Elizabeth Banks is an American actress, producer, and director. She is known for her roles in such films as Betty Brant in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films (2002–07), Seabiscuit (2003), The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Invincible (2006), Definitely, Maybe (2008), W. (2008), Role Models (2008), The Uninvited (2009), The Next Three Days (2010), People Like Us (2012), Man on a Ledge (2012), Pitch Perfect (2012), Movie 43 (2013), The Lego Movie (2014), and The Hunger Games film series (2012–15). Wikipedia
The actress and her husband Max Handelman have two children, three-year-old Felix and two-year-old Magnus, who were born via the same surrogate.
Elizabeth speaks openly about not giving birth herself, hoping that it will be inspiring to others in her position. She hopes to help other women by speaking about surrogacy.
"When I think about my dreams, I think of my children," she told Zeit Online. "I think about their future, not my own. Both of my children were born via surrogate. I speak about it because I believe it will help women who have trouble falling pregnant. They are not alone. And there are solutions. I also speak about it because it's a political issue: it's about having the freedom to choose. When you don't let women plan their lives or their families, their lives are no longer their own."
Elizabeth, 40, comes from a big family. Her mother and father have six and seven siblings respectively, while she grew up with three. It turned her into a family person and inspires her to make her children's childhoods as fulfilling as possible. Yahoo Entertainment
The actress and producer is a wonderful spokesperson for surrogacy because in this time of protests and bans on surrogacy in many countries, it is so necessary for someone of her stature to come forward and express the amazingly positive aspects of surrogacy. And to put it into the framework of women being able to make choices about having children and having a family places the focus where it should be: freedom to choose.
Moreover, surrogates in the right circumstances, such as surrogacy in the U.S., have the freedom to choose. They can choose whether or not to become surrogates. They can choose where to receive medical treatment and they can choose what their compensation terms will be.
Of course, people will point to Elizabeth Banks as someone with money who can achieve this dream of having a baby by surrogacy because she can afford it. But actually, there are many programs and a good deal of assistance for intended parents of lesser means. There are loan programs, doctors, and lawyers who work on sliding scales, and programs such as GPAP that offer financial assistance to intended parents.
For anyone wishing to have children and who need a surrogate, look at fertility clinics that offer surrogacy programs and also at surrogacy agencies such as Worldwide Surrogacy that will offer competent advice and guidance in having your children through surrogacy.
