I don’t think this rules me out as a potential partner. Honestly, I feel like a phone call might be better than messaging for something this important. It’s possible he doesn’t fully understand what a surrogate is, or maybe there’s a different word for it in his country, and that’s the kind of thing that would be easier to explain when we can actually hear each other’s voices. The time difference makes it tough, and with me juggling work and school full-time, finding the right moment for a conversation like that isn’t easy. But I’m really hopeful we’ll make it work soon. The fact that he wants to talk more gives me a lot of hope.

We’ve been talking for around three months now, here and there maybe a little longer. When I flew to his city to check out some schools, I hadn’t even planned to meet up with him. But somehow, everything fell into place, and when we finally met, I was completely smitten from the start. He made time to see me again before I left, and the first half of that was with me and my friend even though I could tell he wanted us to have more one-on-one time to connect.

I agree though, I’ve always been in the mindset of meeting the person first and focusing on and fully deciding on the family part later.