This month we spoke with Roia Barrios, a surrogacy attorney and breast cancer survivor whose personal journey and cancer battle inspired her to create a boutique law firm that represents those using assisted reproductive technology (ART) on their fertility journey. In this blog, we will share her experience and answer the common question that many cancer survivors have “will I still be able to have a baby?”
When Roia was diagnosed with breast cancer, the news turned her world was upside down and shook the very foundation of her life. There was so much anxiety and nervousness that she asked her doctor, “am I ever going to sleep again?” She couldn’t imagine a day when cancer didn’t dominate her life. But, by the end of our conversation she said “but, here I am now, many years later, and I can’t even really remember when it happened. I know it happened; it was such a huge part of my life at the time. But I got through it, and so will others.”
Roia’s Journey Through Cancer
Roia began her story with “I was diagnosed in 2017, three days after my son turned one and I immediately began with aggressive treatment.” Unfortunately, treatment for breast cancer will often render a person infertile (either temporarily or permanently). Many women that she met during treatment had not yet started or completed their families and this is what motivated her to go into fertility law. Breast cancer is manageable for many people. She states, “it’s treatable and it doesn’t have to be the end; assisted reproductive technology can help you achieve your goals.”
My Steps With Breast Cancer
Developing a treatment plan with the consultation of trusted physicians and loved ones, can help make the road to recovery clearer. Roia’s road consisted of 16 weeks of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, thirty-five rounds of radiation, six additional months of chemotherapy, reconstructive surgery followed by a hysterectomy. “Once I began to take the steps, make the appointments and recognize what was in my control and what was out of my control was easier to manage treatment. Much like surrogacy, you can choose a surrogacy agency, a surrogate, a medical team and move forward but, the mere acknowledgement that there will be things outside of one’s control can help make the journey easier to navigate.”
Support for Infertility & Surrogacy
After my treatment, I realized that my legal career and personal cancer journey had prepared me to make a difference in a new field of law, fertility law. The challenges faced by cancer survivors dealing with infertility were often compounded by a lack of resources and support. I wanted to bridge that gap. As a result, I founded my own practice Roia Barrios Surrogacy Law Firm, exclusively dedicated to Assisted Reproductive Technology law. I now help intended parents understand and navigate the legal complexities surrounding surrogacy, egg/sperm donation, adoption and ART as they create their very own families. My goal is to protect the interests of clients and ensure that no one feels alone in their journey.
Special thanks to Alcea Surrogacy for helping to drive awareness of the real and authentic stories of so many intended parents that rely so heavily on surrogacy and ART.