Getting candid.

In July, former Bachelorette Clare Crawley announced that she and her husband Ryan Dawkins are expecting their first child together via surrogate.

Then in October, Clare revealed that she and Ryan were having a girl, and she documented the process of getting ready for their baby to arrive.

Last month, their daughter Rowen finally arrived and now Clare is answering fan questions about surrogacy, motherhood, and more.

In an Instagram Q&A, a fan asked if Clare and Ryan stayed overnight at the hospital with the surrogate and she said, “We did! We were in the room right next to our surrogate while she recovered after delivery and we all stayed for about 24 hours.”

Clare also shared that their surrogate “was involved in the first few days of Rowen’s life and always will be. She is like family to us. I always want Rowen knowing her beautiful story of how she came to be.”

How special!

A fan asked Clare if it was “hard for your surrogate to give her up after carrying her for nine months,” and Clare got candid with her answer.

She wrote, “This is why I love answering genuine surrogacy questions because many people just don’t understand it. She didn’t have to ‘give her up’ because she was never her baby to begin with. Surrogates go into surrogacy to help other families. I can go deeper into this if you guys want.”

Clare shared why they chose the surrogate they did and why they picked someone out of state.

The new mom said, “It was about finding the perfect match for everyone. You have to be able to trust them and feel comfortable since you are giving up a lot of control to them. From the second we talked to our surrogate, it was an instant connection and to be honest, we would travel as far as we needed for her. We just love her deeply and she was the perfect calm to my new mama anxiety.”

And while Clare and Ryan love their surrogate, Clare did say that traveling home after the delivery was the “hardest part” of motherhood so far.

She wrote, “Hardest moment: stressing about getting her home safely. We had to fly home and I’ve never been so psycho about germs.”

Thankfully they made it home safely and Clare said she has been soaking up “all of the best moments” now with her baby girl.