'I became a surrogate after watching friends' IVF journey'

When Krista Scelza watched her two friends go through IVF, it hit home how difficult the journey to become parents can be for some.

The 33-year-old, who lives in Connecticut in America, had welcomed her daughter into the world seven years earlier and had enjoyed being pregnant.

This inspired her to start researching whether she would be able to become a surrogate to help others start a family.

After completing an online application which included her health information, financial details and support network, Krista was informed she had met the initial criteria to begin the process.

This included having experienced at least one full-term pregnancy without any complications, currently parenting a child and having a high school diploma or completed a general educational development test.

Fourteen months later, she welcomed a baby girl for Adam Frisby and Jamie Corbett, from Bolton in Greater Manchester - a journey she described as "one of the most rewarding experiences of my life".

"The process for me took a total of 14 months from the time of the initial call to Leven's birth," said Krista.

"I had to go through a background check, a pre-screening consultation, psychological screening, and medical screening to get to the matching phase."

She met with two other intended parents before meeting with Adam and Jamie, who had chosen to go through surrogacy in America due to the current legislation there.

Surrogacy is legal in the UK but a surrogacy agreement cannot be enforced by the law.

But in some states in America, surrogates and intended parents can enter into a surrogacy agreement which records everyone's intentions and is legally enforceable.

The intended parents will also be listed on the child's birth certificate as their parents from birth.

Adam and Jamie, who had been together for 15 years, had always dreamed of having a family.

"I actually had a preference to only meet with couples from the United States because I didn't want it to feel transactional with them being from a different country," said Krista.

"Luckily for me it was anything but that with them.

"From our initial phone call it really felt like it was meant to be.

"I remember getting emotional and telling them on the video call I'd love to be their surrogate."

At this stage, Krista, Adam and Jamie went through the contract phase, which included finalising the surrogacy costs and expenses - which differs to the UK where a surrogate can only be paid expenses - before undertaking additional medical screenings.

She then started to take progesterone and estrogen to prepare for the embryo transfer in April 2025.

The following month, she found out she was pregnant.

"With surrogacy there can be a lot of ups and downs due to delays because of needing embryos or a failed transfer, but for me, everything went very smoothly.

"I did have a tough time with the medication because I was pumping my body with estrogen and progesterone while my body began producing it and it resulted in me having severe headaches.

"But that was only for a brief time and, besides massive heartburn, the pregnancy was normal after nine weeks.

"It was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and something I will carry with me forever."

Krista said she was aware that not everyone supported surrogacy but believed "a lot of the concerns people have usually come from not fully understanding surrogacy or only hearing negative narratives around it".

For Krista, it was a "deeply considered decision" as she wanted to help create a family.

"I felt respected, supported, and valued throughout the entire journey, and seeing Jamie and Adam become parents only reminded me how beautiful surrogacy can be.

"I would hope when people actually see the love, trust, and relationships behind it, it changes their perspective."

The couple said they would forever be indebted to Krista, who is known as Auntie Krista to Leven.

"She is incredible. What she has done to help us start a family is amazing," said Adam.

In April, Jamie and Adam launched a petition to ensure the intended parents in surrogacy arrangements are recognised as their child's legal parents from birth.

Under UK law, Krista, who is not genetically related to Leven, would be her legal parent at birth when they returned to the UK.

If the surrogate is married or in a civil partnership, their spouse or civil partner will be the child's second parent at birth, unless they did not give their permission.

A parental order must be made to transfer legal parentage to the intended or biological parents after the child is born.

Within 48 hours, the petition had more than 100,000 signatures and will now be debated in parliament.

Krista said she was "extremely excited" by the petition's progress in such a short period of time.

"It's one step closer to creating real change," she said.

"It just seems like common sense that they should be recognised as Leven's parents from the beginning."

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