Surrogates & Intended Parents

From beginning to end, here’s what you need to know about the surrogacy process, step by step.

Whether you are interested in growing your family through surrogacy or giving the gift of parenthood as a surrogate, you may have many questions about the surrogacy process and how it works.

While the surrogacy process may vary based on your state laws, surrogacy professional and individual circumstances, the following step-by-step guide will help you prepare for what’s to come throughout your surrogacy journey.

1. Decide if Surrogacy is the Right Choice

The first step in any surrogacy process is to carefully consider whether surrogacy is right for you. Becoming a surrogate or a parent through surrogacy can be a long and emotional journey, and it is a big commitment for both parties.

Just like with any major decision, couples and individuals considering surrogacy should carefully research surrogacy laws, consider its pros and cons, and even speak with various surrogacy professionals to truly understand if surrogacy is right for them.

For Prospective Surrogates: Becoming a surrogate is a life-changing decision that can be extremely fulfilling, but it is not without its challenges. Surrogacy requires you to commit to another family for a year or more as you undergo medical and psychological evaluations and procedures, endure all of the challenges related to pregnancy and labor, and carry a baby that isn’t your own. But many women accept these challenges and believe the positives far outweigh the negatives.

If this describes you, not only does surrogacy give you the unique opportunity to give an incredible and selfless gift to another person or couple, but it also provides you with life-changing financial benefits and can create lasting, meaningful relationships between you and the family you helped create.

If you remain uncertain about surrogacy or need more information before making your decision, consider reaching out to a surrogacy agency or attorney to learn more about whether surrogacy is right for you and whether you are ready for the surrogacy process.

For Prospective Intended Parents: There are many reasons to consider growing your family through surrogacy, whether you are a couple who has struggled with infertility, a member of the LGBT community or are looking to expand your family as a single parent.

Before you begin the surrogacy process, it is important to educate yourself about the risks and benefits of surrogacy and ensure that you are ready to fully commit to the process. Hopeful parents considering surrogacy should be aware of the financial and emotional investment required and should ensure that they have the resources to commit to surrogacy and parenthood.

If you or your spouse are struggling with the decision to become parents through surrogacy, or if you need additional information before making your decision, consider reaching out to a counselor or surrogacy specialist before proceeding with the surrogacy process.

2. Prepare for Surrogacy

Once a prospective surrogate or intended parent has decided to commit to surrogacy, they must then determine their goals and needs of the surrogacy and the type of surrogacy professional they want to work with.

First, there are two types of surrogacy to consider:

• Traditional –In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate is also the biological mother of the child she carries. Her egg is fertilized using sperm from the intended father or a donor using intrauterine insemination.
• Gestational –In gestational surrogacy, the child is not biologically related to the surrogate mother. The embryo is instead created using an egg from the intended mother or a donor and sperm from the intended father or a donor using in vitro fertilization. Once the egg is fertilized in the laboratory, the embryo is transferred to the surrogate.

Secondly, there are two types of surrogacy professionals who can complete your surrogacy:

• Surrogacy Agency – May provide any or all surrogacy services, including matching, screening, case management, support, counseling, legal and more.
• Surrogacy Attorney – Required in any surrogacy to complete the legal work, but may not provide other important services found with a surrogacy agency.

Intended parents and surrogates will need to consider these and other factors as they plan and prepare for surrogacy.

For Prospective Surrogates: Once you have decided that surrogacy is right for you, you will need to consider several factors and make decisions based on your situation.

• Do you already know the intended parents, or will you need to work with an agency to find a match?
• What type of surrogacy are you most interested in — gestational or traditional?
• Would you like to work with an agency throughout the surrogacy process, or are you going to pursue surrogacy independently?

These decisions (among many others) will help you determine what you’d like your surrogacy to look like and help you develop your surrogacy plan, which outlines your goals and preferences throughout the surrogacy process. If you choose to work with an agency, you will work closely with a surrogacy specialist to add details to your surrogacy plan, from the type of relationship you’d like to have with the intended parents to your comfort level with carrying multiples. The information you provide in your plan will help facilitate the match with prospective intended parents.

Your surrogacy professional will work closely with you to ensure you have met all screening requirements and are ready to move on to the next step of the process.

