Manmeet & Harsh

Medical Information:

General Health:

We are both in good health.

Fertility Information:

We have a total of 4 euploid PGT tested embryos. We plan to do another cycle to create more embryos in August. We are using our own eggs.

Fertility Clinic:

Pacific Centre for Reproductive Medicine (PCRM), British Columbia

Why are you looking for a Surrogate?

I contracted Polio at the age of 2 months. As a result, I am paralyzed in the right leg, but am able to walk around using forearm crutches. I use a wheelchair for longer distances. I have been largely unperturbed by my disability until 2021, when I began experiencing medical complications as a result of living with Polio. I am currently on medication that stabilizes my health but is unsafe for pregnancy. Therefore, we need a Surrogate to help us start our family.

Tell us about your family & loved ones.

Our parents are very supportive of our surrogacy journey. They understand the struggle that we've had with my medical challenges, and the struggle it has been to go through IVF to create embryos. They even understand the emotional toll it has taken on our mental and emotional health as we strive to find a Surrogate. They have been with us at every step with complete support. We know that when we are lucky enough to find a Surrogate, they will welcome her with open arms. They are excited to become grandparents! Harsh does not have any siblings. I have one younger brother. He is super excited to watch us take a step closer to becoming parents through the gift of surrogacy. He is supportive of our decision, and he will welcome our surrogate with respect and kindness. Our friends and select co-workers know about our fertility journey and our decision to pursue surrogacy. We have received so much compassion and empathy that it has been a bit astounding. They hold us in their prayers and well wishes as we embark on this journey.

Would you like to attend appointments with your Surrogate?

Ideally, if the Surrogate resides close to us, we would love to attend all the appointments in person and/or virtually. If she is located geographically far, we would love to attend all the appointments at least virtually, and at least the 12 week scan in person.

What are your thoughts on termination of a pregnancy due to genetic abnormalities or complications related to the pregnancy?

We strongly feel that the decision to terminate a pregnancy due to genetic abnormalities or complications related to pregnancy should rest with the parents. As an individual who has lived with a disability, I don't want my child to live with the hardships that genetic abnormalities may bring him/her in life. As a result, we would terminate a pregnancy due to genetic abnormalities, or complications that cannot be fixed with an operation/complications that have life-altering impacts.

If the Surrogate becomes pregnant with multiples, how would you feel? How do you feel about the possibility of selective reduction being recommended due to a multiple pregnancy?

We would be so happy if our Surrogate became pregnant with multiples! Even if it was recommended, we would not choose to selectively reduce the pregnancy UNLESS the health of our Surrogate and/or babies was at risk.

Are you vaccinated for Covid-19? Do you have a preference for a Surrogate to have been vaccinated for Covid-19?

Yes, both of us are vaccinated for COVID-19.  We would be open to working with a Surrogate who prefers to take a natural approach to managing her health and wellbeing.

What kind of relationship do you want to have with your Surrogate during the pregnancy?

We want our relationship with our Surrogate to be built on trust and friendship, ensuring that she feels valued for the entire duration of her journey in our lives, spanning from pregnancy and beyond. During the pregnancy, we would love to be in regular contact with her at least a few times a week. We would love for our Surrogate to feel as though she is part of our family. Thus, we would love to check in to see how she and her family are doing, and if there is any way that we can support them as a whole. We would love to have our Surrogate tell us about the developmental milestones of our growing baby and anything else that she would like to share with us. As first time parents, our Surrogate’s generosity in sharing her pregnancy experience with us will be immensely valuable, allowing us to witness our baby’s developmental stages through her eyes.

Do you want to be in the delivery room when your child is born?

Yes, we would love to be in the delivery room!

What kind of relationship do you hope to have with your Surrogate after the birth of your child?

Following delivery, we would like to continue to nurture and expand our relationship with our Surrogate, respecting her comfort level regarding the frequency of contact. If she is comfortable, we would love to share photos and milestones of our baby with her. We would also love to have in person get-togethers at least once a year with her (if she is comfortable doing so).

Would you be open to a home birth?

No, we would prefer a hospital birth.

Are you open to midwifery care?

We would prefer obstetric care because we don't know too much about midwifery care. However, if our Surrogate strongly feels that they would like a midwife, we would be open to having that discussion at that time.

Would you like your Surrogate to provide breastmilk?

We are not sure about this yet. We will go with what the doctor advises as the best practice providing the Surrogate is willing.

What will you tell the child about the Surrogate, and the circumstances of their birth? If your child asks to meet the Surrogate, how will you feel?

