Columbian-Born Sofia Vergara Has Become the Latest Celebrity to Shine
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FERTILITY ROAD CELEBRITY SPOTLIGHT Columbian-born Sofi a Vergara has espite quashing the initial surrogacy rumours during a revealing interview with become the latest celebrity to shine Cosmopolitan in April this year, Sofi a, , a spotlight on surrogacy, the star of confi rmed that she and Nick did have plans to conceive and that she had already taken ABC’s Emmy-winning comedy series steps to preserve her fertility. Sofi a also revealed that, like Modern Family, who already has thousands of couples worldwide, she and Nick would ultimately be turning to a surrogate to help expand their family.. a 20 year old natural born son, was reported to be expecting a second Single mum in showbiz Whilst she may be the glamorous lead actress of a primetime child with her fi ancé Nick Loeb and Emmy Award-winning sitcom with a millionaire fi ancé, Sofi a’s that the couple had enlisted a close fertility journey is not unlike that of many ordinary people. Sofi a began her showbiz career as a twenty-something single mum, friend as a gestational surrogate. having given birth to her son, Manolo, now aged . A self- professed workaholic, Sofi a relocated from her hometown Barranquilla, where she attended a bilingual Spanish and English speaking school, to Columbia’s capital, Bogota. In Bogota, her brief modelling career propelled Sofi a into the limelight when she secured a job co-hosting Columbian travel show, Fuera de serie. The show was hugely popular in the Latin-American market, making Sofi a a star there. The shows’ syndication to the Univision television network, which broadcasts throughout the Spanish-speaking world, similarly brought Sofi a to the attention the of North American audiences too. Family expansion on hold After her contract with Columbian television expired, Sofi a decamped to Miami, Florida, with Manolo, her sister and their mother. There, Sofi a’s relentless work schedule, including a successful modelling and blossoming acting career meant that Modern expanding her family was, for many years, put on hold. » Family at Forty » 12 WWW.FERTILITYROAD.COM JUNE JULY 2013 JUNE JULY 2013 WWW.FERTILITYROAD.COM 13 FERTILITY ROAD CELEBRITY SPOTLIGHT Although known primarily for playing Gloria in ABC series Modern Family, Sofi a has appeared in over movies including D blockbuster The Smurfs (below) and as Madame Desdemona (right) in upcoming fi lm Machete Kills directed by Robert Rodriguez. As a consequence of treatment for thyroid “cancer, Sofi a was left unable to carry a future pregnancy herself and as such, has publicly confi rmed that when the time comes, she will seek the help of a surrogate. » That was until she met her fi ancé, Nick Loeb, the multi- that accompany these. Nevertheless, medical complications” remain millionaire television producer and son of a former US ambassador. and the inevitable tick of a woman’s biological clock is an Nick, who is three years Sofi a’s junior, has no children of his own inescapable reality. Put simply, you cannot Botox your ovaries; and is reportedly keen to start a family. However, Sofi a made it not even if you are a celebrity like Sofi a Vergara. clear during an interview with Cosmopolitan earlier this year that she is not yet ready to take this step and she quashed internet Fertility preservation: egg freezing rumours that she and Nick were already expecting a child and As such, with one eye on the future, Sofi a took steps to preserve explained that it may be another fi ve years before this happens. her fertility earlier this year, when she underwent several cycles of egg collection at a Los Angeles fertility clinic with the intention The ageing modern family of freezing her eggs for future use. It was these appointments, Sofi a’s situation is familiar to an increasing number of people Sofi a explained in an interview with Vogue magazine, which led to as the demands of modern life dictate that professional responsi- speculation that she and Nick were expecting a child together. bilities and career aspirations stave-off thoughts of children and Whilst egg freezing during a women’s natural reproductive life family. Trends show that many couples are ‘settling-down’ much can help preserve healthy eggs for future use, it does carry risks. later than was previously the case. Deferred parenthood can create a signifi cant age gap between According to recent fi gures released by the Offi ce for National parent and child and a greater proportion of single children with the Statistics, the average age for a woman’s fi rst pregnancy has likelihood that this pattern will repeat itself in subsequent generations. increased signifi cantly since the late s, with a majority of ‘Social’ egg freezing is not covered by the NHS in the UK and it women in the UK now giving birth to their