For Prospective Intended Parents: At this stage in the process, you will begin creating your surrogacy plan, which is an outline of your goals and preferences for your surrogacy process. You will create your surrogacy plan by considering:

• The type of surrogacy you’d like to pursue (gestational or traditional)
• Whether you need donor sperm or eggs
• Whether you know a surrogate or will need matching services
• Whether you will work with an agency throughout the surrogacy process, and if so, which surrogacy agency you will use
• Your goals for surrogacy

Once you have determined the type of surrogacy you’d like to pursue and have selected either a surrogacy agency or attorney, you will then begin to complete the screening process to meet your agency’s qualifications for intended parents, which may include a home assessment, criminal and child abuse records checks and more.

After you have been screened and approved by your surrogacy agency, you will be ready to begin the journey of finding a surrogate mother, if necessary.

3. Find a Match

One of the most exciting and important steps of the surrogacy process is finding the right surrogacy opportunity with a surrogate mother or intended parents.

If you have already located a surrogacy opportunity, you may only need to work with an attorney who specializes in assisted reproductive law. However, if you have not yet found a surrogacy opportunity, you will likely need to enlist the matching services of a surrogacy agency. Here’s how a match works:

When a prospective surrogate mother or intended parents begin working with a surrogacy professional, their surrogacy specialist will help develop their surrogacy plans. Based on their surrogacy plans, they will likely create a profile to show to other intended parents or surrogate mothers who are also looking for a surrogacy opportunity.

Once the surrogacy agency identifies a surrogate mother and intended parents who share similar surrogacy plans, the agency will provide them with a profile of the other party to see if there is interest in a match.

If both parties are interested in moving forward, they may get to know one another better through phone calls, emails or in-person meetings and may then make the match official by drafting the initial legal contract.

For Prospective Surrogates: As the surrogate mother, you will get to decide what types of intended parents you would like to work with and the type of relationship you’d like to have with them, and your surrogacy professional will work to find a family that matches your preferences on these and other factors.

You may look for intended parents based on:

• Race
• Religion
• Age
• Sexual orientation
• Personality
• Amount of contact shared during the surrogacy process
• And more

To help facilitate the matching process, your surrogacy specialist may work with you to create a profile of text and photos that will help intended parents get a sense of who you are and why you are pursuing surrogacy. Once a match has been made, you will have the opportunity to get to know the intended parents through contact mediated by your surrogacy professional and determine whether they are a good fit.

For Prospective Intended Parents: At some point in your journey, your surrogacy professional will likely ask you to create a surrogacy plan, which outlines your goals and preferences for the surrogacy process. This plan will be used to help create a match between you and a prospective surrogate.

In addition, you may create a profile that includes photographs and information about you and your family that will help potential surrogates get to know you better. You may have the opportunity to browse similar profiles for prospective surrogates. Once you’ve identified a surrogate you’d like to match with (or when a surrogate has identified you), your surrogacy professional will coordinate a meeting or phone call that will allow you to get to know each other better.

Once you’ve determined that the surrogate you’ve matched with is right for you, you are ready to move on to the next step of the surrogacy process.

4. Satisfy Legal Requirements

Once a surrogate and intended parent have decided to move forward together, they will need to make it official by drafting a legal contract. Each party will have their own attorney to ensure that their legal interests are represented and protected.

Each party will meet with their respective lawyer individually to review the legal aspects of the surrogacy. Once everyone agrees to the terms of the contract and each lawyer has had a chance to review and approve it, contracts will be signed, and the embryo transfer process can begin.

For Prospective Surrogates: Your attorney will meet with you to discuss all of the legal aspects of surrogacy, from compensation to possible risks. Your attorney will review the contract that was drafted by the intended parents’ attorney to ensure it matches your requests. Once contracts are signed, you will begin receiving a monthly allowance to help cover the costs agreed upon in the contract.

For Prospective Intended Parents: Your attorney will meet with you one-on-one to discuss your legal rights, possible risks and the compensation you and your surrogate agreed to. Once the contracts are signed, it will be time to move into the next phase — fertilization and pregnancy.

After the first trimester, your attorney will work with you to establish you as the legal parents of your child, which will allow you to make medical decisions for the baby and include your names on the birth certificate. This is called a pre-birth order, which is an important step in declaring the child as legally yours.

5. Begin the Fertilization and Embryo Transfer Process

Once contracts have been signed, it is time to begin medical procedures to prepare for the embryo transfer. This process will likely be handled by an agreed upon fertility clinic.

The intended mother or egg donor will be given medication to help her develop eggs and will undergo an egg retrieval procedure. The eggs are then fertilized in the laboratory to create an embryo, which will be transferred to the surrogate. The surrogate will undergo fertility treatments prior to the embryo transfer and during the pregnancy.

