The Surrogates was conceived in 1980 after viewing a television interview in which a woman was considering hiring a Surrogate Mother. What caught my interest was that she was adamant about the physical and intelligence specifications she required. My interest was piqued and I wondered what if the child didn’t meet her selection criteria? What were some of the possible future effects on a child being born from a surrogate mother? After thinking about the subject I began considering various scenarios which could complicate the hiring of a Surrogate Mother for potential parents. Based on the interview it wasn’t clear whether or not the interviewee intended to use her own eggs; or utilize a sperm donor. More importantly, I wondered if she’d given thought to the potential pros and cons. Over the next thirty years, life presented many challenges: a demanding career; returning to school to attain a Master’s Degree; and kidney cancer. Throughout the years, intermittently I wrote, revised and edited the book and finally in 2010 after retirement I was able to finish the book and get it published.
My desire in writing the book was to encourage a non-judgmental dialogue about the subject of surrogate parenting. I don’t think it’s an issue of good and bad, but, because it involves the lives of children careful consideration must be exercised; it is becoming an increasingly popular child-bearing alternative.
In The Surrogates, the reader gets to view the motives of three women who because of their personal crisis situations, decided to become Surrogate Mothers. Each of he prospective adoptive parents wanted a child of their own and in spite of choosing a surrogate were hell-bent on their children knowing that they were the birth parents. Lastly, the founders of the lake Shore Parenting Group which was a surrogate business formed the company with high ethical and lofty goals. However, two of the founders committed the most despicable and unlawful actions against a Surrogate. Ultimately, the two founders were murdered and the surrogates, adopted parents and adult children all having strong motives to commit the murders become involved in an in-depth and thorough investigation to find the murderer.
My name is Consuella Harris and I am the Author of The Surrogates, published in June 2014 by Solstice Publishing Company. After more than thirty years I worked in the public sector where I retired in 2010. I obtained a Master’s Degree in Human Services from Lincoln University. I reside in a small city eight miles outside of Washington, D. C. in Maryland. I am the mother of one daughter, grandmother of five and great-grandmother of three children. Writing has been an ongoing passion of mine, in 1976 I wrote a play for the Prince George’s County Maryland Bicentennial celebration, which was produced by the County Community College Reader’s Theater. In addition, I’ve written two plays, a comedy based on the Amos n’ Andy television show and a play entitled The Birth of the A.M.E. Church. For those two plays I wrote lyrics, currently the plays haven’t been produced. I am currently working on another book entitled Two Women. I am an avid reader of mysteries, spiritual and biographical books. My constant companion is a Llasa Poo dog named Princess. I love Motown music, bowling, chess and vacationing in the Caribbean Islands.
The Surrogates 