Qualities to Look for in a Surrogate
Growing your family via surrogacy is extremely emotional and considering all the qualifications you would want/need in a surrogate, it can feel overwhelming as well. Here are several qualifications that intended parents should look at before considering a surrogate; psychological and emotional stability, health history, their personal support system, motivation for being a surrogate, and their physical ability to successfully achieve a pregnancy. All these factors will assist the surrogate’s ability to follow through smoothly with the intent of your surrogacy agreement.
The overall psychological and emotional stability of your surrogate is critical to the success of a surrogacy journey. Every surrogate should be psychologically screened and “approved” by a licensed psychologist who is qualified and experienced in third-party reproduction. The psychological screening allows a surrogate an open space to discuss major pros and cons on a surrogacy journey with realistic expectations. The approval from a licensed psychologist can provide relief to intended parents knowing their surrogate has openly discussed surrogacy with a professional. With that being said no psychological screening is guaranteed, this conversation is simply to evaluate tendencies and traits.
A medical history will also determine if they are healthy for pregnancy. A surrogate should be in good health and have no physical or mental condition that would jeopardize her or the child’s health. The fertility clinic will perform a medical exam, bloodwork and review all the surrogate’s past pregnancy records to determine if she is currently healthy to carry a baby.
The physical ability to successfully achieve a pregnancy is an important qualification. The best indicator of this ability is the previous successful delivery of one or more of her own children. Without this indicator, you cannot be certain that the surrogate does not have her own fertility issues.
A surrogate who has done some research will understand that she will have to interrupt her family and work schedules to attend medical appointments for the IVF treatments followed by the pregnancy. A strong support system between family and close friends creates a reliable source for a surrogate to lean on when needed.
Surrogates are motivated to assist infertile couples in building their families for a variety of individual reasons but they generally fall under two groups, altruism, and compensation. While it would be nice if every surrogate were willing to help people only out of the goodness of her heart with no compensation, this is not often the case. Most surrogates expect to be reasonably compensated for the very real services that they will perform for the intended parent(s). These women understand that the surrogacy adventure will tangibly affect their lives and the lives of their own families.
I hope choosing a strong woman to help grow your family is easier now with this information. Nevertheless, if you carefully select a surrogate with proper qualifications and are medically qualified, your chances of success are high.