The Surrogacy Process for Intended Parents

We believe that surrogates and intended parents should get to experience all the excitement of pregnancy side by side. At Simple Steps Fertility, we provide one contact to walk you through all the ups and downs of third-party IVF. Our priorities are to monitor the health of the gestational carrier and to give you peace of mind with individualized attention.

The Surrogacy Process Step-by-Step

Though it may seem complicated, the surrogate process works quite simply. Before surrogacy begins, you will match with a gestational carrier. We are here to help with selection and every step after.

There are three steps to the surrogacy process:

Medical and psychological screening of the gestational carrier

The first step your surrogate will undergo is a medical evaluation by the reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist. The evaluation includes:

Labs to test for sexually transmitted disease
Labs to test for general health and blood type
Pelvic ultrasound to examine anatomy
Diagnostic hysteroscopy or sonohysterogram to evaluate uterine cavity
Physical exam
Pap Smear
Mammogram
Infectious disease labs for the carrier’s partner

After their medical evaluation, your gestational carrier will undergo a psychological screening. A mental health evaluation is a crucial step in the surrogate’s process.

Legal contracts are the final task before pregnancy. Your legal counsel will draft a contract and submit it to the carrier’s attorney for review and approval.

Finally, your surrogate will begin fertility treatment. The gestational carriers’s menses will be synchronized with the intended mother’s or egg donor’s cycle to prepare for transfer. Prior to the embryo transfer, your carrier will use injectable hormones and pills to imitate the natural cycle, preparing the uterus for pregnancy.

Additionally, the reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist will schedule a series of blood tests and sonograms to monitor your surrogate’s progress during this time. The physician, clinical coordinator, and agency will work together to support the surrogate and intended parents throughout this process every step of the way.

Embryo transfer

The embryo transfer takes place at the fertility clinic, usually 5 days after the egg retrieval or soon after your frozen embryo or embryos have been thawed. This procedure is relatively quick and painless and usually does not require medication or anesthesia.

Pregnancy

Your gestational carrier will return to the fertility clinic 10 days after the embryo transfer to take a pregnancy test. Once a positive test is detected, your surrogate’s doctor will schedule blood tests and ultrasounds until a healthy heartbeat and pregnancy have been confirmed.

The fertility clinic will instruct the carrier to continue all medication until 10-12 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the clinic. At that point, medical records will be transferred to the ob-gyn to continue prenatal care. The surrogate will continue to receive prenatal care as she would with any pregnancy, though checkups may be more frequent to ensure the health of your baby.

How to Prepare for Surrogacy

Are you wondering how to, as an intended parent, start the surrogate process? We are here to help you through the surrogacy process step by step. After all, intended parents are real parents and you deserve all the support in the world.

You are not alone, and you can reach out to us for help at any time. We believe that the most important ways to prepare for parenthood through surrogacy are education, professional guidance, emotional preparation, and building a strong support system.

See more tips for navigating your surrogacy journey here.

Surrogacy for Intended Parents

We love to help intended parents process every step of surrogacy. From understanding the medical process of surrogacy to preparing for a baby as intended parents, surrogacy is a beautiful journey that we are honored to be a part of.