“American Surrogacy provides the necessary hand-holding, support and mediation that is often overlooked in modern surrogacy, but is equally as important as most other surrogacy services.”
– Kris Probasco, infertility resource counselor
Let’s be honest — becoming a surrogate mother is a demanding process, asking you to meet a number of requirements, attend numerous doctor appointments, take various fertility medications, and of course, carry a baby for nine months.
And yet, here you are, researching how you can help make another person or couple’s dream of becoming parents come true by becoming a surrogate — because of how much it means to them and how much it means to you. Indeed, the surrogacy process will ask a lot from you. But remember that American Surrogacy will be there with you, every step of the way.
Our surrogacy specialists will work with you from the beginning of the process as you learn how to become a surrogate with our agency. Before we guide you through every step of the process, we’ll make sure you completely understand what it means to be a surrogate, help you determine if becoming a gestational surrogate is really right for you and make sure that you’re mentally, emotionally and physically prepared for being a surrogate mother.
If you’re still thinking “I want to be a surrogate mother,” we encourage you to call our surrogacy specialists today at 1-800-875-2229 for more information on how to become a surrogate mother with our agency.
In the meantime, here is the basic process that awaits you if you decide to be a surrogate mother.
1. Decide if Surrogacy is Right for You
Becoming a gestational surrogate is a big decision not only for you personally but also for the rest of your family. Weighing all of the pros and cons of surrogacy will help you determine if surrogacy is right for you.
As you’re deciding whether to become a gestational carrier, it’s important that you ask yourself some key questions:
- Am I healthy enough to be a gestational surrogate mother? Surrogacy comes with all the medical risks and side effects of pregnancy, as well as the added efforts of an embryo transfer process.
- Do I meet American Surrogacy’s surrogate requirements?
- Am I ready to commit to the surrogacy process? By being a surrogate mother, you’ll need to commit a year or more of your time and energy to the process.
- Do I have a strong surrogacy support system? Surrogacy is a difficult journey, so you should have the support of your friends and family if you choose this path.
- Why do I want to be a surrogate mother? Surrogates should be motivated by an altruistic desire to help other people become parents. If you’re mainly motivated by surrogate compensation, you may rethink the reason why you want to be a surrogate mother.
When you work with our agency, your surrogacy specialist will also go over these questions with you to make sure you’re truly ready to become a surrogate mother. You may contact American Surrogacy at any time, whether you are ready to take the next step or simply want to ask us a question about what it takes to become a surrogate.
Our goal is to educate you about this process, what to expect and how we can help. What you choose from there is entirely up to you; you are under no obligation to continue with the surrogacy process until you’re sure that it’s the right choice for you.
2. Complete Screening Process
To ensure you are physically and emotionally ready to become a surrogate, we will ask you to meet certain requirements and complete our screening process. These health and lifestyle requirements are designed to make sure that you can successfully be a gestational surrogate mother with no complications.
If you meet our initial requirements, we will then begin getting to know you, your motivations for surrogacy, your medical history, and the type of intended parents you wish to work with.
Over these next several weeks during the screening process, you will meet with physicians, social workers and psychologists, and we will work with you to collect your:
- self-disclosed medical, social and drug history.
- medical records provided by a physician.
- birth records from previous pregnancies.
- federal and state criminal background checks.
Your surrogacy specialist will be there to make the screening process as easy as possible. And remember, every intended parent goes through an extensive screening process as well, to give you the same confidence in working with them as they will have in working with you. Our screening process is the first step to making sure that you (and intended parents) enter into a surrogacy journey that will be positive and successful for all.
3. Find Intended Parents
Locating the right intended parents for your situation is one of the most important steps of being a surrogate mother. After all, these are the people (whether you’ve met them yet or not) who have made you think, “I want to be a surrogate mother.” In many cases, intended parents have struggled for years to have children on their own and can only have a child via the surrogacy process, and that’s why you’re willing to be a surrogate mother — to help them achieve that dream.
Because our specialists have been providing matching services for over 20 years, we are experts at helping you find intended parents perfect for your surrogacy goals.
Your surrogacy specialist will work with you to determine what types of intended parents you are hoping to work with, the kind of relationship you wish to share with them, and the amount of compensation you are seeking. Based on these factors, we will work with you to:
- create a surrogate mother profile.
- locate intended parents that share your preferences in the surrogacy process.
- get to know intended parents via a conference call mediated by your surrogacy specialist.
Remember, you get the final approval with whom you are matched. When you are ready to move forward with an intended parent, we will then begin the legal process — a key part in how to become a surrogate with our agency.
* If you have already located intended parents, we will move straight to the legal process.
4. Draft a Legal Contract
To protect both you and the intended parents legally, you will each have your own attorney who specializes in your state’s surrogacy laws. Even if you have a great relationship with your intended parents, a legal contract is necessary to make sure that your interests and rights are protected throughout the process. Before you even start the medical process of becoming a surrogate, your legal contract must be finalized to address any potential complications that may arise further along in your surrogacy.
You will meet with your attorney to discuss various legal topics of surrogacy, including compensation, protection and possible risks, to make sure you understand your rights and that you aren’t unnecessarily liable for aspects in the surrogacy process.
The intended parents’ attorney will draft the contract that both parties have mutually agreed to. Your attorney will review it to ensure it includes all of the terms that you requested.
After the contract is finalized, you will finally be ready to start the medical process of becoming a gestational surrogate! You will also begin receiving a monthly allowance to help cover a variety of costs agreed upon in the contract.
5. Prepare for Embryo Transfer
Once the contracts are signed, we will help you begin preparing for the embryo transfer. This is a process that involves close work with a fertility clinic, including a medical screening and tracking of your fertility cycle. You’ll also need to take a variety of fertility drugs to prepare yourself for the eventual embryo transfer (of the intended parents’ previously created embryos or of embryos they create during the surrogacy process).
American Surrogacy works with many fertility clinics across the country, and we will work with you and the intended parents to determine the best one to use. Remember, you will incur no travel expenses as you complete this part of becoming a surrogate.
After the embryo transfer, your pregnancy will be confirmed through a pregnancy test and will be closely monitored for the next few weeks. Once the baby’s heartbeat is heard, you will soon begin receiving monthly payments for both your base compensation and monthly allowance and will begin prenatal care with your obstetrician of choice.
6. Give the Gift of Parenthood
In most surrogacies, the intended parents join the surrogate at the hospital to share in this life-changing event together. Whether they join you during your hospital experience and what this experience will look like will usually have been decided before your due date. If you have questions about what your hospital stay may look like, you can always speak to your surrogacy specialist, who can help mediate this discussion between you and the intended parents, if necessary.
Once the baby is born and you are discharged from the hospital, you will return home with the satisfaction of granting a person or couple’s once unreachable dream, as well as doing something positive for yourself and your own family. Whether or not you have decided to continue a relationship with the intended parents, you will always be connected to them for what you did for their family.
Clearly, there’s a lot that’s involved when you want to be a surrogate — and it’s important to understand exactly what becoming a surrogate means before you start the process. Our surrogacy specialists can always help by answering any questions you may have, whether you’re ready to be a surrogate today or still considering your options.
To learn more about how to become a surrogate mother, call a surrogacy specialist at 1-800-875-BABY (1-800-875-2229) or request free surrogacy information online.