iNTENDED PARENTS

What is Gestational Surrogacy?

Gestational surrogacy is the assisted reproduction or a child (or children) through an IVF procedure. The surrogate will care for the baby until birth, to ensure the baby is strong and healthy. The intended parents are the legal parents of the child(ren) and will accept full responsibility for any child produced via the IVF procedures. 

Why Do People Need Surrogates?

There may be many different reasons why someone would need a gestational carrier. Some intended parents have gone through great heartache attempting to carry on their own with no success. Some had a traumatizing birth experience and it would not be safe to carry again. Some intended parents may not have the proper reproductive organs to carry a pregnancy. Whatever reason you may need a surrogate, we are here to offer you support and guidance.

How Does Surrogacy Work?

Generally, the intended parents start the IVF cycle before obtaining a surrogate. They create embryos either through egg retrieval or an egg donor. Once those embryos are ready to go, the surrogacy screening process starts. We will have surrogates for you to choose from. We try to match intended parents with surrogates that have similar interests and values. Once the surrogate is screened, both parties go through legal contracts. This is the time to really express the desires and needs of both parties. Once legal clearance is achieved, we can start the embryo transfer procedure! Typically, the surrogate is on medications for a few weeks before the embryo transfer. She then undergoes a painless procedure in which the embryo is transferred to the uterus. In 10-14 days, you will both know if the transfer was successful through beta blood testing. The surrogate will stay on medications until 12 weeks pregnant (estimated) and then be released to her own obstetrician for the duration of the pregnancy. Depending on what state you are in, a pre or post birth order will be prepared to ensure that the intended parents are the legal guardian of the baby.

Why Not Adoption?

We here at Pineapple Surrogacy support whatever direction you decide to go in. So many people ask this question: why choose gestational surrogacy over adoption? Both options are valid. Sometimes people don’t understand that adoption is not for everyone, and that is okay! Gestational surrogacy allows you to have your own biological children. It also allows you to be apart of the pregnancy and delivery without fear of the surrogate changing her mind. The intended parents are legal guardians of the surrogate baby.

Every one of our surrogates undergo a strict screening process. The surrogate initially fills out our online application. Then, a phone consultation is scheduled to interview the surrogate. This phone call typically takes an hour or more. We go over every step of the process, find out the surrogates’ preferences and more about her in general. Once she passes this first interview and signs the contract with us, we get straight to work.

The second step we perform is a background check. We want to make sure there is no important information being left out. If the surrogate has a partner or spouse that they live with, a background check will also be performed on them. 

Once the surrogate and her partner pass their background checks, we request the surrogate’s previous medical records. We try to get as many records as possible and review them PRIOR to sending them to an IVF clinic to be reviewed. This way we can be prepared if there are any surprises the surrogate may have left out or did not know about. This process can take quite a while depending on the offices we request the records from. Typically, records take 2 weeks to receive but can take longer.

Once you are matched with a surrogate, she undergoes even more screening. We will set her up with a psychologist who will evaluate her and make sure that she is ready to take on this process mentally. Then, she will be screened at your IVF clinic. The clinic will review her records to make sure she meets the requirements of the clinic. After she passes medical record review, she has blood work taken and an ultrasound of her uterus. These tests will tell us if she has any communal diseases, if her vaccinations up to date and if her uterus is free of polyps or other issues that may prevent implantation.