Support Systems - On the Internet
There are nowhere near as many sites offering surrogacy-related chatting available. There is one available at Fertile Thoughts. This site also allows users to schedule a time for an organized chat in any of their chat rooms. SurroMoms Online has a chat room which has been down for maintenance for a while (they're trying to find a better program to prevent abusive users from being able to participate).
If you're having trouble finding people to talk to in real time about surrogacy through a chat program, an instant messenging program may be perfect for you. The largest two are ICQ and America Online's Instant Messenger (AIM), though Yahoo! and MSN also have popular programs. You have to download and install these programs on your computer (all of the above are free), which is very easy, then add people to your list of contacts (or "buddies" or "friends," etc.). Many people list their contact info in emails or on message boards. You can also post your info and ask others to add you. Once you have a list of contacts, you just click and type and can be conversing back and forth in no time.
Finally, there are email lists. I hold a special fondness for them, as an email list was my first link to the surrogacy world - and a wonderful way to get answers to a myriad of questions. There are lots of email lists in existence, some dealing with anything related to surrogacy (and in some cases egg or sperm donation as well), some with a specific focus (lists for parents via surrogacy, gestational surrogates, or those in a specific geographic area, for example). You can join as many lists as you feel your email program can handle.
Many surrogacy sites run email lists, including TASC and SMO, run email lists. Yahoo! Groups (formerly Egroups.com and Onelist.com) is a host to thousands of email lists. Use their search function to find several lists related to surrogacy. Once you find a list or a few that sounds like a good fit, you can subscribe and start hearing from others involved in surrogacy as well.
With all of these forms of online communication, you will be able to find others with a common (and fairly unique) bond. Armed with these support sites, you can most likely find someone who's survived any challenge you find
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