Even Though She Always Wanted to Carry Her Own Child, Elizabeth Banks Is Happy She Used a Surrogate
After years of unsuccessful attempts to expand her family, Elizabeth Banks finally got to experience motherhood.
When the actress and her husband Max Handelman eventually decided to travel down the path of gestational surrogacy, Banks kept her eyes on the prize: her son.
Actress Elizabeth Banks always wanted to carry a child of her own, so the decision to use a gestational surrogate was difficult. But talking to other moms eased her mind:
“It helps that other moms have said that once they had their babies, they forgot they were ever pregnant,”
she said in the March 2012 issue of Women’s Health.
“So once my focus became the baby and not the pregnancy, it was a very easy decision.”
Thanks to surrogacy, she and her husband Max Handelman now have two children, Felix and Magnus. When Magnus was born in 2012, Banks shared this positive message about the experience:
“Like Felix, Magnus was born via gestational surrogate.
This experience has exceeded all expectations, taught us a great deal about generosity and gratitude, and established a relationship that will last a lifetime. I am also so very thankful to our family and friends for their support throughout this process, as well as the Center for Surrogate Parenting for helping make all this possible.”
In addition to the demands of her blossoming career, the delicate balance of baby and her marriage allows Banks — who plays Effie Trinket in the highly acclaimed Hunger Games film adaptation – to be a “good role model” for the life she leads.
“I have an amazing marriage and it will be long-lasting. I think I’m a good mom,”
she says.
“I could run for office, no problem, because there are no skeletons in my closet. Not that I would run for office…”
However, recently she opened up saying she still “feels judged” for having had her sons via surrogate, but has found a way of ignoring any negative comments. The actress and director was unable to give birth herself due to a condition she describes as “broken belly”.
“I definitely think I’m still judged for what I’ve done and that people don’t understand my choices, but I don’t feel I owe anybody any explanation,”
Banks said in an interview with Net-a-Porter’s Porter Edit magazine.
“And, if my story helps people feel less alone on their journey, then I’m grateful for that.”
This story originally published on: http://www.parents.com/parenting/celebrity-parents/moms-dads/celebrities-who-used-surrogates/?slideId=55260
