Khloe Kardashian talks about the challenges of surrogacy amid wanting more kids

During the Keeping Up With The Karsashians reunion, Khloe Kardashian opened up about her parenthood journey. Already mom to her three-year-old daughter, True, the reality star said she wants to add to her family. The journey to having more kids hasn’t been an easy one, however. Khloe says she’s been looking for a surrogate to carry her next child, like her older sister Kim did with her youngest two children.

But the process has presented plenty of challenges, which she didn’t expect. She spoke candidly with the reunion host, Andy Cohen, about her experience.

“It’s a very tedious, hard process,” Khloe said of finding the right surrogate. “And it was interesting because Kim went through the journey, and I swear it felt like she said, ‘I want to get pregnant,’ and two weeks later she found a surrogate.”

The pandemic has played a large role in her hurdles to have another baby, too.

“It’s a lot to do with COVID,” Khloe said. “I did have one and then it fell through. There’s so many tests they have to do and all these things. So I’m still on that journey. It’s just, I thought it would be a much easier process. And it’s not. It’s challenging for me.”

Surrogacy rates in the US have gone up and down quite a bit throughout the pandemic, but the overall number of women exploring gestational surrogacy has dramatically decreased, according to TIna Dettlaff, managing principal at the Surrogacy Experience, told FortuneFortune. Detlaff says the number has decreased more than 60% compared to previous years. The Surrogacy Experience currently has a 10-12 month waiting period for new, intended parents to even begin the surrogacy matching experience.

“Pre-pandemic, as an agency, I was quoting intended parents three to four months before I could match them with a surrogate, Detlaff e In 2020, during the pandemic, it was one to two months. Now it’s seven to eight months or longer.” She says typically, an uptick in surrogacy applications occurs every spring—but not this year.

Khloe, who has previously stated that if she carried another baby, it would be a high-risk pregnancy, talked about expanding her family through surrogacy earlier this year on Twitter.

Thank you so much! That’s so sweet of you to send me this nice tweet. Watching my sister go through her surrogacy j… https://t.co/45H9995NsM

— Khloé (@khloekardashian)
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“Watching my sister go through her surrogacy journey it seemed so seamless and easy. maybe it is for some people. My journey has been a lot more intense and grueling but still a huge blessing.”

Sending good vibes to Khloe and all the other moms-to-be out there who are experiencing similar frustrations. Be gentle with yourselves. ❤️