Once a healthy pregnancy is confirmed and the baby’s heartbeat is heard, the surrogate will begin receiving payments for base compensation and monthly allowance. She will also begin receiving prenatal care, which will continue throughout the pregnancy.

For Prospective Surrogates: To increase the chances of a successful embryo transfer, you will likely be prescribed fertility medications prior to the transfer. When it is time, the intended parents’ fertilized egg will be placed in your uterus for implantation.

The transfer procedure is relatively quick and painless and does not require medication or anesthesia. You will likely be required to remain at the fertility clinic for a few hours after the procedure, and you will need to rest for a few days afterward.

A few weeks later, you will return to the fertility clinic to take a pregnancy test and confirm the pregnancy. You will continue to visit the fertility clinic for regular blood tests and ultrasounds to track the progress of the pregnancy. When a heartbeat is heard on the ultrasound (usually about six weeks after the successful embryo transfer), you will begin receiving payments.

From there, your pregnancy will not be all that different from any other pregnancy, though you may have more frequent checkups to ensure the health of the baby, and you will share your pregnancy journey with the intended parents. Useful information 

 https://surrogate-mothers-europe.blogspot.com/2018/09/surrogate-mothers-in-different-countries.html

For Prospective Intended Parents: The medical procedures required for surrogacy will depend on your circumstances and whether you are using an egg donor. If you or your partner’s eggs will be used in the surrogacy, you will be administered medications to stimulate egg production. When the time is right, you will undergo a relatively minor egg retrieval procedure.

Once the eggs have been harvested — either from the intended mother or an egg donor — they will be fertilized using sperm from the intended father or a donor. The embryos are incubated and assessed for development prior to being transferred to the surrogate mother.

After the embryo transfer, the pregnancy will be confirmed. Once a healthy heartbeat is heard a couple of months later, the surrogate will begin receiving payments. You should continue to provide emotional support to your surrogate throughout her pregnancy, and share in the process with her.

6. Welcome the New Baby!

After the long surrogacy process, the birth of the baby is a life-changing event for both the surrogate and the intended parents. Most times, the intended parents will join the surrogate at the hospital for this momentous experience.

After the baby is born and the surrogate is discharged from the hospital, the new family and surrogate can all return home, the parents with their new baby and the surrogate with the satisfaction of giving the selfless gift of parenthood to someone who couldn’t do it on their own.

The surrogate and new family will forever be connected and may wish to maintain a relationship throughout the child’s life. The surrogacy agency may be able to facilitate this relationship and continue to provide any other support that is needed after the surrogacy.

There are few processes more special and exciting than building a family. Whether you are considering building your own or helping someone else build theirs, surrogacy can be an incredibly rewarding and fulfilling experience.

Are you ready to start the surrogacy process? Do you want to learn more about becoming a surrogate or growing your family through surrogacy? Contact a surrogacy professional now for free information with no obligation.

From 4K to virtual reality, these technologies are the future.

Predicting the future is a pastime as old as human thought, and over the millennia we've had plenty of practice. Still, there are certain types of prognostication we're more comfortable with than others. Predicting future tech is one of those.

Science fiction gives us a glimpse at some possible futures, but the most reliable way to know what's coming is to look at what's happening right now. Sales figures, development trends, and customer feedback provide the most holistic view of where we're going.

With that in mind, here's a look at five nascent technologies that will be everywhere you look by 2020.

4K Everything

We're not just talking about TVs: Broadcasting, streaming media, and cinema will all adhere to 4K (UHD) standards by 2020. Or at least that's what a recent survey of media executives by satellite operator Intelsat predicted. Nearly two-thirds of respondents claimed 4K will be mainstream in five years.

Right now, it's tough to find native 4K content to view on a 4K display. That's because manufacturers and content providers—ever wary of piracy—are busily preparing standards for hardware-based content protection. This translates to high costs and lots of upgrades, at least up front, but as adoption becomes widespread prices will start to drop.

UHD will first become common on OTT (over-the-top) services like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Go, supported by hardware manufacturers such as Apple, Roku, and Samsung. Eventually, the high-res video will find its way to direct-to-home (DTH) services like cable and IPTV (which are currently trudging along with 720p and 1080i).

Virtual Reality

Virtual Reality is probably the most enduring dream of technologists and futurists, dating all the way back to the 1980s (or earlier, depending on your definition). But now it’s finally starting to take shape.

The biggest name in VR is Oculus, which plans to launch its iconic, long-gestating Rift headset sometime next year. But there are plenty of others taking cracks at the concept, from startups like Avegant to huge corporations like Sony.

