Demystifying the Surrogacy Process

For those who have not experienced surrogacy it can seem like a foreign concept, so it is no surprise people have a lot of questions related to the surrogacy process.  Hopefully by better understanding the common terms, processes and procedures used during a surrogacy journey, you will feel more comfortable discussing the topic.  Women who make this incredibly generous choice to become a surrogate are inspired by various circumstances.  Oftentimes they have seen people close to them struggle with fertility.  Whatever your reason may be for considering it, remember to have confidence in knowing that surrogacy is a beautiful way for people and science to come together in helping create or add to families.

What is a surrogate?  People often do not know the difference between traditional versus gestational surrogates.  As your surrogacy agency, Pathways To Parenthood’s journeys are always with a Gestational Carrier.  This means the carrier does not share any genetic connection to the baby she carries.  Rather, embryos are created with the parents’ genetic material.  Sometimes donor sperm and/or eggs are needed.  In these cases, the surrogate will not be the egg donor.

How does a surrogate get pregnant?  With a surrogate pregnancy, intended parents go through in vitro fertilization (IVF) to create embryos.  The surrogate takes medication to prepare her body for a pregnancy, a high-quality embryo is chosen and transferred to the surrogate’s uterus for her to carry.

How are surrogates chosen?  The women that come to Pathways To Parenthood come to us with a desire to help and our surrogacy agency takes pride in a thorough screening process.  This involves learning the motivation for becoming a surrogate.  Furthermore, we evaluate each applicant’s physical health, mental health, obstetric history, background, financial situation and insurance coverage.  There are many steps that take place between thinking about becoming a surrogate and actually matching with intended parents.  We help our surrogates gain as much information as possible so that they can make the right decision for them when it comes time to match with intended parents.

We realize there are many different journeys to parenthood.  If you have considered helping a family become parents by becoming a surrogate, contact Pathways To Parenthood today and get started!  If having a baby through surrogacy and/or egg donation is an option you are considering to make your dreams of becoming a parent come true, we want to hear from you!  Take the first step and contact Pathways To Parenthood today.  We have helped surrogates and intended parents come together in Kansas, Missouri, Colorado, Oklahoma, Iowa, Illinois and Arkansas.  If you live in the Midwest, we are the surrogacy agency for you!  You can contact us at 913-469-5500 or at www.pathwaystoparenthood.com