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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are expecting a third child via surrogate. The news was confirmed on Wednesday by Us Weekly.
Fans of Keeping Up With the Kardashians are aware that Kardashian spent a good deal of time with fertility doctors before seriously considering hiring a surrogate. Because she had such difficult pregnancies in the past, her doctors were very concerned about her carrying a third child and advised against it.
“I feel like surrogacy is the only option for me. Kanye and I are going to look into other options and see what we are comfortable with … but I’m definitely leaning towards [surrogacy],” Kardashian West said in an April episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Here is what you need to know:
1. Kardashian-West’s Surrogate Is in Her 20s
According to Us Weekly, Kardashian and West decided to reach out to an agency to help them add to their family. The couple chose a “San Diego mom in her late 20s” to carry their child. The report indicates that the surrogate is three months pregnant and that the West’s will become a family of five in early 2018.
The report also indicates that the unnamed woman has been a surrogate mother in the past. She “even [appeared] in a promotional video about the process with her own family.”
Further details about Kardashian-West’s surrogate likely will not be made available in an effort to protect the woman’s privacy.
2. Kardashian & West Decided to Hire a Surrogate After Doctors Warned Kardashian About Getting Pregnant Due to Serious Health Issues
On the last season of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, fans watched as Kardashian struggled with the news that she wouldn’t be able to carry another baby. She and her husband wanted to add to their brood — they are already parents to North West, 4, and Saint West, 19 months — but Kardashian’s doctors advised her against getting pregnant.
“If the two doctors that I trust have told me it wouldn’t be safe for me to get pregnant again, I have to listen to that. But because I don’t know anyone that has been a surrogate or used one, I didn’t really think about that as an option for me,” Kardashian-West said on a previous episode of KUWTK.
Kardashian suffered from placenta accreta in both of her earlier pregnancies. The condition — which affects five percent of women giving birth — causes the placenta to grow into the wall of the womb. This growth prevents the placenta from easily detaching when a woman gives birth.
“My doctor had to stick his entire arm in me and detach the placenta with his hand, scraping it away from my uterus with his fingernails. How disgusting and painful!!! My mom was crying; she had never seen anything like this before. My delivery was fairly easy, but then going through that—it was the most painful experience of my life! They gave me a second epidural but we were racing against time, so I just had to deal,” Kardashian West previously wrote on her blog.
3. Kardashian’s Surrogate Is Being Paid $45,000
Back in June, TMZ reported that Kardashian and West had decided to hire a surrogate to carry their third child. The couple went through an agency, agreeing to pay $45,000 in 10, $4,500 monthly installments. They also paid a deposit to the agency to the tune of nearly $70,000. With that price tag came some rules for the surrogate. TMZ reported the following.
“The surrogate is required to refrain from smoking, drinking and drugs during the pregnancy. She also agrees to restrict sexual activities in the weeks leading up to the pregnancy, including foregoing sexual intercourse for 3 weeks following embryo implantation. The surrogate cannot go in hot tubs or saunas, cannot handle or change cat litter, apply hair dye, drink more than one caffeinated beverage per day or eat raw fish.”
4. Kardashian & West Have Not Confirmed the News
Kardashian West’s hope was that she would be able to keep this baby news a secret for as long as possible.
“The best thing is I could have a new baby and have no one know and live my life for a good year before we announce it,” Kardashian West told Kris Jenner on a previous episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
Neither Kardashian West nor her husband have confirmed the baby news.
5. There Are Unconfirmed Rumors That Kardashian & West Will Welcome Twins
Although there have been rumors about Kardashian and West expecting twins, that news has not been confirmed. If that was the case, the Wests would be required to pay their surrogate an additional $5,000 per child.