My journey to parenthood started in 2016 and it’s hard to believe how much has happened in the few short years since then. Today, I’m a father, a husband, and the founder of a new company, GoStork, which in some ways is also my baby.
I started my surrogacy journey, with a very initial research phase, in October 2016. This part was immediately far more difficult than I could have imagined. As many intended parents know, starting with google, the process is completely overwhelming. I spent weeks and weeks - completely losing track of the countless hours - weeding through many different websites and information sources. I didn’t have friends or family who had gone through surrogacy, didn’t know which agency to choose, didn’t even know how to make the choice, and had no idea of what the roadmap ahead really looked like. The lack of transparency around pricing or any way to compare agencies ‘apples to apples’ made everything even more confusing.
Eventually, I began to piece things together. I started telling everyone in my life about the first steps of my journey and found friends of friends who recommended their agency to me. I was grateful to have a plan and even more excited to match with a wonderful gestational carrier, who is still an important part of our lives. During this same time frame I also met my now husband Mike - so two of my most substantial (and best!) life changes happened within only a few months of each other. And finally, everything really fell into place when in June of 2018, my dream of fatherhood came true with the birth of my amazing little Ariel.
Despite all the difficulties at the beginning of my surrogacy journey, I’ve been incredibly grateful for every stage of building this family. Experiencing Ariel’s first year was life-changing in all the best ways possible. I was a new dad, the three of us became a family, Mike and I got married just before Ariel’s first birthday, and soon after I embarked on my new endeavor. Spurred by my own surrogacy experience, I left the career I had worked so hard to build and, leveraging my 20-year technology and product skillset, created GoStork. For those who are not yet familiar, GoStork is the first-of-its-kind marketplace where intended parents can find, compare, and connect with surrogacy agencies, IVF Clinics, and egg donors from various donation agencies across the US (in fact, at over 5,000 egg donors, we already have the largest online egg donor database).
We launched earlier in 2020 and we are now the only place where you can search top fertility providers across the US, filter by your preferences, compare your options side-by-side for all criteria that are important for you to make your decision, and even book appointments directly with them - all within one convenient platform. Essentially, it’s exactly what I would have wanted when I was lost at the beginning of my own search. I named Ariel as my co-founder and she’s just as thrilled as I am that we’re supporting intended parents with this 100% FREE resource as well as supporting the rest of the fertility industry along the way.
On that note, we really appreciate how the industry has welcomed us in return. Fertility providers and other experts across the ecosystem have been very open to the innovation and unprecedented transparency we’re providing to intended parents. It’s also been an inspiring experience to meet so many fertility advocates and consultants (including Sharon, whose expertise is really immeasurable) who are always ready to share in our common mission to help intended parents.
So, in summary...
That was just the past four years and I’m eager for what the next four (and beyond) have in store. In the meantime, we’ll continue working tirelessly to help intended parents achieve their dream of parenthood and - who knows - maybe even grow our own family further along the way!
About Eran Amir
With more than 20 years of experience, Eran Amir has worked as both a software development and product management executive in Israel and the Greater New York Area. The development of GoStork combines his professional experience with a personal mission. After undergoing a long, difficult, and costly process to expand his family via surrogacy, Amir vowed to help other intended parents avoid the complexity and confusion he experienced. His passion led to the creation of GoStork, which proudly names Amir’s two-year-old daughter as its co-founder.
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