Hi, I’m Corinne! I’m a wife to an incredibly supportive husband and partner, and a mom to three kids, two of whom I’m about to start calling adults, whether they like it or not! I have a bachelor’s degree in marketing and, somehow, a small collection of associate degrees… seven, if anyone’s counting. I’ve also been running my own virtual assistant business since 2020, which keeps me happily busy building systems, solving problems, and helping other people stay organized. At home, you’ll usually find me hanging out with our two dogs, Butter and Magnus, working on a bookbinding project, or customizing yet another mechanical keyboard, even though I already have about twelve and still find myself browsing for more. I’m a big fan of scary movies and classic comedies like Army of Darkness, The Naked Gun, Ace Ventura, and The Princess Bride. I’m a little witchy, happiest wandering farmers markets for fresh produce, eating really good bread, paddleboarding, remodeling some corner of the house, or heading to an EDM concert… though honestly, I’ll take almost any live music I can get!

My path into surrogacy started long before it became my work! Years ago, when a close cousin of mine was diagnosed with Lupus. Her mind went immediately to how this new diagnosis would impact her fertility and ability to carry a pregnancy. As soon as I heard of her diagnosis, I knew that I would offer to carry for her if she ultimately couldn’t; absolutely without hesitation. Thankfully, she was able to carry her first child safely, but her initial fear stuck with me. I started to think about the bigger picture and how lucky I was to conceive and carry my own two children. I knew so many people who struggled for years with infertility, and I wanted to help in a big way. It was in that moment of realization that changed the course of my life, and it opened my eyes to the world of gestational surrogacy.

I went on to complete three surrogacy journeys, and somewhere along the way, I fell hard for this community. The relationships with intended parents, the vulnerability of a hopeful mother coming to terms with the fact that she can’t carry her own pregnancy, and the incredible faith these parents place in the process are something you don’t fully understand until you see it up close. Intended parents are trusting a complete stranger on the other side of the planet to safely carry their precious embryo… meanwhile, I can’t even fully trust my teenager to move the washed laundry to the dryer when I ask. It’s honestly wild when you think about it! I loved it so much after my first journey that eventually I decided I didn’t want to step away from it. I joined a surrogacy agency and began working as both a surrogate and intended parent coordinator, helping guide other families and surrogates through the same journey that had meant so much to me.

I spent ten beautiful years working as a coordinator, but the joy and pride I had felt up to that point came crashing down around me over Thanksgiving in 2025. The agency owner I worked for pulled the rug out from under surrogates, intended parents, and the entire staff, myself included, and abruptly shut the doors. Hundreds of families’ escrow funds disappeared overnight. Surrogates were left with unpaid medical bills and no promise of future compensation. Intended parents were left financially devastated. And the staff was suddenly without income just weeks before Christmas. I was absolutely gutted. For a while, I was at a complete loss for words. In all my years in the field, I had heard stories about agencies doing things like this, but never in a million years did I think it would become my reality. I remember thinking… this can’t actually be happening. I’m not living in some kind of Lifetime movie, right? RIGHT??

Almost immediately, my once peaceful and predictable life turned into chaos. FBI conference calls. Nationwide news interviews. Angry calls from intended parents desperate for answers I didn’t have. Terrified surrogates texting me, unsure of what would happen next. That first week, after MANY necessary cries, I went straight into triage mode. What else was there to do? I had no more tears, and now I was angry. I pulled my trusted team together, rebuilt systems, reached out to industry partners, and started creating real solutions for the families who had just been blindsided. Walking away or staying quiet never crossed my mind. In fact, several attorneys reached out to the former staff and me and strongly advised us to keep our heads down and say nothing. First of all, don’t tell me what to do, and secondly, the challenge was accepted that this Italian Scorpio would need to get louder while people would still listen. I needed a resolution, and I needed justice for everyone impacted. I had nothing to hide, no one to protect, and I was fully committed to seeing this through to a conviction, no matter how long it took. I had nothing but time now.

What came out of that chaos was something none of us ever expected (it certainly wasn’t on my bingo card either). In the middle of the confusion and heartbreak, a small group of us kept showing up for the same reason. We couldn’t walk away from the families and surrogates who were suddenly left without support, and we were so traumatized by what had happened that it was out of the question for us to put our trust in another agency as employees. Our weekly mental health check-in video calls turned into late-night strategy sessions. Text messages turned into plans. And slowly, what started as triage began to look like something more permanent. We were collectively experiencing something we hadn’t felt in some time…hope.

That’s when Built Together Surrogacy began to take shape. Not as a business plan or a side gig idea, but as a response to an event that never should have happened. Three women from different parts of the country, with different backgrounds and experiences, found ourselves completely aligned in one unified belief that surrogacy should never leave people feeling abandoned or unprotected, and intended parents, surrogates, and staff deserve better than what is out there. I watched people who didn’t have to stay continue to show up anyway. That selfless commitment is why we now exist, and I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve built…together!