Building Family Source Consultants while Helping Build More Families Everyday: A ‘Fascinating, Rewarding, and Powerful’ Journey

Rebecca Hochreiter

CMO of GoStork

We were thrilled to chat with the energetic and inspiring Staci Swiderski, President and CEO of Family Source Consultants, an international surrogacy and egg donation agency with offices in Illinois, Texas, Florida, New York, Washington D.C., and California. She speaks about her own path to parenthood, the unique highlights of working in the fertility industry, and the advice she would offer to intended parents considering surrogacy.

 

Meet the amazing Family Source Consultants team!

 

What inspired you to work in the fertility industry?

My husband and I were fortunate to grow our family with the help of an amazing gestational surrogate in 2005. After three failed embryo transfers and two egg retrievals, we finally achieved success on our 4th attempt (and 3rd surrogate)! My passion, interest and desire to assist other hopeful families was evident throughout my own journey and continues to grow; and 1.5 years after the birth of my son, the doors to Family Source Consultants opened in the surrogacy friendly state of Illinois.  Additionally, I had the pleasure of donating twice (my eggs) to a known couple who welcomed a son and daughter just two years apart from one another.

 

 

We’d love to hear your story – can you share some highlights of the journey since opening in 2007? 

Absolutely, I would love to! It has been a fascinating, rewarding, and powerful 13 ½ years since the opening of FSC. My amazing team and I have had the gratifying experience of supporting and facilitating our clients throughout their journeys, with the ultimate ending goal of becoming parents for the very first time for some, and for others, adding a brother or sister (or both!) to their families! Every single new FSC baby that enters their parents’ awaiting arms is the highlight, we are lucky to have this experience on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis!

Additionally, we continue to have the opportunity to meet and guide so many kind, compassionate and strong women who have stepped up to make it all possible by either donating their eggs OR carrying for our intended parents. I am incredibly proud of our surrogate support and advocacy program as well – both online and in-person. The value and support that is offered is awesome and truly brings such a network of sisterhood, if you will, to our entire surrogacy program. The many women who have joined our agency as surrogates have connected and formed friendships that will last a lifetime, all while having one thing in common – they have made an enormous difference in the world, that will carry on for generation after generation.

Also, the opportunity to collaborate with so many marvelous and talented reproductive professionals in our field is a dream come true! Between the physicians, attorneys, fellow agencies, insurance specialists, mental health specialists, nurses, etc., there is never a day that goes by that even still, well over a decade, that something new or profound is not learned!

And finally, FSC’s growth over the years has been colossal! We have been blessed with wonderful, caring, experienced and loyal team members throughout the years who have played a large role in our growth to establish what Family Source Consultants is today. We are proud to have just recently opened the doors to our newest location in Washington, D.C.

What has been your most rewarding experience personally over your years in this work?  

Personally, hmm, this is a tough one! I did find it fascinating to be invited to a fertility center in Chicago many, many years ago and witness a live egg retrieval take place – with then watching a life being created in the laboratory. That was priceless!

What is your advice for intended parents just beginning to consider surrogacy?

My advice is definitely to stay strong, remain hopeful and know that their entire (professional) team is advocating for them to become parents! There will be hurdles along the way, even during the best of the best journeys; however, we will get through these together as a team. We will do all that we can to make their dream a reality.

 

 

Is there anything else you’d like to share about Family Source Consultants?

Not only does Family Source Consultants blossom on professional experience in our field, but also, 19 out of 26 of our awesome team-members have personally experienced building their family via third party reproduction, and/or have been a gestational surrogate or egg donor themselves, with many repeatedly. The compassion and experience combined is immense!

Thank you, Staci, your efforts to see others achieve their dream of parenthood are indeed incredible!

Considering surrogacy? GoStork is the only online platform that allows you to find, compare, and connect with top surrogacy agencies, including Family Source Consultants, at no additional cost to you. We offer a one-of-a-kind comparison tool that helps intended parents compare surrogacy agencies side-by-side and point-by-point for various criteria, including fully transparent cost breakdowns by agency so that you’ll know exactly what you’ll need to budget for. Find your ideal surrogacy agency, here.