Kim Kardashian is opening up about what it was like to hire a surrogate for her and hubby Kanye West's third child — a daughter born on Monday.
On Thursday, the "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" star — who opted to use a gestational carrier after experiencing multiple pregnancy complications — wrote candidly about the highs and lows of her experience in a subscribers-only post on her official website.
"I have always been really honest about my struggles with pregnancy. Preeclampsia and placenta accreta are high-risk conditions, so when I wanted to have a third baby, doctors said that it wasn’t safe for my — or the baby’s —health to carry on my own," wrote the reality TV vet, 37.
Kardashian then explained the difference between a gestational carrier and a traditional surrogate.
"Although I have used the term surrogate in the past, a gestational carrier is actually the technical term for a woman who carries a baby that she has no biological relationship to," Kardashian explained. "A traditional surrogate donates her egg, is artificially inseminated with the father's sperm and then carries the baby to term. Since we implanted my fertilized egg in our gestational carrier, our baby is biologically mine and Kanye’s."
While some parents choose people they already know for the process, Kardashian revealed she and West, 40, found their gestational carrier through an agency.
While the grateful mom of three is counting her blessings for the process, she admits it was emotionally difficult not carrying her own child.
"Having a gestational carrier is definitely different, but anyone who says or thinks it’s the easy way out is completely wrong," she wrote. "People assume it’s better because you don’t have to deal with the physical changes, pain or complications with delivery, but for me it was so hard to not carry my own child, especially after I carried North and Saint."
Kardashian ended her post by thanking her surrogate for "the best experience I've ever had."
"Our gestational carrier gave us the greatest gift one could give. The connection with our baby came instantly and it's as if she was with us the whole time," she gushed. "Having a gestational carrier was so special for us and she made our dreams of expanding our family come true. We are so excited to finally welcome home our baby girl."