Stories • mar 14, 2026
Alysa Liu, Olympic Gold Medalist and World Champion, Born via Surrogacy
Olympic gold medalist and world champion figure skater Alysa Liu was born into a family intentionally built through surrogacy.
Alysa grew up in a family intentionally created through love and surrogacy.
“I had always wanted to have kids and I was already 40,” Alysa Liu’s father, Arthur Liu, once said when describing his decision to build a family through surrogacy, as he shared in a People interview.
Arthur, an attorney living in the San Francisco Bay Area, chose to become a single father and intentionally built his family through gestational surrogacy using donor eggs. Over time, five children were born through that path, including Alysa.
From the beginning, their family story looked different than what many people expected, but for Alysa, it was simply home.
Her own story quickly began to unfold on the ice.
At just thirteen years old, Alysa became the youngest U.S. women’s national champion in figure skating history. Known for her fearless jumps and joyful style, she rapidly emerged as one of the most exciting athletes of her generation.
In 2022, after already reaching the world stage, Alysa made the surprising decision to step away from competitive skating, saying she wanted space to grow outside the sport.
When she returned, it was on her own terms.
She captured the World Championship in 2025 and followed it with Olympic gold in women’s singles in 2026.
Alysa’s story reflects the long view of surrogacy. It is not only about how families begin — it is about the lives that grow from those beginnings.
Today, many children born through surrogacy are growing up and finding their place in the world, carrying with them the extraordinary stories of how their families began.
