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May 20 2009 11:00 AM ET
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Sarah Jessica Parker Speaks Out About Surrogate

Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic

Sarah Jessica Parker says the surrogate mom carrying the actress’ twins is a strong woman who made “an incredibly generous and gracious choice.” But Sarah Jessica now worries that this strength is being put to too much of a test from the media attention following the announcement that the Sex and the City star and husband Matthew Broderick are expecting twin girls in July.

“On a daily basis, on an hourly basis, I am greatly concerned for her health and safety and the safe delivery of our children,” Sarah Jessica, 44, tells Access Hollywood in an interview that aired Tuesday. “I am incredibly outraged by the sort of extraordinary and unprecedented invasion of her privacy. She’s [okay] today, but she’s had a bad week in the very recent past… You understand what stress, worry and fear and being scared can do. She’s quite far along in this pregnancy and she’s carrying two children…. There’s simply no excuse for doing this to somebody. It’s not acceptable.”

The actress alleges that the surrogate, along with her friends and family, have been subjected to threats and harassment by the tabloid media. “Obviously there are those that don’t care about her, or her health, or safety, or my children’s health and safety, and that they should go to term and not go into an early labor and, God forbid, suffer all the things that can happen — that is a real possibility,” she says. “Every single allegation that I know has been suggested about her is absolutely slander and libel … it’s really incredibly upsetting to think of her so far away and me not being able to do something, beyond what I’m legally allowed to do.”

All this comes at what should be one of the happiest times in the lives of the couple, who turned to a surrogate out of necessity. “We have been trying to expand our family for a number of years and we actually have explored a variety of ways of doing so,” Sarah Jessica reveals. “I couldn’t pretend otherwise. It would have been odd to have made this choice if I was able to have had successful pregnancies since my son’s birth.”

The couple have also explained some of the surrogacy process to James Wilkie, 6 ½. “I’ve been pretty candid with him,” she explains. “I kind of chartered my own course with him because we wanted to keep this quiet and so I wanted to be very careful about telling him so he wasn’t burdened with a secret. On the other hand, I wanted him to have time to adjust to the idea of sharing his mama and his papa. My son is of an age now where he really will be helpful. He’s really excited. He’s very much ready to be an older brother. I think it gives him a great sense of pride. It’s wonderful and I just hope for their safe arrival.”

The actress has high praise for the surrogate. “I’m really comfortable with her. She’s made a really big choice to be part of our lives and I think she’s an honorable person,” says Sarah Jessica. “You can’t express enough how much you think about decisions like this … She’s strong, bright, independent, thoughtful, caring, gracious and generous.”

Source: Access Hollywood

– Mike Fleeman

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Comments (41) + Add a comment

That is just awful that the surrogate mother is being harrassed like that..why would anyone do that?

- Y on

congrats to jessica, matthew, and the surrogate. and kudos to jessica for being proud of her new babies and the surrogate, instead of being ashamed of needing help, as are many celebrity mothers! she is an inspiration to other women going through the same issues.

- M on

Why would people do this? what do they get out of harassing this woman? I feel bad that SJP feels she has to explain herself to the media she doesn’t need to validate why she needs a surrogate. People do this everyday and it isn’t questioned, what because she’s a celebrity she’s perfect and shouldn’t have fertility problems? I hope the pregnancy is uneventful and they’re all left alone, it’s stressful enough without this harassment.

- stevie on

Well then my dear you should have kept the impending arrival of your new babies by surrogate a secret. Wasn’t it you who told the world about this a few weeks ago. It didn’t seem like anyone knew about it until then.

- Darya on

Y, I agree. How awful. I really, really hope for a safe and happy delivery for these baby girls. I have been happy for her from the begining and agree that the surrogate is extremely honorable. My prayers are with this family!

- Lis on

Darya what actually happened was star magazine called them for comment and told them they were breaking the news in their issue that week. Sarah and Matthew then decided to do a statement themselves before the magazine came out. There is no doubt they were trying to keep this private because they were quiet until April and the babies are due in July. If they wanted it out they would have announced before the third trimester. I think Sarah is talking about star in this interview because they have been in Ohio stalking this woman since they first sniffed out the news. It’s pathetic.

- Brandi on

Darya,

She was forced into releasing the information. The tabloids were about to leak the story, and the family decided to get ahead of it. Don’t assume that SJP was ‘looking for attention’ particularly with such a sensitive issue. PS – it would be a little difficult to announce you’re a instantly new mother of twins in a few months without some sort of explanation to the public, don’t you think?

- Danielle on

How in the world did they even find out who this woman was? If this was yet another incident of a medical leak it’s ridiculous. This is not okay anymore.

