Siouxland Magazine - Volume 1 Issue 4

only midway through the year and it has to last the whole
year. It was fun wearing the gowns and while we didn’t
have a swimsuit competition, we did do sports wear which
was very fun, and more my style.
When I started telling people I was running for Mrs. Iowa
International, I was nervous about their reactions. As an
attorney and professional woman, I was worried that
some people would see it as silly or unprofessional. But
I’ve been pleased with how supportive most people have
been. For every eye roll, there are 100 people who say,
“That’s really cool.”
Attorney.
My chosen mission, in my reign as Mrs. Iowa International,
is to promote the discussion on alternate ways to grow a
family which also requires resilience of two families. In my
role as an attorney and as a mom I am passionate about
working with people who have a tough time creating
families or bringing children into their family on their
own. To help these families, I work in adoption as well as
surrogacy.
There’s a lot of misconceptions about surrogacy. There
are a lot of sensationalized stories. So, as Mrs. Iowa
International and someone who works in this field,
I wanted to educate people on what surrogacy and
adoption really are and how life changing it is for families.
In surrogacy, I work with parents who have struggled for
years with infertility. A lot of them have tried to adopt, had
several adoptions that have failed, or are just never the
ones that are picked by the birth mother. That’s why they
have decided to go down this hard road of surrogacy.
In December 2018, I alongside with a business partner,
opened Dakota Surrogacy. What we do is we match
parents that are looking for a surrogate to carry either
their own embryo, a donated sperm, or a donated egg.
We work with a lot of different people; it’s sometimes
single parents, gay parents, or international parents.
I also work with surrogates. They are amazing people. A lot
of them have had their own struggle with infertility. They
went through it and came out the other side. God blessed
them with a child or children, so they just want to give that
to somebody else. To go through fertility treatments and
shots is an amazing gift to give.
It’s a year-plus commitment of these two families
coordinating and journeying together. They experience
heartbreaks and hardships alongside another family
that are so personal. Working with them, we’re a team
of people with the same end goal. All we want is for the
parents to come away with that child or children in their
arms. That’s all we want.
With adoption, it’s the same thing. The end goal is that
you’ll have a child to bring into a loving home.
Adoption is life-changing for the parents. These parents get
to bring a child into their home and spoil him/her rotten
at Christmas. That’s great, but more importantly that child
suddenly has stable support and love that he/she didn’t have
before.
It’s not easy. It’s such a complicated and personal journey. But
that’s what it’s all about.
Emilee and Aaron Gehling with their children.
Mother.
As a mother, it’s so amazing to play a small role in making that
happen for anyone that wants parenthood in their life.
The best part of my day is when I hear of a client whose child
has been born. I ask them to send me a picture. When I get the
picture, I just tear up—literally every time. It’s just amazing to
be a small part of that for a family. It’s the same with adoption.
When I get that final adoption decree for my client, it’s amazing
and I absolutely love it.
As a mom, attorney and Mrs. Iowa International, resilience to
me is learning to stop, slow down and enjoy the ride. To stop
myself and ask, “What’s it going to be like in a year from now?
What will this feel like then?” Life is fleeting and every hardship
passes. Sometimes it’s next week. Sometimes it’s more than a
year. Sometimes it’s a couple of years. But things can change.
Every moment that we go through will pass. Then a new
moment will arrive and it’ll be different. Once I look at what
that future will be, it calms me and allows me to put one foot
in front of the other and to keep moving forward.
Emilee Gehling, attorney and partner at Gehling Osborn Law
Firm and the current Mrs. Iowa International.
Photo credit (left page) Photography by KJ.
Photo credit (right page) Leah Welch Photography.
Siouxland Magazine | Resilience / 17