Love Makes A Family: Team Tarah On How LGBTQ+ Couples Can Build Families Through Surrogacy

With inflated balloons under each of their shirts, Sarah Garcia and Tanchellie Lobete play a pregnant couple.

On their fake balloon baby, they hold hands to form a heart. They dance with their big bellies on, the balloon almost sticking out of Tanchellie’s shirt. In the next scene, they come inside the house to greet their family with their newly pregnant stomachs and play their balloon-pregnant act for everyone – everyone in the scene is as jolly as they can be.

In their vlog, titled “BUNTIS NOT JUST 1 BUT 2 (CHALLENGE) + WE PICKED OUR DONOR” Sarah and Tanch’s journey on parenting and having a surrogate baby was perfectly captured in the early scenes. It’s Filipino resiliency and cheerfulness that shines. How an anxiety-packed experience can be mended to something light, into something we can all smile from. 

Love wins

For those who don’t know who Sarah and Tanch are, they are a lesbian vlogging duo who are more popularly known as Team Tarah. They were immortalized in an episode of Maalaala Mo Kaya that aired last October.

On their YouTube page, you see snippets of how their journey unfolds. From their early relationship to getting married in New York, their pregnancy, and the more recent videos on their parenting.

Their YouTube videos take on unbridled snippets of surrogacy and parenting.

In another vlog titled “WE ARE PREGNANT! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?” Tanch gasps (while still in her pajamas) “Oh my God, may faint line” as she looks at the pregnancy test with disbelief. Holding back her tears she yells out to Sarah “Love. Halika. Halika.”

Sarah, who has an inkling of what is to be presented to her in their house’s comfort room, grunts in controlled excitement. Controlled.  Because I can only imagine the other attempts they have tried conceiving to come up short. But this time, two lines on a pregnancy stick say they have successfully done so.

Upon seeing the two lines on the pregnancy test with her own eyes. Sarah hugs Tanch’s belly in excitement. “Wala 'to sa nakaraan,” Sarah reassures Tanch, and the viewers (by proxy) that this time it worked out for them. The couple then acknowledges the help of prenatal tools they used in helping them conceive. The scene ends in a candid cut of Sarah jumping up and down in joy. 

A touching message prompts on the screen on one of their vlogs. The message is one of humility and faith. Which we all can benefit from.

Surrogacy involves a third party – the surrogate mother/father– who plays a vital role in the process. Team Tarah originally planned on finding a sperm donor in the US but they happily ended up with Vince, who’s also a flight attendant.

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Secured surrogacy

For same-sex couples like Tanch and Sarah, surrogacy offers a chance to become parents and create their own families. The process of surrogacy involves a third party, the surrogate, who carries the pregnancy to term and gives birth to the child. In this case, the surrogate father, a close friend of Tanch and Sarah, offered to help them fulfill their dreams of becoming parents.

"I asked Father God for a Baby, and He gave me a family." Vince Hizon

The surrogate father, Vince Hizon, expressed his excitement and gratitude for being allowed to help create a family. In a post on social media, he wrote, "I asked Father God for a Baby, and He gave me a family. To our Future Baby, I want you to know, That all my life, I've waited for you. I promise to love and protect you with everything I have."

He expressed his joy at being able to help Tanch and Sarah start a family, despite having a partner of his own. This decision was not taken lightly, but rather out of a deep desire to help create a loving family.

Vince’s post also reveals the emotional journey involved in the process, from keeping the news of the pregnancy private to surprising loved ones with the news. Vince spoke about how he hoped his baby would inherit the best qualities of his parents, showing the love and care that he intends to give as a parent.

For couples like Team Tarah, it can offer a chance to create the family they have always dreamed of. As a friend and willing participant, the involvement of a surrogate father adds a unique dimension to this story. It shows how surrogacy can bring together people from different walks of life, all to create a loving family.

Surrogacy is more than just a means of creating a family; it is a journey of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and love.

For LGBTQ+ parents, surrogacy represents a unique opportunity to celebrate their identities and expand the definition of what it means to be a family. Yet, this journey is not without its challenges.

Surrogacy intersects with identity in complex ways, bringing up questions of biology, genetics, and belonging. However, it is in these intersections that the true beauty of surrogacy lies. It is through these challenges that LGBTQ+ parents and their children learn to redefine family, celebrate the diversity of the human experience, and embrace the limitless potential of the human heart.

Surrogacy is a journey that requires immense courage, vulnerability, and strength, but for those who embark on it, it is a journey that leads to a world of love, connection, and endless possibility. 

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Painting parenting

In their recent vlogs Team Tarah proudly gives followers a peek at their parenthood journey. In their video titled “LGBT FAMILY, MY SON MET OUR DAUGHTER” they introduce their new baby Talli (Natalie) to Davi. It was an immersive vlog on the life they live as parents together. The video also didn’t lack showing the love for the new siblinghood relationship between Davi and Talli. 

"Yung katawan mo pagod na pero yung utak mo talagang may superpower kung saan mo kukunin yung lakas na yon." Tanch

“May baby na tayo, love, may anak na tayo” Tanch tells Sara, still in disbelief. Their vlogs have a certain effect on the viewers. The viewers are left to be immersed and included in the family. It’s like being a ninang or a ninong of the family. You can’t help but root for this team.

Team Tarah is a proof on how love is a universal feeling. We learn that we don’t need to follow society and tradition to live a happy life and to be decent people at that. Love conquers all, and Team Tarah is a manifestation of that clichè.

“If there's negative, be positive, 'cause it will dissolve the negativity, okay?” Tanch whispers into their week-old baby Talli on their recent vlog. “Yung katawan mo pagod na pero yung utak mo talagang may superpower kung saan mo kukunin yung lakas na yon,” they say into the camera as if they are seeing the baby for the first time all the time.

 

 

The videos from Team Tarah serve as a beacon of inspiration not only for the LGBT+ community but for all parents, regardless of their background.

By watching their vlogs, one can witness the power of positivity, hard work, and faith. Despite societal pressures that often weigh heavily against the LGBT+ community, Team Tarah’s story act like the light at the end of the tunnel for those who share the same dream of having their own family.