- Ryo on

Does anyone else get the impression that SJP is saying here that she’s suffered several miscarriages. I say that purely because rather than saying she couldn’t get pregnant she says she couldn’t have a “successful” pregnancy after James Wilkie. Congrats to both of them on the impending birth of their babies.

- KIA on

I don’t care if she is a celebrity, it is NOT ok to harass a pregnant women ever!

- Angi on

So what if Star printed the story? They could have still said no comment. Regardless these tabloids go too far to get the so-called scoop, they should leave the surrogate alone. She does not need any stress especially while carrying twins. Good luck to everyone involved.

- Chris on

The tabloids really have been going too far in the last few years; stalking Angelina Jolie while she was cleaing out her mother’s apartment after her death, yanking open the door of Heidi Klum’s car and taking pictures of her terrified baby, hitting Victoria Beckam’s child on the head, checking Brooke Sheilds mother out of her retirement home, and now this. Why aren’t there stricter laws against behavior like this that truly crosses a line? It’s ridiculous.

- Rebecca on

How would/could any harass/threat a pregnant woman?? That is not cool at all. I don’t care what money or so forth is involved. I feel bad for SJP, her family,friends and of course the surrogate. Blessing for a safe and healthy delivery.

- Isabell on

It appears someone close to the surrogate mother, either a friend, relative or someone in her doctor’s office, must have been the one to spill the news to the press. Also, if it’s true they were about to be outed by Star, I guess SJP/MB weren’t going to announce anything until after the birth of the babies, which is their right.

- Alice on

Do people have no shame anymore?? It is so so important to carry twins (or any baby for that matter) as far along as possible, and here are people going out of their way to stress this woman out, while she’s carrying twins no less. Sarah and Matthew had every right to announce the pregnancy (though they obviously kept it to themselves for as long as possible) without having to worry about their daughters’ (and their surrogate’s) safety. Just because they’re celebrities doesn’t give the paparazzi the right to endanger their kids.

- alice jane on

Wow, this makes me like her even more. She sounds like a knight defending her lady or something like that. It’s a shame that the media has made life hell for the surrogate. Tsk tsk.

- Meream on

congrats to her,but I would deny it. who’s business is it anyway?she owes no one an explanation. just because she’s a celebrity doesn’t mean she has to share everything.along with being an actress,she still is human and has a person life that should be kept just that- Personal. it just all seems so invasive to me.

I remember being pregnant,and didn’t want to tell a soul,due to the fear of something going wrong. that’s just me though. I can’t begin to imagine how some of these celebrities feel.

- dawn on

SJP can’t catch a break, first the drama with the surrogate and now some people giving her hell for commenting. I would imagine it would have been worse with tabloids hounding the woman trying to prove someone she was their surrogate. The people on here mad because she commented would be mad when the babies were here and then they’d want to know why she didn’t shout it from the rooftops someone would be saying she was embarassed or ashamed of using a surrogate or worse saying something was wrong with her children. Never thinking, it’s just not any of our damn business.

- momto3 on

I agree with you totally momto3….as much as I like to come to these sites, it does seem like celebrities can’t win for losing. When Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes had Suri, they kept her out of the public eye…and so people started rumors that something was wrong with the baby, and thats why they weren’t showing her. You see Jennifer Garner out walking with her girls, and people are accusing her of “pimping out” her children. So, it’s like: keep them hidden=you’re ashamed of them, take them out=you’re just wanting attention. How sad.

- CTBmom on

It’s completely wrong for anyone to track down this surrogate mother. She did not ask for any of this and she’s trying to do a good deed. I really like SJP and MB and I wish them, James and the babies well. The media needs to really control themselves because we don’t really care about stories that much esp. if it’s endangering the lives of others.

- JMO on

I really hope people give them their privacy.

On a different note- I love the descriptive “bright”. I don’t know why it just sounds better than “smart” or “intelligent”. I guess it sounds like a combination of smart and cheerful. lol

- txgal on

KIA: It is funny that you said that because I thought the exact same thing. I could be way off, and if she has had miscarriages it is NOBODY’S business. I just thought her phrasing was interesting there too.
I wish them all the best with this pregnancy. I hope that people will back off for the health of babies.

- Emily on

After hearing time and time again, the lengths that these magazines and the people they employ, will go to, to get “the story or the picture”, I have crossed Star off my list of magazines to buy. Maybe if they are hit where it hurts, they may try a different approach to bringing us stories of our favorite stars and their families. I know it sounds a little crazy, but it may work….

- Diane on

I have never once thought – oh, i wander who the surrogate is, what does she look like or what is she like. I think they need to leave these people alone and YES– There is NO excuse for harassing a pregnant woman. Disgusting!

- tara on

how would anybody know who this woman is? was her name publicly announced?

