Chrissy Teigen has opened up on why she wants a lifelong relationship with her surrogate, Alexandra.
The American model and her husband, singer John Legend went from parenting Luna and Miles to expanding their family by welcoming two more children. Teigen gave birth to daughter Esti in January. Then, in June, the couple welcomed son Wren via a surrogate.
In a new interview with People, Teigen said she plans to make sure that Alexandra continues to be a part of her life and the lives of her children.
According to her, it’s not something that’s necessarily common, but she loves that everyone involved with her surrogacy journey and her family is bonding, connecting, and genuinely happy to be together.
“We talk all the time, constantly on a nice little text exchange. She sees all my Instagram Stories and I try to send her little pictures behind the scenes,” Teigen said of her friendship with Alexandra. “I told her at the beginning of this journey, I wanted someone who would be there for birthday parties and throughout life.”
“I wanted to meet her children and I wanted my children to be friends with her children,” Teigen added. “And they really genuinely are, which has been a really beautiful thing to see.”
Teigen spoke about how “different” the arrangement felt when she compared it to how other families keep up with their surrogates. While she notes that every family is different and has their reasons for maintaining or stopping contact, she loves how things have worked out.
“It’s been a fantastic atmosphere. She knew early on, going into this, that I kind of wanted something that’s maybe a little different from what other parents do. I understand the reason they do it, too. Everyone has their reasons for liking or doing things the way they do.”
“But for me, I think the way I operate with anybody in our house, whether it’s nannies or my mother living with us, or my friends that are in the house or security or whatever, I want an atmosphere where everybody feels really comfortable in our home and that extended to her,” Teigen explained.
“I wanted her to feel like she could take off her shoes and kick up her feet on our couch. We could watch TV together and my daughter could play with her daughter up in her room. It felt like she could come over anytime, and I feel like we do still have that relationship. It’s been really wonderful.”
Teigen also compared having Alexandra around to having her own mother in the house to help with the children and to just spend quality time together. The model and entrepreneur isn’t joking when she says it takes a village — and Alexandra is a welcome addition to the family’s village.
“It felt very much like a village. It felt very much like the way people in my mother’s family raised their children when they were literally living in the villages of Thailand,” Teigen said. “It just feels like such good camaraderie around each other and warmth and love.”
