Deciding to pursue surrogacy for extending families is not easy. You must choose – which is the best surrogate agency? Will you find the surrogate independently or take help from an agency? Do you need a beautiful egg donor, or do you need a healthy surrogate who can give you the most precious gift of your life?
Deciding to pursue surrogacy is not enough; you need to understand the process fully. You should know how surrogacy will occur, i.e., through traditional or gestational methods. The most important thing to know before committing to your decision is – how egg donor agencies screen surrogates? You might be thinking, why is it important? The screening process can give you essential information about the surrogate mother that can help you ensure that they are physically, mentally, and emotionally ready for this commitment.
Why is Screening Important?
The surrogate screening process can help determine the healthiest, strongest, and most successful surrogates and match them with the intended parents. Even if you’re picking an independent surrogate, getting her screened through an agency will help you protect your decision. Screening is important because of:
- It will help the intended parents and surrogate understand the complete process. Many women agree to become surrogate mothers before even understanding the process.
- It will help in filtering the healthy and unhealthy surrogates. Not every surrogate needs to be healthy enough to donate eggs. Medical screening allows the doctors to ensure her physical fitness, medical, and pregnancy background.
- It will help the surrogate mothers to prepare themselves for this commitment mentally. The surrogates are informed about the ups and downs of the process to understand the process inside-out.
- It also helps ensure that the surrogate mother has the support of her partner or family.
The Process of Screening
Different egg donor agencies follow various methods to screen surrogate mothers, and however, the purpose of screening remains the same. Most agencies require their surrogates to meet specific criteria like allowable age, healthy body-mass index (BMI), prior successful pregnancies (at least one), not a smoker or drug addict, etc.
The essential requirement is a whole-hearted commitment to the intended parents.
During the screening, the surrogates are screened for:
Medical and drug history –
The agencies can ask the surrogates to present their physicians’ original medical documents and previous reports. The surrogates are not expected to hide any previous medical complications.
Pregnancy reports –
Prospective surrogates must also provide the birth reports of their previous pregnancies.
Background check –
The egg donor agencies can run a criminal background check to ensure that surrogates have no prior criminal cases registered against them.
Counseling and support –
The agencies arrange a meeting of the surrogates with a psychologist who will then analyze whether the surrogates are emotionally ready for this decision or not.
The screening process helps all parties involved in surrogacy experience a safe and secure process.
Contact your donor egg agency to know more about the surrogate screening process.
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