Earlier this month, Rebecca Jarvis and her husband, Matt Hanson, welcomed their second child. The ABC Chief Business, Economics & Technology Correspondent announced the arrival of their child on the Good Morning America episode.
The couple are also the parents of a four-year-old, Isabel. Their son was born via surrogacy, and she revealed the story of her son Leo’s birth in the recent episode of Good Morning America.
Jarvis opened up about her decade-long struggle with infertility and her journey of becoming a mother. She said that the journey was tough for her and her husband. In the episode, she added that It has been a very long road for us, for fertility, for pregnancy.
Through the journey, I’ve seen how common it is and how many families are facing these challenges – the emotional and the physical toll, the costs involved, the sadness and heartbreak, and the hope, too.
Jarvis started trying to get pregnant with her first child, Isabel, for almost ten years. She said that they had done in-vitro fertilization to get pregnant with their daughter.
She explained how they were in and out of the doctors’ offices and had met a lot of doctors in the city. She also said that before Isabel, she had undergone seven rounds of in-vitro fertilization.
Rebecca Jarvis opens up on choosing surrogacy
Rebecca, in hopes of having a second child, started trying to get conceived and started her IVF. However, she suffered a miscarriage after undergoing another round of IVF. She was emotionally drained and devastated after the miscarriage.
The hardest part of her fertility journey, according to Jarvis, was that it was always unexplained. She says how she used to ask each doctor to explain about her miscarriage. She also said that she had done every possible test and still could not find a conclusive reason for her infertility.
Every time she lost to the pregnancy, she would be devastated, and also, being a great mother to her elder one seemed important to her. She said that she did not want to take away the joy of her child because of the pain she felt within.
After continuous miscarriages, her doctor suggested surrogacy, and she wrote that it was very difficult for her to hear and accept it. Surrogacy is hard; it takes a very long time to match with a surrogate, and she was also worried about asking another person to do something like that with their body.
She continued on how the journey of finding a surrogate and the process of talking to a lot of people was tough for them. Then they met their surrogate, to which Jarvis referred to as an angel. Jarvis also said how the surrogate thought this was the greatest thing to do and one of the greatest gifts that she could give the world.
Even in surrogacy, Jarvis remained very calm and did not want to feel that massive excitement and joy until she was sure or felt that it was true. But when she started to understand that it was a sure thing, she was excited and said it was truly the best feeling of her life. She says
But when I did allow myself to feel that way, it was truly the best feeling. To look at Matt and say, “We are having a baby. We’re having another baby. Isabel is going to have a little brother. Our family will be a family of four.”
It was in November that Jarvis and Hanson flew from New York to be with their surrogate when she was preparing for the birth. The two were with the surrogate when she gave birth to their son Leo.
She felt affection for their child at first sight itself. The moment Isabel, their daughter, met Leo and they had surreal moments to cherish for a lifetime were wonderful to watch.
Jarvis also thanked and showed her family’s gratitude towards their surrogate and her family for supporting them on their journey.
