After my posts about the stroller and the rental car, I received dozens of requests for one organized list: what do you actually pack for a trip you'll return from as a family of three? So here it is – the list I wish someone had handed me back then, built on simple logic: what must come from home, what you buy there, and what you don't need at all.
Start with the most important category – the folder. Yes, before the clothes: all documents in hard copy and in the cloud. Passports, the surrogacy contract, the parentage judgment documents, clinic letters, the baby's insurance details, a doctor's letter for any medications you travel with, and contact details of the attorneys on both sides of the ocean. This folder travels in your carry-on, not in a checked suitcase.
For the baby – less than you think: onesies in two sizes (newborn and 0-3; babies surprise you), a few warm outfits per season, a blanket, hats. Diapers, wipes and formula (I wrote separately about the feeding question) you buy there – cheap, available on every corner, so why haul them? What is worth bringing from home: anything you're particular about in terms of brand or habit.
The critical item you usually buy in the U.S., right after landing: a car seat. Without it the hospital simply won't release the baby to you – it's the law. Order ahead for pickup at a store near the airport or your hotel, and practice installing it before the birth – not in the hospital parking lot with a crying newborn in hand.
For yourselves – think in terms of a three-to-five-week stay: comfortable machine-washable clothes (most rentals have laundry), chargers and adapters, personal medications for the entire period plus a buffer, and a SIM/eSIM with a generous plan – you're going to make a lot of video calls home. And don't forget a gift for your surrogate and something small for the maternity ward staff – it's received with a warmth that will surprise you.
And the thing most worth its space in the suitcase: empty space. Half an empty suitcase on the way out is half a suitcase of gear, gifts and memories on the way back.
My tip: prepare a separate "24-hour bag" that stays packed by the door in the final weeks of the pregnancy – documents, two days of clothes and a charger. Early births don't care about the flight date you booked, and whoever's bag is ready flies calm.
This is a very condensed version of the birth-and-parenthood preparation booklet I put together as part of my work accompanying journeys – from a detailed shopping list and what matters more (or less), to what's important to prepare or do in the U.S. and what to be ready for. Write to me and I'll be happy to send it to you.
