Becoming a surrogate – 12 steps to the process

Becoming a surrogate is a super rewarding experience. Not only does she get to experience the miracle of growing a baby within her, but she also gives a family struggling with infertility a chance at being parents- something they have inevitably been seeking for a lifetime. This isn’t something that they would be able to have without a surrogate’s help. Being a surrogate also comes with its own financial rewards as well as the benefit of receiving a new family.

 As a mother already, you may be interested in the journey of becoming a surrogate. The main question you may have is how do you begin the process of becoming a surrogate mother? This article will help you step by step on how to get started.

1. Locate A Surrogate Agency

The first step that you need to take is to find a surrogate agency that will match you with intended parents. Without an agency, it’s difficult to locate parents who will use your services, and a lot of unknowns arise. Each agency is different in what it offers. Some may offer higher financial rewards but fewer benefits or personal service. You need to find the right surrogacy agency that best suits your needs and expectations.

Our surrogacy agency in California, Made in the USA Surrogacy, offers competitive compensation for its surrogates to enjoy. We also offer an incredible benefits package that ensures that the surrogates are given throughout their pregnancy experience. All of our surrogate compensation is listed on our site, so you know exactly what to expect from our services. Also, we manage every surrogate mother that comes to us with attention to detail and answer the inevitable questions you have about becoming a surrogate. We want to make the process of surrogacy as simple and easy for you as possible, while making you feel great about your decision.

Take a look here for more about our application process.

2. Complete A Full Application

Once you’ve decided to become a surrogate with Made in the USA Surrogacy, after filling out this form your next step should be to fill out a full application with our agency coordinator. You likely have a lot of questions before getting started, and we take this time to hone in on all of the details.

All agencies have different surrogacy qualifications for their respective surrogates, but most are the same. The goal of all surrogate agencies however, is to have healthy surrogates. You need to have delivered one baby full-term in order to be considered a great surrogate prospect.

Another focus of surrogate qualifications is BMI and age. Younger surrogate mothers are likelier to have healthier pregnancies than older surrogates, though that is not always the case. We look for surrogate mothers between the ages of 23-38 generally, and most that come to us are done having children on their own. In addition, we look for a BMI at 30 or below. Being overweight or obese can have a negative impact on pregnancy in general, and we want the best outcome for a surrogate pregnancy.

Once you complete the application, this will give us a base idea of where your health is and if you if we can continue with you as a candidate.

4. Find Your Medical Records

One of the first headaches you’ll likely encounter with the surrogacy process is obtaining your medical records. Doctors’ offices and hospitals get hundreds of requests for records every day.  Releasing those records can therefore take a lot of time. If you want to become a surrogate, you need to get working on contacting your healthcare providers and as soon as possible have them get working on releasing your records. It may be easier to get them in a timely fashion by visiting the office in person and request them. Sometimes records are hard to obtain because your pregnancies were in a different state and the healthcare provider may or may not still be in business. Do your best to obtain the records you can!

You will want records from your pregnancies, deliveries and hospital stays. This helps fertility clinics to review your pregnancy background to make a proper determination if you’re a good fit for the parents.

5. Background Check

Since you’re going to be pregnant with someone else’s child, understandably the parents will want to ensure that the person carrying their baby doesn’t have a criminal record. Our surrogacy agency in California takes great pride in offering some of the best surrogate mothers out there who do not have any prior felonies or issues on their background. It’s an important and vital step to the process of becoming a surrogate.

6. Screening for Drugs

The next step in the process of surrogacy is to be cleared by a drug screen. As an obvious but sometimes time-consuming part, surrogate prospects will have to go to a drug screening place near them and the results will be sent to our agency for review.

7. PAP Smear and Clearance Letter from Your OB

Before becoming a surrogate, we require surrogates to have a PAP smear within the last year. This may not be required by every surrogacy agency or fertility clinic, but it is necessary. This is to ensure that you will not encounter any deficiencies during pregnancy. While visiting your OBGYN, you should have them write you a letter recommending you to become a surrogate. This helps us know that someone has checked your current medical situation and they sign off on your decision.

8. Fertility Clinic Med Exam

After being matched with a family, you will be required to go to the clinic of the intended parents and complete a series of examinations to determine the current health of your body. Don’t worry, if you have to travel for this examination to be completed at the parent’s fertility clinic, you won’t be required to pay for it, it will be covered.

9. Psychological Evaluation

To ensure that our surrogate mothers are mentally and emotionally prepared for the process, a licensed psychiatrist or psychologist will perform an evaluation. You may also be required in addition to an interview, to complete a personality test.

10. Home Visit

Once you have made it to this phase, we conduct a home visit to ensure that your living conditions are healthy and you have a support system in place ready to help you through the pregnancy. 

11. Sign an Agreement with Parents

Every surrogate in the state of California and any other state in the US will be required to sign an agreement that states the contract between you and the parents. It will clearly define parental rights of the parents, who the parents are, details of your compensation and expectations discussed before and during the meeting with your surrogate attorney.

12. Medications and IVF

After you are legally cleared, you will start taking medication and the your transfer will be scheduled! Hooray you made it this far! If you’re interested in becoming a surrogate mother with Made in the USA Surrogacy, please contact us here today!

Photo source : surrogate.com