The commercial surrogacy industry has grown substantially in recent years and is expected to reach a market value of $129 billion by 2032. The increase in interest in the controversial practice has also created a rise in organizations that aim to connect expectant parents with these surrogacy services.
Men Having Babies (MHB) is one such service. Created in 2012, it began as a peer support network for gay fathers. Now, the nonprofit connects gay men with fertility clinics, egg donors, surrogates, and law firms. They also provide financial assistance programs and advocate for legislation to make surrogacy more accessible to gay men.
In 2021, MHB worked with RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association and the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) to amend the Illinois insurance code requiring insurance companies to cover fertility-related services for single individuals and gay couples by redefining infertility to include, “a person’s inability to reproduce either as a single individual or with a partner without medical intervention.” The bill took effect in January of 2022.
“The anguish and yearning same-sex couples and singles feel when they cannot afford the expensive treatments required to counteract their ‘social infertility’ is comparable to that of heterosexual couples who suffer from medical infertility,” the nonprofit said in a letter of support sent to Illinois legislators.
On their Instagram, Men Having Babies regularly posts photos of the men who have utilized their services, typically posing with the children created through their surrogate arrangements. The overwhelming majority of the children appear to be boys.
One recent post features a couple named Carlos and Pat who received $100,000 in “Family Building Benefits” from Pat’s employer Meta to help finance their surrogate arrangement.
Carlos and Pat are the founders of BUM: Bottoms Up Movement, a start-up company that sells intimate and anal hygiene products aimed at gay men with a portion of sales going towards “…making LGBTQ family building more affordable,” according to their website, which includes making contributions to Men Having Babies.
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