Surrogacy is a way to have a child for those people who have medical problems that make them unable to become parents on their own. It is characterized by equivocations, investments, and feelings. Standing in the middle of it are the intended parents, those who bravely and altruistically decided to create their family with the help of surrogacy.
Ah! This brings me to my next question: What on earth is an Intended Parent then?
A traditional surrogate is a woman who provides her egg for the pregnancy in exchange for a fee and a gestational carrier is a woman who agrees to carry a Intended Parents Surrogacy with the purpose of having a baby to bring home. The intended parent(s) engage a surrogate who will get pregnant and deliver the baby through either the parent’s gametes or donated gametes.
This may help some of the childless couples, those facing Infertility problems, same sex couples among others to have their dreams come through by having children they have always wanted. It also establishes an emotional dependence on a substitute who willingly undergoes pregnancy in order to help that goal become a reality.
Choosing the Surrogacy Route
As it has been seen for many intended parents, surrogacy is the only available way to receive a baby after years of suffering and failure in childlessness. It may come after multiple attempts of infertility treatments are unsuccessful or because of not being able to carry the baby, such as with same sex male couples or a woman who was born without a uterus. For others, high risks are associated with pregnancy or childbirth, which can make labor or delivering a baby a very dangerous process.
In any case, all intended parents using a surrogate service have one aim and passion in common – to raise a child genetically related to them but whom they cannot bear. They are also likely to incur significant expense, undergo strict medical tests, survive high risk and go through lengthy legal processes before they can become parents through surrogacy.
Navigating the Surrogacy Process
The general journey of surrogacy is not just from selecting an agency to the legal matters following birth, but has many stages in between. Here is a brief overview:
● First, look up the research agencies and surrogacy laws by the state
● Undergo legal clearance, home study, child abuse and neglect record checks, medical history, tone assessment
● Select egg/sperm donor if required and if both partners are willing to go through medical examination then only proceed for IVF/ICSI
● Be assigned a surrogacy and sign legal agreements
● Implant embryo and take care of surrogate till delivery
● Finish all legal processes involving parental right after birth
The whole process might be as long as two years or even more and can cost $100,000 and more. Still, intended parents across the state knowingly assume these expectations and the possible consequences to have a child that is genetically their own.
The Factors That Will Enable One to Select the Most Suitable Surrogacy Agency
The choice of an agency to carry out their surrogacy process is one of the most important ones that intended parents will make. The criteria for selecting the agency should include high success rates, fair selection criteria, clear legal process support and complete surrogate and intended parent’s benefits.
Key factors to evaluate include:
● longitude of business and number of satisfactory trips
● Where required, a surrogates and egg/sperm donors to be screened thoroughly
● Specific information development on the contracts and the legal cases
● Regarding money issues, there is an escrow policy for the payment and transparent pricing
● Self-help interventions, including emotional resources, in the process of a journey
This means that after going through agencies, intended parents can interview an expert who will take them through every step of surrogacy bearing in mind the wishes of the intended parents.
The Path to Parenthood
All things considered, while the price and process may be high, surrogacy may be the only option for those who have been unable to conceive or carry a baby to term. Whenever individuals decide to get involved in this highly emotional process, the Intended Parents Surrogacy Agency is efficient with help and assistance from a reputable agency and empathy from their friends and close ones.
At its core lies a tale of human spirit, of intended parents, of surrogates and donors, all connected by the miraculous gift of creating life to be ushered into a home and showered with love.