From the doctors and staff at PCRM to the surrogacy agency (Fearless) who helped us connect with an incredible Surrogate to the very woman who made it all possible - our child will come to know the incredible individuals who played a part in their birth. We would want them to know that their parents had a huge team of caring individuals who came together to make their dream of becoming parents a reality. We would want our child to know how desperately we wanted them, and what a selfless altruistic act it was for our Surrogate to birth them into this world. We would welcome the child’s request to meet the Surrogate. In fact, we want our child to have a relationship with our Surrogate, if our Surrogate is comfortable.

If the transfer is unsuccessful, will you want to try again? If so, how soon after?

Yes, we would try again. We would leave it up to the doctor (pending our Surrogate's wellness) to decide how soon we can try another transfer.

If this surrogacy journey is successful, would you want to complete a sibling journey? What do you envision that looking like? (timeline, same Surrogate etc.)

Yes, we would like to complete a sibling journey. Ideally, we would like to work with the same Surrogate because our hope would be that we would have a good relationship built-in with her at that point. In terms of a timeline, we would want to start the sibling journey a year later to allow enough time for our Surrogate to heal and for us to settle in as first time parents. Even if our first Surrogate doesn't want to do a sibling journey, we would still want to wait a year before starting on a sibling journey.

What are your plans for childcare once the child is born?

We plan to participate directly in childcare ourselves, as well as our baby's grandparents are eager to take on that responsibility to support us.

What does a typical weekend look like for you?

A typical weekend starts off with a hearty breakfast of South Asian delicacies followed by some family time. We usually like to travel to nearby parks or beaches where we can spend time together with our parents. Family is very important to both of us so we make sure that we spend some time with our parents regularly.
We also like to carve out time for ourselves. Harsh and I will usually go exploring some niche in our neighbourhood, which may include a local farmer's market or exploring hidden gems around our town. We also love to be outdoors, especially for kayaking and exploring local parks. Of course, weekends are also a time to catch up on household chores, which we reserve for Sundays. We always try to make the most mundane tasks as fun as possible. We wrap up our weekend with personal time to connect with one another after dinner, spending time playing board games or watching our favourite movies/shows.

What are some of your interests/ activities?

I am an avid reader, who enjoys science-fiction, thrillers, and psychology-related books. I also enjoy playing wheelchair basketball and sledge-hockey, two activities that not only promote my health but also strengthen my connection within the community. I look forward to introducing my future child to the world of wheelchair sports, allowing them to appreciate the diverse range of abilities that exist. Harsh is a dedicated foodie! He loves to bake and cook new recipes. You will often find him lost in the latest cooking show or perusing through a recipe book. He also finds pleasure in hitting the gym, motivated by his pursuit of better health. He also has a passion for swimming and badminton.

Other fun facts:

We don't have any pets, yet. We envision welcoming a dog into our family as a future companion for our child. Our favourite foods include: Butter chicken, samosas, chocolate chip cookies, ice-cream, chicken alfredo pasta, popcorn, curries, pizza, pancakes, and golgappas. So many possibilities!

We are a family that loves hockey - we are big fans of the Canucks and the Colorado Avalanche. We can both speak three languages fluently. Harsh has recently taken up hiking - his famous hike this year has been Mt. Archibald. I've volunteered at a wildlife sanctuary, where I even got the chance to get up close to a cheetah and pet her. Our favourite places to travel have been Rajasthan (in India), Paris, San Francisco, New York, and London.

“Harsh and I met in 2017 on Instagram, initially drawn together by our shared cultural roots, a love for spicy South Asian cuisine, and a desire for travel. What began as a casual acquaintance evolved into a deeper bond over months of conversation, despite the vast distance separating us — he lived in India, and I lived in Canada. Against the odds, our connection flourished into something more profound. Navigating the challenges of a long-distance relationship, particularly while I pursued my Masters in Counselling Psychology at University of British Columbia (UBC), was no easy feat. Yet, Harsh stood by me unwaveringly, even urging me to prioritize my academic pursuits over our relationship when necessary. He became my unwavering support, my best friend, my rock —roles he continues to fulfill to this day. We got married in March of 2020, mere days before the world shut down for the COVID pandemic. When I finally returned to Canada, we had to resume our long-distance relationship a trying experience that left us feeling like we were missing out on the ordinary joys of newlywed life. Yet, when Harsh joined me in Canada in 2021, it felt as though no time had passed at all. Our love and connection remained as vibrant and resilient as ever. Through every twist and turn, our relationship has only strengthened, fuelled by our shared values of hard work, responsibility, and an unwavering commitment to our dreams. Now, as we embark on our journey to build a family, we eagerly await the opportunity to embrace a Surrogate into our lives to help us create the family that we both deeply yearn.
Harsh is incredibly sensible and shy when meeting new people, while I am more of an extrovert, more talkative and love getting to meet new people. We try to do a fun date night once a month, and we spend almost every weekend with our immediate family enjoying lots of laughs together and spending quality time with them.”