Mother turning to donating eggs, surrogacy to make ends meet for family
By Monique John
Click here for updates on this story
ATLANTA (WUPA) — The start of 2026 has been a series of unfortunate events for Michelle Harris and her family.
In January, the mother of five lost her human resources position at Aldi as the company made massive cuts. Then her husband got a job offer in Atlanta, requiring their family to move from California. That job offer was rescinded right after they relocated.
She says her family has never seen such hard times.
“Never. Never. And we’ve been together for 10 years,” Harris said.
Her husband sprang into action, becoming an Uber driver, making deliveries, and working for a local gym. They’ve both been looking for jobs. However, because nothing has materialized, Harris is making plans to become an egg donor and a surrogate mother. She hopes to make as much as $80,000, just enough to dig her family out of a financial hole.
“It wasn’t even a second thought,” Harris said. “And pregnancy was not easy. And I am a woman over 40, so it really isn’t easy. But they were okay to accept people, I think until 45.”
She said she’s already submitted a request for the program to receive her medical records and see what happens afterward.
“By any means necessary,” she said.
Harris says she’s hardly keeping it together.
“My little kids go to sleep at 7:30, and I can barely make it down the stairs sometimes,” she said.
Harris is just one of many taking big steps to bring in income while being unable to find work, like donating plasma, visiting foodbanks, and using forms of rental assistance.
After reaching out for support in an online moms group, Harris has been overwhelmed by the response. Dozens of people have been messaging her, sharing their own stories of grappling with unemployment. Others have reached out with job leads and offered to share her and her husband’s resumes. She says she’s appreciated the solidarity she’s been forming with other people dealing with hardship.
“Even though I may break down and be overwhelmed, I can still turn to my faith and know that this will be a testimony for me to tell someone else years down the line,” Harris said.
She hopes to be actively donating eggs or serving as a surrogate by this summer.
Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.