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As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.

So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.

Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.

And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.

We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm​. You made it all happen.

There are other changes as well.

Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:

We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.

It's time to move on and move forward.

PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.

But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.

So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.

And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.

That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!

If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.

So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!

Best wishes for a wonderful and magical new year!

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Old 02-05-2003, 01:22 PM   #1
AllisonG
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Feeling down in the dumps

LONG STORY......
It's been 2 years since I gave birth to my surrogate twin girls. They were NOT biologically mine. We used an egg donor and the father to create them.
What started out as an ideal situation quickly turned very nasty shortly after I got pregnant. By the time I delivered the twins (1 day before my 30th birthday) the parents and I could barely stand each other. In fact as I was being rolled into OR to deliver his children, the father refused to even look at me. He NEVER once came into my room to visit me. I found out he never signed our 40 page contract and that his wife forged his initals on each page and his signature at the end. They NEVER fulfilled any of the obligations in the contract and left me feeling empty and alone. I have had 2 of my own children and I have never had post-partem depression before. Well, shortly after delivery I had to see a DR and take pills to help me. I also had to hire another attorney at my own cost ($6,000) to ensure that I received my full compensation. That took me 4 months to get, it was supposed to be 10 days after delivery.
I don't know what brought all of this on this morning. My support, family and friends, have all heard the story. Over and over. But the hurt and pain I feel after trying to help a couple bring life into this world. Does that sound right? I should feel wonderful and fulfilled. But the warm fuzzy stories you hear about surrogacy, it doesn't always happen that way.
Thank you so much for listening to me and letting me get all of this off my chest.
(I would love to answer anyone's questions or concerns.)
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Old 02-05-2003, 01:44 PM   #2
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Re: Feeling down in the dumps

Allison, kudos to you for helping out a couple who otherwise would not been able to have children. I'm sending lots of pixie dust to help you through this. It sound to me like they may have had issues before they did this.

[ 02-05-2003, 01:45 PM: Message edited by: aurora1429 ]
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Old 02-05-2003, 01:47 PM   #3
SarahJ
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Re: Feeling down in the dumps

Wow Allison! What an amazing gift you gave this couple and how rude of them not to see it that way. I admire people like you who can give so much of themselves for others. I'm so sorry for what you have gone through and are still going through because of the other couple's inability to appreciate what you did for them.

Pixie dust and hugs to you.
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Old 02-05-2003, 01:50 PM   #4
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Re: Feeling down in the dumps

Allison, I'm so sorry that your experience as a surrogate was so bad. You did a wonderful thing. It sounds to me like the couple had issues, and that maybe the wife forced her husband into the situation. None of which should have been taken out on you though!

As a woman who has battled infertility for years, it breaks my heart to hear that someone who has done so much to help someone like me was treated so badly. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Just know that you did a good thing, and that because of you there are 2 beautiful children in the world. [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] Sending pixie dust your way!

P.S. Totally off topic, but I learned something today. A surrogate is a person that donates an egg and carries the child, a gestational carrier is what Allison did, carry a child that is in no way genetically hers. Surrogacy is actually illegal in a few states including mine! Either way, it's a gift and should be treated as such.

[ 02-06-2003, 11:14 PM: Message edited by: Belle* ]
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Old 02-05-2003, 02:00 PM   #5
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Re: Feeling down in the dumps

How awful that these people took a wonderful thing you did and turned it into something that you look back on with pain. Hang in there, sending you pixie dust!
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Old 02-05-2003, 03:01 PM   #6
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Re: Feeling down in the dumps

Amazing! I dont know if I could do that for someone, what a gift! I am so sorry that it has caused you such pain. I am sure this couple will never have any idea what you have gone though, and I wonder if it is in part because they were too wraped up in what they were going through. Had to be a terribly emotional experience for everyone.
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