Jordana Brewster is opening up about her road to motherhood.
The Fast X actress—who welcomed sons Julian, 12, and Rowan, 10, via surrogate with ex-husband Andrew Form—shared she had trouble adjusting to motherhood after making the difficult choice not to carry her children herself.
“I felt like I had a dirty little secret,” Brewster wrote in a personal essay for The Cut titled “Making Peace With My Surrogacy” published June 22. “I hadn’t earned my child.”
Sharing that she felt like an “impostor” amongst other mothers, The Pirate King actress detailed how after seeing the sonogram for her first baby while accompanying her surrogate to a doctor’s appointment, she suddenly felt the weight of her decision.
“I’m driving south, I realized on the ride back, and my child is heading north to a home I don’t know, hearing sounds I can’t recognize, getting used to routines foreign to me,” she wrote. “I sobbed and sobbed in my hotel room until I almost vomited. I wanted to vomit, actually, because at least that would be real.”
“Maybe I just wanted to punish myself for not doing what any self-respecting woman can do: carry her own child,” she added. “Pregnancy and childbirth were rites of passage, and I was grieving an experience I hadn’t known I even wanted in the first place.”
Indeed, Brewster—who filed for divorce from Form in 2020 before marrying husband Mason Morfit in 2022—shared her decision to welcome both her boys via surrogate “wasn’t entirely mine,” revealing she began to suffer from seizures when she was 28.
Sharing she was diagnosed with a cavernous malformation (CVM), which she described as “an abnormal cluster of tightly packed, thin-walled blood vessels, in the language area of my brain,” Brewster was warned against the complications the condition presented for pregnancy.
“I checked in with my doctor as a precaution. What he told me surprised me: He thought the increased blood flow caused by pregnancy would make it dangerous for myself and the baby,” she explained. “He suggested surgery, but after a functional MRI showed that the placement of the CVM made it hard to reach and could put my ability to speak and read at risk, I decided against it. I chose gestational surrogacy instead.”
But the 46-year-old wasn’t prepared for the complicated feelings the decision would bring.
“The preparation kept me busy, but it was empty. I was playing the role of mother-to-be while feeling nothing,” Brewster confessed of her road to motherhood. “The birth would change that, I was sure. I knew all about the overwhelming, profound love a mother feels for her child when she first holds him.”
Though she was hoping for something to “click” for her “maternal instincts,” Brewster shared that didn’t come until a bit later. Eventually, however, she got into the groove of motherhood. And in 2016, she decided to pursue surrogacy again to welcome her second son.
In the years since welcoming her children, Brewster has accepted her path to parenthood.
“The real work of motherhood isn’t just pregnancy. It’s in the small, invisible, daily acts: the playdates, food fairs, school meetings, emergency-room visits, the cosleeping,” she concluded. “It’s in how I give over my time, energy, and attention day after day. Becoming a mother is earned; it’s not a given.”
For more stars who have detailed their surrogacy journeys, read on…
The supermodel confirmed in June 2024 that she welcomed both her daugther in 2021 and her son in 2023 via surrogate.
The Emmy winner confirmed via shout-out that she and husband Thomas Kail had welcomed their third child together and Michelle's fourth overall.
"I've got to give a big shout-out to Christine," she said during an Aug. 18, 2025, appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live. "Because this last baby did not come through my body, but the miracle of our little girl is thanks to Christine."
The couple welcomed baby boy Wren Alexander Stephens in June 2023 after Chrissy gave birth to older children Luna, Miles and Esti.
The Happy Endings duo welcomed their third child—a baby girl named Frances Rose—with help from an "angel" surrogate, Casey shared in January 2023. "A large factor of surrogacy was my postpartum depression that I had through both kids," she said. "It's actually a very strong choice to make when you're parenting other kids, and for myself."
"We are overjoyed to confirm that we have welcomed a baby via surrogate," the singer and actress shared in January 2022. E! News later confirmed they named her Malti Marie Chopra Jonas.