The biggest stumbling block for mainstream adoption of the tech is the speed with which devices need to render images to keep up with the wearer's movements. But developers are quickly working on ways to trick the human eye into perceiving full-resolution, low-latency video feeds.

VR isn't just about gaming, either. Medical professionals can use these devises for education or surgery prep. Architects can use them to render projects in immersive 3D. And business meetings or educational lectures can take on a new level of “remote presence.”

All experts seem to agree on the timeline, too: a little over five years.

Holographic Displays

It may sound like a stretch, but it’s not. One California startup called Ostendo is working on a chipset that can project video on a 48-inch diagonal surface. Patched together, the projectors could form more complex images. Projection keyboards are already a thing.

HP is currently working on its own 3D imaging interface for smartphones, and there are rumors that the next iPhone will feature a holographic interface—if not in 3D then in the form of a 2D keyboard.

A Chinese phone manufacturer called Takee has already launched a smartphone that renders a 3D display by reading the eye movements of the user. It can even respond to finger movements, allowing for no-touch control. Just imagine how far this tech can advance in the next five years.

Many Computers, One OS

The differences between phones, tablets, and laptops are already blurring. Need proof? Just look at the Microsoft Surface Pro, Lenonvo Yoga, and Asus Transformer series—or the ever-growing dimensions of the most popular smartphones. There are tablet-sized phones and phone-sized tablets, laptops with mobile designs and mobile designs with laptop functions.

Since all mobile devices are on the way to becoming one ur-device, it makes sense that Microsoft is unifying its next OS (Windows 10) across all devices—including Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox.

Apple has been more reluctant to merge its desktop OS (OS X) with the mobile iOS platform. But that hasn’t stopped the company from converging features and facilitating cross-platform development. Its new "Continuity" feature in OS X 10.10 Yosemite, for instance, lets Mac users with iPhones and iPads view and respond to mobile notifications from the desktop.

Android offers similarly simple mobile-to-desktop transitions, but only if you're a Chrome OS user. For those who want similar behavior between an Android phone and an OS X or Windows desktop, Pushbullet is a good substitute until Google gets its act together.

All of this adds up to the fact that the personal computer of 2020 won't be defined by its size, its OS, or its internet connection type. Instead, the mobile devices of the future will serve as extensible "brains" of a larger computational ecosystem in which your phone, laptop, and tablet are equal parts.

Truly Global Internet

If you’re going to declare the internet a fundamental human right (as many countries are starting to do), then you need to broaden and diversify the ways people can access it. Currently there are just two methods (broadband and wireless), both of which limit access to rural, remote, or impoverished areas because of their intensive infrastructural demands.

So why not just beam internet access to Earth's remotest areas?

Sounds like the stuff of science fiction, but it’s not. Google believes it can deliver 3G-speed wireless internet to the remotest regions on the planet with its Project Loon. How? By launching high-altitude balloons 20 miles into the atmosphere and establishing aerial wireless networks. The company is also planning to launch a fleet of 180 satellites that will orbit the globe and broadcast internet to developing countries. Elon Musk's SpaceX is working on a similar plan.

Even more outlandish (and perhaps a bit more than five years away) is Facebook's plan to deploy solar-powered drones that will fly uninterrupted around the globe for months or even years, showering the earth with internet access.

Just Over the Horizon

Consumer 3D Printing: 3D printing is awesome, and it’s already disrupting some markets. But the vision of 3D printing that involves average Joes making everything from coffee mugs to engine parts in their own home just isn't happening within the next five years—maybe 10. The tech is simply too complex, and the demand too niche.

Self-Driving Cars: Tesla's new autopilot function is brilliant, and we hope it works as advertised, but there's no way it's going to be mainstream by 2020. We're willing to believe, however, that self-driving vehicles will be at least as common as motorcycles by 2025. Just imagine Uber deploying its own fleet of autonomous vehicles. Game over.

Wearable Everything: You might love your Fitbit or Pebble Steel. You might even own a pair of Google Glass. But wearables have a long way to go before they become a mainstream phenomenon. Unlike other categories, which face huge technological hurdles, wearable tech faces a cultural barrier: A smartwatch or self-driving car is one thing, but a computer you wear on your face is something else entirely.

A Better Battery: Lithium-ion has served us well, but we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of efficiency. We need a new battery or power cell to power more than just cameras and phones. Beyond the obvious demands created by resource scarcity, rising populations, and the growing popularity of electric vehicles, the expansion of the Internet of Things is going to create a massive need for energy-dense power hubs. Luckily, researchers already have some smart ideas.