Parents, Welcome to your surrogacy journey with PSED. Starting your parenthood journey through surrogacy is a significant decision. Here at PSED we guide you through each step, ensuring clarity and support as you move towards welcoming your child.
Considering Surrogacy for Your Family
Before diving into surrogacy, it's important to understand what it entails and what it requires in regard to the financial and emotional commitment. This understanding helps to ensure that you are as prepared as possible for becoming parents through the surrogacy process.
If you're uncertain about surrogacy or want a deeper understanding please contact us, our coordinators are happy to speak with you before officially starting the process. We are also happy to refer you to a therapist who specializes in the field of fertility in order to help prepare you for your journey.
What is Surrogacy?
Surrogacy is a way for someone to have a baby with the help of a woman who will carry and deliver the child. Intended Parents choose surrogacy when they are unable to conceive or carry a pregnancy to full term. This can be because of health reasons or other issues. Surrogacy is a wonderful option in helping these intended parents have their own families.
Understanding Gestational Surrogacy:
In Gestational Surrogacy, the surrogate is not genetically related to the baby. The embryo being transferred/implanted into the surrogate’s womb is created with the egg and sperm provided by either the intended parent(s) and/or a donor(s).
Planning Your Family with PSED
Are you ready for a surrogacy journey?
Our PSED Coordinators are highly experienced in the field of Surrogacy. A complimentary consultation is a great place to start in order to determine what your next steps are. Here are some items to consider:
- Fertility Clinic/Doctor: Do you have an IVF doctor/clinic in place?
- Egg donation/Embryos: Do you have embryos?
- Do you need an egg donor to help you create your embryos?
Having embryos ready is ideal in matching with a surrogate. However, this is not required to start the process. If you still need to create embryos or are in the process of creating embryos you can still start the process of working toward a surrogacy match.
Choosing Your Surrogacy Support:
PSED services include; Matching, Case management, guidance, industry professional referrals. We help you to build a trustworthy team for the support you need for your special journey. This team includes; fertility clinics/doctors, attorneys, psychologists, escrow service & insurance experts. We will tailor your referrals to the industry professionals that offer what you need for your specific circumstances.
PSED Intended Parent Application
Please connect with us via the link here: https://pacificsurrogacyandeggdonation.o-jms.com/form/parent/intake/8
We will reach out to you to schedule a Complimentary Consultation with a PSED Coordinator.
Understanding The Important Steps:
The surrogacy process includes several steps:
Matching with the Perfect Surrogate
Once you begin working with our PSED surrogacy coordinators we’ll create a surrogacy plan. Your surrogacy coordinators will help you define what you're looking for in a surrogate. You'll create a profile with photos, a ‘dear surrogate’ letter and stories to help surrogates understand your family. Surrogates will do the same.
When you find a surrogate you resonate with, your coordinator will help set up initial meetings. A strong connection means moving on to the next phase of the journey. This relationship is confirmed with a legal agreement after the surrogate has been medically screened and approved.
If you already have a surrogate candidate in mind (friend, family member, etc) please let our coordinator(s) know! PSED can step in to complete the proper screening process for the surrogate candidate.
Surrogate Psychological/Medical Screening
Once you and the surrogate decide to move forward it is time for the surrogate’s psychological and medical screenings. All of our surrogates have been pre-screened medically. However, the full medical screening will take place once it is established that you are moving forward together.
Legal Steps
Legal considerations are vital in surrogacy for intended parents, surrogates, and any egg or sperm donors. Everyone involved must understand their rights and responsibilities clearly laid out in the surrogacy agreement.
Legal contract: Once psychological and medical clearance for the surrogate is complete, it’s time for a legal agreement. Both of you will have separate lawyers to ensure everyone's rights are protected. Your lawyer will help you understand your rights, any potential issues, and how the payment(s) to the surrogate will work. This contract should cover all aspects of the surrogacy journey, including consent processes, compensation, and the handling of potential legal disputes. Additionally, establishing parental rights and ensuring that all donor agreements are legally sound are critical to avoid future legal challenges. Once everything's agreed upon, you'll sign the contract, and the next steps of the surrogacy process can begin.
Parental rights: In the first or second trimester the process of establishing parental rights begins. However, specific timing may vary based on state laws and individual circumstances.Your lawyer will help you get recognized as the child's legal parents. Depending on the state your surrogate delivers in, this can happen before the baby is born. This is called a "pre-birth order" (PBO). Once it is complete it is called a Parental Judgment. It means you can make medical decisions for the child and your names will be on the birth certificate.
Working with specialized legal professionals who can guide you through these complexities is important.
Funding Escrow
Once the contract is in place and you have legal clearance; you will need to fund the escrow account for your surrogacy journey. During the contract process your attorney will notify you of the amount needed for funding escrow.
Medical Steps for Embryo Transfer
Once we have financial clearance the medical phase starts; This involves preparing the surrogate’s body for pregnancy and the transfer of embryos.The surrogate will need to see the IVF doctor at a specific day in her menstrual cycle. She will then be given a cycle calendar and be instructed as to when she will start medications in preparation for the transfer of the embryo.
Embryo transfer/Pregnancy confirmation; When the implantation is successful and there's a heartbeat to confirm the pregnancy, the surrogate begins her payment schedule for her base compensation. Throughout her pregnancy, your support will be important, making this a journey you experience together.
Welcoming Your Precious New Arrival
The culmination of your surrogacy journey is the deeply touching moment when your baby arrives. Often, you'll be right there in the hospital room, eagerly awaiting the baby's first cry.
When the baby is born and the surrogate is on her way to recovery, you'll begin your new journey with your little one. The bond you've established with the surrogate might blossom into a lifelong relationship as your child grows up.The nature of your relationship with your surrogate is very individualized and will be discussed throughout the process. Through every step, PSED stands by your side, ready to offer continued support and guidance.
