Maria Menounos and YouTuber Rebecca Zamolo Get Candid About Feeling Connected to Their Babies in Surrogacy (Exclusive)

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Maria Menounos and YouTuber Rebecca Zamolo have a candid conversation about the struggles of surrogacy in an upcoming episode of the journalist's podcast "Heal Squad"
Menounos welcomed her baby daughter Athena via surrogacy, while Zamolo is expecting her second baby, her first via surrogacy
Menounos shared her honest thoughts about connecting with her daughter after welcoming her with a surrogateMaria Menounos and YouTuber Rebecca Zamolo are getting candid about surrogacy.
In an exclusive clip shared with PEOPLE ahead of the Wednesday, June 11 episode of Menounos' podcast Heal Squad, the actress, 47, spoke with the YouTuber in an honest conversation about the difficulties of surrogacy.
Menounos, who welcomed her daughter Athena in June 2023 via surrogacy, was asked by Zamolo, who is currently expecting her second baby but her first via surrogacy, if she had difficulty connecting to her daughter after she was born.
"So my question is, was it hard for you to feel a connection? Because for me, the first pregnancy, I felt every kick, every movement. I felt prepared, not prepared but like it had been nine months in the making," Zamolo begins.
"I was nesting, I was feeling like this human was coming," she continues. "But in this one with surrogacy, I forget what week we're on, and all of a sudden, the baby's coming. I worry that I'm not going to feel the connection. How did that feel, the day you had her?'
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In a lengthy response, Menounos recounts how she felt just before welcoming her daughter, noting that things might be different for her because she wasn't able to carry a pregnancy.
"But I was really lucky. Kim Kardashian really helped me on this journey because it's really scary to give up control to do all of this, to have somebody else carrying your child," Menounos said. "And she was so chill about everything that she made me more chill about everything because I saw that it worked."
She went on to say that she did things like record her voice for her surrogate to play to her belly, in the hopes that her daughter would become familiar with her voice.
"And then, yeah it's weird. Time just flies and you're like, 'Okay, we're getting close.' And then when it was time to get close, they lived in Wisconsin," explained Menounos. "So we had to go to Wisconsin and we were on baby watch for like three weeks because we thought she was coming early and then she just really enjoyed the womb and stayed a little longer."
"And then when it came to the day, I'll never forget. My husband woke me up and he's like, 'It's time.' And I'm like, 'Wait. What?' " Menounos remembered. "You know when you wake up from the dead and you're just like, 'I don't even know where I am and now you're telling me we're having a baby?' I was just literally spinning in a circle, didn't even know what to do or where to go."
She explained that even though she's been preparing for so long to welcome her daughter, when the actual day came, it almost didn't feel real. When her daughter was born, she was still in her embryonic sac, which Menounos says is "very, very rare."
"I watched her come out. They peeled it off of her. And so they say that those babies have a vision that nobody has. They see things no one can see. It's really special," she says. "And so I grabbed her, with a little towel, with a little blanket thingy, and I had her on my chest instantly. And it was unbelievable. And I just kept kissing her and telling her I loved her, and it was so. I mean, it was like part shocking, part joy, part just like. I don't know how to explain it."
After doing skin-to-skin and taking her daughter out in the sun for the first time, Menounos let her surrogate carry her for a minute.
"But it was really special, and I don't think I could be more connected to her. But I also don't know any better," says Menounos. "So I have to leave space for the fact that you have had the other experience. And I know Khloé Kardashian's talked about it and said she didn't feel it. Did you hear that? So I'm sure that scared you.'
'Yeah, you know there's not a lot of people that talk about the surrogacy, so definitely,' Zamolo responds.
Menounos continued to say that her best piece of advice is to just focus on feeling grateful rather than spiraling about any fears you might have.
"So I mean, the best thing I could say is just try to release any of those fears because ... and if you can just stay in gratitude, they say that fear and gratitude can't live in the same space," Menounos explained. "So if just stay in gratitude — you're having a baby. It's a miracle. And just stay focused on that."
"Imagine how good that feels, whereas the fears of 'Am I going to be connected?' Now you're also potentially manifesting more of that because you're staying in that vibration," she continued. "So just stay in this vibration as much as you can because it's your son. Or your daughter, whatever it is, I don't know. It's your baby. And you're going to foster that connection and you're going to be close no matter what. So. That's my thought.'
Read the original article on People