In July 2022, The Kardashians star welcomed a baby boy, Tatum Thompson, via surrogate with the NBA player, though the pair split soon after their son was conceived.
The Pitch Perfect star welcomed a daughter named Royce Lillian in November 2022, writing at the time, "I can't even describe the love I have for her, she's a beautiful miracle!"
The couple, who wed in 2021, welcomed their first child together, a baby boy named Phoenix, via surrogate in January 2023.
In March 2021, the actor and his wife announced the arrival of baby no. 6, a daughter named Lucia. A source close to the couple confirmed to E! News she was born via surrogate.
The Bridesmaids star and her husband welcomed twins via surrogate in 2020.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta star welcomed daughter Blaze Tucker via surrogate in Nov. 2019.
Following two high-risk pregnancies, The Kardashians star and the rapper, who have since divorced, enlisted the help of a gestational carrier to welcome daughter Chicago West in January 2018 and and a baby boy, Psalm West, in May 2019.
The Bring It On star and the retired NBA player welcomed a healthy baby girl, Kaavia, via surrogate on Nov. 7, 2018. "Our miracle baby arrived last night via surrogate and 11/7 will forever be etched in our hearts as the most loveliest of all the lovely days," the actress shared.
The Watch What Happens Live host became a first-time dad with the arrival of his son, Benjamin Allen in February 2019. "I'm in love," he wrote on Instagram, adding, "And speechless. And eternally grateful to an incredible surrogate. And I'm a dad. Wow." Three years later, daughter Lucy joined their family.
The supermodel and Erik Asla welcomed their first child, York Banks Asla, via a surrogate in 2016.
The actor and husband David Burtka welcomed their twins Gideon and Harper via a surrogate in 2010.
The couple welcomed daughter Faith in December 2010 via a surrogate. She joined the pair's first child together, daughter Sunday Rose, and Kidman's eldest children with ex Tom Cruise, Connor and Isabella.
The Sex and the City star and the Ferris Bueller's Day Off alum welcomed twins Tabitha and Loretta in 2009. They joined big brother James.
The legendary British singer and hubby David Furnish welcomed sons Zachary and Elijah via surrogate in 2010 and 2013, respectively.
The Tonight Show host and wife Nancy Juvonen welcomed two daughters, Winnie and Frances, via a surrogate in 2013 and 2014.
The Pitch Perfect star and husband Max Handelman welcomed two sons, Felix and Magnus, via a surrogate in 2011 and 2012.
In 2015, the notoriously private Charlie's Angel actress announced the birth of her son, Rockwell Lloyd Liu, via surrogate.
The Latin performer became a father to twins Matteo and Valentino in 2008.
The Fast & Furious star and then-husband Andrew Form welcomed two sons, Julian and Rowan, via a surrogate in 2013 and 2016.
The Grey's Anatomy star and husband Chris Ivery revealed in 2014 they recently welcomed daughter Sienna via surrogate. The actress gave birth to their first child, daughter Stella, in 2009, and the couple welcomed a third child, son Eli, in 2016.
The Glee creator and husband David Miller welcomed sons, Logan and Ford via a surrogate in 2012 and 2014, and son Griffin joined their family in 2020.
The Star Wars creator and wife Mellody Hobson welcomed their first child, daughter Everest, via a surrogate in 2013.
In 2015, a year after suffering a miscarriage, The Bachelor star and Lorenzo Lamas' daughter Shayne Lamas and husband Nik Richie welcomed their second child, son Lyon, via a surrogate —the reality star's stepmother, Shawna Craig. The child joined big sister Press Dahl.
After battling fertility struggles for years, the actress and husband Carter Oosterhouse welcomed daughter Flora via surrogate in December 2016.
The Married...With Children star and husband Kurt Sutter welcomed daughter Esme Louise in 2007 via a surrogate.