fi rst child aged twenty can be prohibitively expensive for younger women, battling to get nine. In the last decade alone the number of children born on the housing ladder, earn a living and establish themselves fi nan- to women in the UK in their forties has doubled, although a cially, costing around £,+. Sofi a’s willingness to speak publicly signifi cant proportion of these women will have conceived with about her decision to freeze her eggs will no doubt raise awareness, donor eggs as their own eggs were no longer medically viable. but it will inevitably remain beyond the reach of many women. In countries like Sweden and Denmark there have been state- led incentives to try and encourage earlier childbirth, although Cancer, recovery and surrogacy women are still putting off motherhood. As such, we are likely to In , just as her US career began to take off, Sofi a was see a generation of high achieving women who by age will have diagnosed with thyroid cancer. With the support of her family, an struggled to become a mother or remain childless. operation to remove her thyroid and iodine radiation therapy, Sofi a Delayed parenthood trends are partly explained by greater made a full recovery. Any symptoms of hypothyroidism are now economic independence enjoyed by women since the s. controlled by her daily medication. However, as a consequence, Medical advancements in pre and post-birth health care have Sofi a was left unable to carry a future pregnancy herself and as also greatly improved the viability of later-in-life pregnancies, such, has publicly confi rmed that when the time comes, she and enabling women to mitigate the increased medical complications Nick will seek the help of a surrogate. » 14 WWW.FERTILITYROAD.COM JUNE JULY 2013 FERTILITY ROAD CELEBRITY SPOTLIGHT » Despite its long media association with the rich and famous (stars in their chosen foreign destination. That is because UK law is ‘extra- including Nicole Kidman, Elizabeth Banks, Elton John and Sarah-Jessica territorial’ and as such foreign birth certifi cates naming intended Parker have all become parents through surrogacy in recent years), parents as parents are not automatically recognised in the UK. This surrogacy is an increasingly popular family building alternative for often creates complex international confl icts of law. many infertile and same-sex couples and cancer survivors. UK law dictates that the birth mother is always the legal mother, In early , some elements of the Hollywood press took those regardless of biology. Were Nick and Sofi a ordinarily governed by law pregnancy rumours even further, claiming that Sofi a had, in fact, in the UK, despite their surrogate having been implanted with an turned to a close friend to act as surrogate. When Sofi a set the record embryo that is biologically theirs, their surrogate would automatically straight during her interview with Vogue, she did, however, reveal that become legal mother to their child at birth. Furthermore, if Nick and her hope is to pursue an altruistic surrogacy arrangement when the Sofi a’s surrogate were married, UK law dictates that their surrogate’s time comes involving a close friend or relative. Their chosen surrogate husband would become legal father, even though he has no biological would then presumably be implanted with an embryo comprising connection to the child. Nick’s sperm and Sofi a’s frozen egg. In such circumstances, a parental order is required in the UK. A parental order transfers legal parenthood from the surrogate and Altruistic and commercial surrogacy her husband, if she is married, to the intended parents. This legal For many couples who lack a willing friend or family member to act remedy effectively extinguishes the legal status of the surrogate and as a surrogate for them, an alternative option is to commission a provides the intended parents (in this case Nick and Sofi a), with all commercial surrogacy arrangement. Unlike an altruistic arrangement, the rights, responsibilities and legal privileges of natural parents. where the strength of the relationship between the surrogate and However, the granting of a parental order in the UK is subject to intended parents is often born through friendship or family ties with strict legal criteria and intended parents must take care to meet the no element of fi nancial compensation, a commercial arrangement can legal requirements at the outset otherwise this can create very be legally binding, contractually based and involve a commercial serious legal and practical problems in practice. fi nancial exchange between intended parents and their surrogate. Put together, it means that intended parents like Nick and Sofi a, In the UK, there is a public policy restriction in law against must be well versed in the legal complexities of surrogacy law in both commercial surrogacy and surrogacy is a restricted legal practice.