Whether you are interested in building your family life with the aid of surrogacy or you are a mother who wants to give the gift of life to other people, you need to fully understand the process. You need proper guidance and surrogacy information before going through the surrogacy procedure. The surrogacy procedure may vary depending on where you live, your circumstances, and your health. Every surrogacy journey is unique in its way, which is why you need to educate yourself with proper knowledge about the entire process.
Steps That Surrogate Will Make During The Surrogacy Process
- You need to decide if surrogacy is the right choice for you.
Before going deeper into other steps, you need to consider your decisions when deciding if surrogacy is the right option for you. Becoming an intended parent or a surrogate is a long emotional process that requires a big commitment to all parties involved. During the deciding phase, search about the laws in your state, the cost, and the agencies you can partner with. Look into various surrogacy information to learn about the whole journey.
Prospective surrogates must understand that becoming a surrogate for other people is a decision that is fulfilling. However, the whole journey would require you to commit your time to another family for a year or even more. You will undergo various physical and psychological evaluations. You also need to endure any changes that are related to the pregnancy and labor of a child that is not yours.
Prospective intended parents have many reasons as to why they want to grow their family using surrogacy. Before going through the procedure, you must know the benefits and risks of surrogacy. This will ensure that you are willing to fully commit to the procedure. As an intended parent, you must be aware of the emotional and financial cost of the journey.
- You need to prepare for the surrogacy procedure.
Now that you have armed yourself with knowledge and adequate surrogacy information, it is time to prepare for the process. First, you need to choose the type of surrogacy you would want to have. In traditional surrogacy, the sperm is inserted into the surrogate’s egg. This procedure would mean that the surrogate is the child’s biological mother. Her egg is fertilized with the sperm of the father. The sperm may come from the intended father or a donor. This is not a popular choice since the legality and emotional repercussions of traditional surrogacy are complicated.
The second type of surrogacy is called gestational surrogacy. In this procedure, the egg of a donor or intended mother will be used. The provision of the sperm for the process can come from a donor or intended father. The egg is fertilized by the sperm. The embryo will be inserted into the surrogate using the in vitro fertilization procedure. This means that the child has no biological relations to the surrogate since her egg was not used. This is the most appealing form of surrogacy for many intended parents due to the lesser complications involved in the emotional and legal sense.
The preparation stage also needs you to determine the right partners you may want to work with. You can work with a surrogate agency that can provide all the surrogacy services needed. Their services include matching the surrogate to intended parents, screening the surrogates, processing case management, support for all parties involved, counseling, and legal help.
- The intended parents will be matched to a surrogate.
After the first two steps have been dealt with, the next step is to match a surrogate with the intended parents. When a prospective surrogate or intended parents work with a professional, the specialist will aid both sides in developing their surrogacy plans. The surrogacy plans will be used to create a profile about the surrogate candidate which can be shown to intended parents looking for a surrogacy opportunity.
- You need to satisfy the legal requirements.
Once the intended parents and surrogate have agreed to move forward, the agreement will be made official by drafting a legal contract. Each party will be represented by their lawyers to ensure that their client’s legal interests are protected and represented.
- The egg fertilization process is determined and the embryo transfer is made.
Once the contracts are signed by both parties, the next step is for the medical procedure to take place. A fertility clinic will be handling the process. Since most procedures prefer gestational surrogacy, the intended mother or egg donor who will provide the egg will take medication to develop her eggs. Once her eggs are ready, the procedure will entail egg retrieval. The eggs will be fertilized in a laboratory to produce an embryo that will be transferred to the surrogate.
