time job in garden maintenance.With all the moving around David and I have done, it’s hard to have a proper career, and I’ve done a lot of work in retail over the years.I still go horse riding with some wonderful friends of mine who horses need the exercise, and I took up rowing in *** while living on an island off the coast of Cornwall.I want to say I still row – but at the moment due to my health, I actually just have coffee with my crew.I currently have a job as a receptionist for a very talented and professional group of physiotherapists and I absolutely love working there.Before I got sick I was doing *** hours a week but now I’m just doing 5.I was walking or cycling to town every day, riding once a week, rowing 3 times a week, going to the gym twice a week and yoga once a week.That’s all slowed down a bit for now.I do more crochet now! My other great interests are environmental issues and supporting equality.David: David is a really great cook and does all the cooking at home (perhaps this is a clue to the way to my heart as the first thing I choose to tell you about my gorgeous husband!).He is also really great a planning and organising and logistics.And he is so much fun.He sees beauty and joy in everything.He’s been the most amazing support to me while I’ve been sick.David studied until he was 16 and his first job when he left school was for a tree surgery company.By the time I met him he worked shift work in computer programming.While moving around he’s had many trades including farm labour, retail and security.He was holding down 3 jobs when I got sick.In order to take care of me, he’s just kept his favourite – food service at the local hospital.Apart from the interests we share, David also enjoys wing chung kung fu and watching soccer/football.

Use this space to communicate a letter to potential Surrogates/Donors:

Thank you so much for taking the time to read our profile.It blows my mind that there are people like yourself out there who can give this ultimate gift and create so much love.We hope you enjoyed reading about us, and would love to hear from you.We’d love to get to know you too and find out if you’d like to join our family.Please get in touch! All the best, Felicity and David