Surrogate Screening: Part 3

In our previous post, potential surrogate Maya attended her in-person interview and went home with a list of next steps for her initial screening.

Medical Record Review

Since it can challenging for patients to request their own medical records, Maya’s Surrogate Coordinator will request her pregnancy and delivery records for her to make the process faster and easier. The Coordinator prepared medical record release forms for Maya to sign during the interview, and afterwards she gets to work on requesting the records.

In order to make sure another pregnancy will be safe and healthy for both Maya and a baby, NWSC staff will personally review Maya’s pregnancy and delivery medical records, and then send them to a respected fertility clinic for a second round of review.

Maya had already noted on her questionnaire that her second child was delivered via C-section because of the baby’s size, so she will likely deliver her surrogacy pregnancy via C-section as well. Otherwise, the records don’t show anything concerning, and the fertility clinic approves her to continue the process.

Insurance Review

After the interview, Maya emails her Coordinator a complete copy of her health insurance policy. Once she is matched with a family, the NWSC legal team will review it to decide whether she should apply for an additional policy or if her own policy will cover her surrogacy pregnancy.

If we ask Maya to apply for an additional policy, her Coordinator or Case Manager will walk her through the process of applying. Her intended parents will pay for the policy, along with any other pregnancy-related expenses she has during the process.

Psychological Evaluation

Maya’s Coordinator sends her instructions for setting up her psychological evaluation, which is conducted by a psychologist or social worker with an extensive background in surrogacy. Maya’s husband, Todd, is required to attend the appointment, so they find a time when they are both free and when Maya’s sister can watch their children.

The appointment lasts about two hours. Maya and her husband tell the psychologist about their lives, their backgrounds, and their expectations for the surrogacy. The psychologist invites them to talk about their concerns, and they ask her for some more advice on how to talk about surrogacy with their children. Maya also takes a written, multiple-choice personality test that gives the psychologist a more complete picture of who she is and highlights any potential concerns about her ability to have a safe and rewarding surrogacy.

Within about a week of the evaluation, the psychologist scores Maya’s written test and writes a report based on the test and the verbal evaluation, and recommends Maya as a surrogate.

Now that Maya’s medical records are reviewed and her psychological evaluation is approved, the NWSC team can begin actively searching for a family to match her with! Stay tuned for future blog posts about that process.

Home Visit

The last part of Maya’s initial screening is her home visit. This appointment usually takes place shortly after a surrogate has been matched with a family, but before she signs a legal contract with them.

Maya schedules a time for a social worker to come to her apartment when her husband and children can be at home. The social worker observes Maya and her family interacting in their home, and checks the apartment for basic cleanliness and safety to make sure it is an appropriate place for her to experience a pregnancy.

Next Up…

Once Maya is matched with an intended family she will sign a legal contract with them and then begin undergoing additional medical screening and procedures with the intended parents’ fertility clinic. Stay tuned for future posts describing those parts of the process. For now, Maya has officially completed her initial screening and is ready to begin her adventure!