The surrogacy process can be a life changing and exciting experience like no other. You are part of a team designed to do a very important job-help build a family!

Once a woman is interested in becoming a gestational carrier, she should investigate the basic requirements, research the process, look at the different compensation structures being offered by various agencies or law firms such as Katrina Cassidy P.C. A gestational carrier can then decide which agency or law firm to contact in order to list herself for a match with Intended Parents, or she may decide to go completely independent and match herself. It is important to note that a gestational carrier can contact and list with more than one agency or locator and is not usually contractually bound to only list with one agency or locator.

Matching with Intended Parents

A gestational carrier candidate should also understand the difference between the agencies and working with a law firm. It is generally at this stage, the gestational carrier will be asked to provide her medical records from prior pregnancies, a copy of her health insurance policy and to complete a gestational carrier profile. A criminal background check of both the gestational carrier and her husband is also usually completed at this time.

Once they are in a program, a gestational carrier will be provided with a profile or profiles of the Intended Parents who are interested in matching with her. Assuming there is a mutual interest, the parties will meet at lunch or dinner and decide whether they would like to be matched so as to move to the next step which is screening.

The Screening Process

Once a gestational carrier is matched with Intended Parents or Parent, she will then go to psychological screening and then medical screening. If the Gestational Carrier is approved by both professionals, then they will proceed to legal.

The Gestational Surrogacy Agreement is drawn up with the compensation structure already agreed upon and the Intended Parents’ counsel and the Gestational Carrier’s counsel will review the agreement with their clients and negotiate it. Once all parties are in agreement, the document is signed and sent to the clinic.

Once the clinic has the Agreement, the parties can proceed to the actual in vitro cycle and embryo transfer. Once the gestational carrier becomes pregnant, the clinic will keep the gestational carrier as a patient for usually 10-12 weeks into the pregnancy. At that point the carrier is discharged to her regular Obstetrician of her choice.

At this point, the pregnancy proceeds as a typical pregnancy with the gestational carrier seeing the Obstetrician for the duration of the pregnancy.