Georgie Crawford opened up about her lengthy surrogacy journey on The Late Late Show on Friday night.
The podcast host and her husband Jamie welcomed their second child together, a baby girl named Tahlie, last month via surrogate.
The couple started looking into surrogacy after Georgie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017, and subsequently froze her eggs before undergoing treatment.
Unfortunately, Georgie and Jamie suffered a number of setbacks since they started their surrogacy journey in 2020.
In the summer of 2021, the broadcaster admitted they had to change the clinic they were working with as the process “wasn’t moving at a pace” they were comfortable with.
But that December, the couple were overjoyed when they were finally matched with a surrogate in Ukraine.
Sadly just a few months later the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out, forcing Georgie and Jamie to pause the surrogacy process, which meant losing their surrogate mother to another family.
During this time, the couple had no idea where their five embryos were, as they were being stored at a clinic in Ukraine.
Speaking on The Late Late Show tonight, Georgie recalled the moment she found out her embryos were safe.
The mother-of-two said she was sent a photo in a surrogacy WhatsApp group of a man with cryotherapy chambers in the back of his car.
Georgie recalled being told that the man was an embryologist, who went to the border of Slovakia six times in his car with IVMed’s embryos.
“And that was our clinic,” Georgie said. “And in that moment I knew where our embryos were.”
After taking a break from the process for a while, Georgie and Jamie decided to re-start their surrogacy journey in Georgia following a recommendation from their solicitor.
The podcast host explained that the laws surrounding surrogacy in Georgia are very ethical, meaning they really protect surrogate mothers.
At this stage, Georgie’s embryos were back in Ukraine, and she recalled people “moving mountains” to get their embryos to Georgia.
Her embryos ended up travelling by train from Ukraine to Slovakia, Berlin, Paris, and Turkey, before they arrived in Tbilisi, Georgia.
The embryo transfer then took place on Georgie’s birthday, and in April 2023 the couple announced that their surrogate was pregnant.
In September, the couple, who are already parents to a five-year-old daughter named Pia, travelled to Georgia ahead of their baby’s birth on the 25th.
Announcing their daughter’s arrival on Instagram, Georgie wrote: “Just before lunchtime on Monday, Tahlie Crawford made her entrance into the world. All 5 pounds 7 ounces of her!”
“Her name meaning ‘leaping water’ representing the many trips to many countries she made as a tiny embryo.”
“To hold our surrogate mother’s hand with Tahlie between us & knowing we will be forever connected has changed me forever. She has given us the greatest gift of our lives.”
“We are so grateful to the kindness and love we have received in Georgia and we cannot wait to come home as a family of 5 (not forgetting Piper 🐶).”
“Tahlie, though teeny tiny, has already taught me a lifetime of lessons… patience, trust and hope… she is finally here, our miracle baby 🐣🤍,” Georgie concluded.
Speaking about their new baby on The Late Late Show, the proud mum said: “She’s an absolute miracle, I don’t even feel tired I could just stay up all night staring at her.”
“It’s amazing actually, our surrogate mother said before we left ‘I want to do it again’ and I said ‘ok you’re ready but I don’t know if I’m ready, I don’t know if Jamie’s ready’.
When asked if she’s planning on having another baby, Georgie added: “No I think we’re done, but I don’t know never say never.”
