What does it feel like to become a parent through surrogacy? What motivates someone to serve as a surrogate parent? How can this highly-emotional journey be best navigated?
George Ryon is the founder of Rainbow Life, a surrogacy agency based in New York State. He joins Second Mountain Comms' Ben Veal as the special guest for episode four of the #GoodJourneysPod, the new podcast series that explores the lives of inspired people and their inspiring stories, to share his surrogacy journey and passion for helping others.
With a Bachelors and a Masters Degree in primary education, George was a teacher for many years, working with children in various settings. Yet his main desire in life was always to become a parent, which he finally achieved through surrogacy in Canada.
When the COVID-19 pandemic took over our world, George felt the time was right for him to found a business focused on the areas of surrogacy and third party reproduction. The idea for his purpose-driven business emerged during the pandemic, and now, George is focused on sharing his love of family, passion for making others’ lives better, and the joy of receiving the gift of surrogacy.
Episode 4 of the Good Journeys with Second Mountain podcast is out now.
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THE PURPOSE BEHIND RAINBOW LIFE
"I'm a single parent by choice"
George's journey into parenthood was a long and winding one, as he explains on the show. Initially exploring international and domestic adoption, George faced resistance and a number of obstacles as a single parent, but would ultimately become a parent in his fifties to his son through surrogacy. His experience ignited the idea for what would ultimately become Rainbow Life, launched in the midst of the pandemic following changes to the New York legal system.
The business' purpose is clear: "We help educate people about surrogacy; it's quite a complex procedure so it does need guidance and support. I really love educating people on surrogacy, especially in New York: compensated surrogacy wasn't legal for some time, so there is a lot of education still to be done in my state."
George talks candidly about his experiences about starting a business with a toddler during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how that period leant itself well to "self-reflection."
setting up a surrogacy agency
"My focus is to stay small"
Speaking openly and passionately about his journey to running his own surrogacy agency, George describes the screening and education process involved, and the factors to consider before serving as a surrogate or becoming a parent through surrogacy. It's clearly a highly personal endeavour for George; less his business and more his purpose.
"I'm a small business, a family-run business, a family-focused business; I am not a business-focused business ... my focus is stay small, to stay personable and to give that true one-on-one support. If I don't know everyone by name and by likes and personalities, then I have grown too much. I don't have an aspiration for Rainbow Life to grow large."
For George, success is simple: "Lots of babies! I can't wait for the time when I have a parent hold their child that they never thought they'd have before."
Episode four of the Good Journeys with Second Mountain podcast is out now.
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