I'm honestly struggling on where to start! So let's start with a few fun filled facts about surrogacy.
1. Gestational Carrier vs. Traditional Surrogacy -
Gestational Surrogacy is when a women also referred to as a surrogate mother carries a baby for an intended couple or individual. The gestational surrogate has no genetic relationship to the child that she is carrying.
Traditional Surrogacy is when the surrogate mother uses her own eggs to create the child that she is carrying for the intended parents or individual. Either the sperm of the intended father is used or donor sperm.
I will in no way be genetic link to the baby I will be carrying and therefore will be a gestational carrier, although I just prefer the term Surrogate so will use that more frequently.
2. What is an IP, IM & IF?
IP = Intended parents, IM = Intended mother, IF, Intended Father aka the people I will be growing the baby for :) To protect my IP's privacy I will not be using their names, or giving many details about them in general in these posts.
Why you need to know this? Because I'm going to get really lazy and use the IP acronym often.
3. What are the requirements for someone considering being a surrogate/gestational carrier?
I'll go into this in more detail with what I have expeirenced when I write about my process, but in general here is what is required (actual list from the agency I am working with - West Coast Surrogacy - but most I researched are about the same)
This is still mind blowing to me and had NO idea until I started this process. On my original application I had to say if I had any trips planned and where to. I had said Arizona, for a bachelorette party and hopefully for Spring Training (tear.. not this year!). I was told that Arizona could be problematic once I was into the process because they are not surrogate friendly. In short, if I were to go into labor or have any short of issues while in the state of Arizona, they would not recognize that the child is not mine. The IP's would have to go through a huge legal battle to remove my name from their birth certificate and get theirs on. Yikes. Here's a crazy little cheat sheet to our County but it goes so far past just the US. I'm sure you can imagine how strict other countries are about things like this.
5. Why would anyone want to be a surrogate?
Well I will continue to get into why I/we personally decided to, but I will tell you one thing. No one that is doing this, or actually getting approved to do it in a legal, proper way, for the money! I came across this article written by a surrogate and even though I haven't completed my process yet, I felt like all of it is what I am thinking/feeling. It also mentions some things I wrote about above, but it's over all a good read if you are curious about things and can't wait for me to get there.
http://www.thelist.com/35900/untold-truth-surrogacy-according-surrogate/
Okay. I promise my next blog about the subject will be starting from the beginning of our process :)
1. Gestational Carrier vs. Traditional Surrogacy -
Gestational Surrogacy is when a women also referred to as a surrogate mother carries a baby for an intended couple or individual. The gestational surrogate has no genetic relationship to the child that she is carrying.
Traditional Surrogacy is when the surrogate mother uses her own eggs to create the child that she is carrying for the intended parents or individual. Either the sperm of the intended father is used or donor sperm.
I will in no way be genetic link to the baby I will be carrying and therefore will be a gestational carrier, although I just prefer the term Surrogate so will use that more frequently.
2. What is an IP, IM & IF?
IP = Intended parents, IM = Intended mother, IF, Intended Father aka the people I will be growing the baby for :) To protect my IP's privacy I will not be using their names, or giving many details about them in general in these posts.
Why you need to know this? Because I'm going to get really lazy and use the IP acronym often.
3. What are the requirements for someone considering being a surrogate/gestational carrier?
I'll go into this in more detail with what I have expeirenced when I write about my process, but in general here is what is required (actual list from the agency I am working with - West Coast Surrogacy - but most I researched are about the same)
- Be 22 - 40 years old
- Be a U.S. citizen
- Be a non-smoker in excellent health
- Be within a healthy height and weight ratio
- Have a healthy reproductive history; having given birth to at least one child that you are raising
- Have had all births occurring at 36 weeks+ gestation or later (unless a multiple pregnancy) without complications
- Not be receiving state or federal financial aid
- Be willing to undergo subcutaneous and intramuscular injections
- Be willing to undergo a background check (husband/partner needs to as well)
- Be willing to undergo a psychological consultation
This is still mind blowing to me and had NO idea until I started this process. On my original application I had to say if I had any trips planned and where to. I had said Arizona, for a bachelorette party and hopefully for Spring Training (tear.. not this year!). I was told that Arizona could be problematic once I was into the process because they are not surrogate friendly. In short, if I were to go into labor or have any short of issues while in the state of Arizona, they would not recognize that the child is not mine. The IP's would have to go through a huge legal battle to remove my name from their birth certificate and get theirs on. Yikes. Here's a crazy little cheat sheet to our County but it goes so far past just the US. I'm sure you can imagine how strict other countries are about things like this.
5. Why would anyone want to be a surrogate?
Well I will continue to get into why I/we personally decided to, but I will tell you one thing. No one that is doing this, or actually getting approved to do it in a legal, proper way, for the money! I came across this article written by a surrogate and even though I haven't completed my process yet, I felt like all of it is what I am thinking/feeling. It also mentions some things I wrote about above, but it's over all a good read if you are curious about things and can't wait for me to get there.
http://www.thelist.com/35900/untold-truth-surrogacy-according-surrogate/
Okay. I promise my next blog about the subject will be starting from the beginning of our process :)
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