- momto3 on

people need to lay off! im just curious why do they have a surogate

- anna on

It says why in the article…..she wasn’t able to carry pregnancies successfully after James’ birth.

- Brandi on

I feel for all their families through this.
Reporters, magazine & paparazzi will continue to harass people as long as their as no rules and consequences for their actions.
Make rules and punishment and maybe they will stop doing it.
Also people who leak the stories, I am so sure it is either people who are close to the famalies who want to make money or the dr’s offices, which they should all be disgusted with themselves.
Also, did you hear people whining about that this woman is bi-sexual, tattooed and into heavy metal, oh heaven forbid this must mean she would make a horrible surrogate and one day parent..(insert sarcasm here)

- shan on

momto3, i’m guessing a family member of the surrogate’s or someone at the hospital spilled the beans. it’s disgusting that anyone is bothering her.

- MZ on

Ricky Martin had his twins with a surrogate mom and the media didn’t know. How the tabloids knows about SJP?

- Marisol on

i am happy for sarah, matthew and james. harassment is wrong period. it doesn’t matter if it they a pregnant woman or not.

- Monica on

“it would be a little difficult to announce you’re a instantly new mother of twins in a few months without some sort of explanation to the public, don’t you think?”

Not really . . . all they would have had to say was that they had just become parents to twins through a surrogate. Doesn’t sound difficult to me.

- plS on

Tara, I agree. I have no interest in knowing anything about her either. I wouldn’t pay to read about her in a magazine.

- plS on

Hi Anna,
Once a woman reaches 44 she has only 1.6% chance of getting pregnant each month with a 54% miscarriage rate. So I’d say that’s why she used a surrogate!

- sadie on

Yeah, she pretty much just said she had miscarraiges over the past 6 years since they had their son, so they chose a surrogate as an option. A lot of people are giving her/the family slack over it becaue of all of the rumors of her husband cheating with younger women, and people are saying “having the babies is her way of trying to keep things together”

As long as the babies are happy, and healthy, thats all that matters! I wonder what they will name them? And they are lucky girls, getting all of thoses gorgeous dresses/shoes from SATC.

- Mia on

I for one think this was a very brave interview to give. She has every right to be outraged, and it is incredibly lovely to see her first order of concern be of the health and well-being of the surrogate mother… not of her own privacy. She’s clearly annoyed about her privacy being breached, but she’s furious that reporters are harassing the surrogate.
SJP’s priorities are in the right place. Whatever circumstances lead to the information being leaked are really too bad… but hopefully celebs like SJP and Brooke Shields will begin to lead a new crusade against the tabloid papers – it’s just wrong how invasive they are getting. It’s getting unsafe and completely out of control.

- Mrs. R. on

Rebecca- I agree. When I heard about what Star did to Brooke Shield’s mother, I wanted to vomit. The fact that anyone, tabloid or not, would take advantage of an elderly woman suffering from memory loss (I don’t remember reading anywhere that it is Alzheimer’s specifically, and there is at least one other type of dementia, called Lewy-Body Diease, so I don’t want to make any assumptions) makes me SICK!!!! I sincerely hope that Brooke takes legal action against Star! On Pittwatch, another blog I frequent, someone pointed out a few weeks ago that “Star” is “Rats” spelled backward.

That is exactly what the people at Star are: rats!

- CelebBabyLover on

I wonder if this is a gestational or a traditional surrogate? Was it IVF? It sounds like an adoption almost, the way SJP talks about the babies and the mother, like saying it’s “an incredibly generous and gracious choice.” by the mother…I just wonder if these babies are genetically connected to SJP an MB..it doesn’t matter and I have no right to know…just curious….wish them all the best! Twins don’t have to be born via c-section!! I know a beautiful set of twin that were born safely at home in the water!! Blessings for a beautiful eneventful pregnancy and birth!

- mamasisterlover on

mamasisterlover-having another woman carry your child/children because you can not IS an “incredibly generous and gracious choice” whether they are yours biologically or not. The surrogate mother has to go through the whole pregnancy: morning sickness, mood swings, gestational weight gain, possible complications, etc. That’s pretty generous considering that she then has to hand off the life/lives she’s cared for the majority of a year to someone else to raise and hope that they do a good job caring and protecting the child/children that she will, in all probability, never see again. Kudos to the strength of that woman.

- thefrenchchick on

I just wanted to extend my best wishes to Sarah Jessica and her family. I love her in Sex and the City and I really hope all goes well for her. That whole family deserve to be left in peace, and that extends to the surrogate mother. I truly hope it all goes well for them.

- swisschick on

I am so sorry that she even needs to do this. How very sad that they all have to go through this because people think they have a right to celebrity’s personal business. We really need stricter laws about paparazzi’s access to celebrities. This is unacceptable.

- Carrie Jo on

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