Class of 2025: Nursing grad advocates for Indigenous patients and birthing families

Darcy Callihoo, a Métis mother-of-two, and three-time surrogate mother, hopes to become the kind of advocate she once needed in the delivery room.

“Whether you’re a woman or not, and whether you’re white or not, you are safe, loved and supported in this momentous moment of your life. That’s my passion,” says the Faculty of Nursing graduand, who crosses the stage this June.

Heeding a call

Long before she wore scrubs, Callihoo was heeding a call to help families have babies. 

Callihoo first considered surrogacy at 21 when a family friend faced infertility. Without missing a beat, she told her, “I’d totally have your kids for you.”

While that friend eventually chose adoption instead, the idea of carrying for others stayed with Callihoo, even as she built a career in accounting and became a mother to two herself.

"To me, being a surrogate is like donating blood, but on a slightly bigger scale," she says.

• Read more profiles of amazing Class of 2025 graduates 

From 2015 to 2022, Callihoo carried babies as a gestational surrogate for three families; an Australian couple struggling with infertility, a same-sex pair from Italy and a single father from Canada. 

“Being a surrogate has one added bonus that I don’t get when donating blood; I get to see when the parents hold their baby for the first time, and that’s pretty magical,” she says.

During her first surrogacy, Callihoo realized she wanted to support even more families in a way that was more sustainable for her body. This led her to taking nursing at the University of Calgary.

Turning lived experience into advocacy

While she found purpose in surrogacy, Callihoo says there were also incidents during her pregnancies that strengthened her commitment to making sure other patients have better experiences.

In 2015, the midwives who had delivered Callihoo’s own children denied her care for her surrogate pregnancies.                         

And, twice, anesthesiologists openly questioned her medical decisions while preparing her for labour and delivery.

“None of that should be happening while people are having babies,” says Callihoo. “You should feel safe, loved and supported. I am going to fiercely protect this baby until it gets to you.” 

That resolve carried into nursing school, where Callihoo combined her life experience with a growing passion for advocacy. 

During this time, she deepened her reconnection to her Métis heritage, a personal journey that broadened her vision beyond pregnancy, labour and delivery to include Indigenous health and community care.

With encouragement from Dr. Michelle Scott Paul, EdD, associate dean of Indigenous Education in the Faculty of Nursing, Callihoo became vice-president of Indigenous Initiatives for the Undergraduate Nursing Society.

In the role, she helped Indigenous students connect with their community, organized events and secured funding to buy Christmas gifts for residents at a long-term care home in the Siksika Nation. 

“She wasn’t just here to get a nursing degree. She was here to make a difference, and that was visible,” says Scott Paul.

Callihoo’s achievements as an undergraduate nursing student were recognized with a 2024 UCalgary Nursing Spark Award.

A new chapter

Callihoo took on two casual nursing positions at Rockyview General Hospital and High River Hospital after completing her studies last December.

She says both roles are helping her build strong, versatile skills that she hopes to eventually bring to labour and delivery, NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and Indigenous health settings. 

"I want to be the person who listens," she says. 

With hospital experience, a nursing degree and a fierce passion for patient advocacy, Callihoo is stepping forward to do exactly what she set out to do; helping families feel heard, supported and safe.