Surrogate Screening: Part 1

Surrogates give an incredible gift by carrying a child for someone who can’t, but they also undertake a profound responsibility. Northwest Surrogacy Center, LLC guides all of its surrogates through […]

December 5, 2014 // Amy Vaniotis // No Comments
NWSC Surrogate Coordinator

Devyn, a NWSC Surrogate Coordinator, on the phone with a potential surrogate

Surrogates give an incredible gift by carrying a child for someone who can’t, but they also undertake a profound responsibility. Northwest Surrogacy Center, LLC guides all of its surrogates through a thorough screening process to make sure they are physically and mentally prepared to become surrogates, that they are fully informed, and that the surrogacy will have a positive impact on them and their families.

This blog post is the first in a three-part series that follows Maya, a woman who’s interested in becoming a surrogate, as she goes through each step of the screening process.

Intake Form

Maya first reaches out to us by filling out an intake form on our website. Although surrogates may get in touch with us however they choose, the intake form is the best way of getting started, because it immediately gives us a basic picture of who a candidate is.

When Maya fills out the form she answers questions about her pregnancy history and lifestyle, as well as about some specific issues that could potentially prevent her from being a surrogate. The answers to her questions allow us to flag any potential issues or topics we should discuss with her.

Phone Interview

After Maya submits her intake form, she gets a notice saying someone will be in touch with her soon. This can range anywhere from just a few minutes to about one business day later. In Maya’s case, one of our Surrogate Coordinators calls her for her initial phone interview about an hour after she submitted her intake form.

Maya and the Coordinator discuss why Maya wants to become a surrogate, what her husband thinks, how her pregnancies were, and a little bit more about her life. Maya mentioned on her intake form that she had experienced some depression in the past, so they discuss the circumstances of her depression and how she is feeling now. Finally, the Coordinator gives Maya a brief overview of the surrogacy process and answers all of the questions Maya has so far.

If Maya had emailed or called us instead of submitting an intake form, the Coordinator would have asked her the same questions that are on the intake form to make sure we weren’t missing anything.

Questionnaire

After the phone interview, the Coordinator invites Maya to fill out a detailed, 15-page questionnaire, either online or by hand, that gives us a thorough picture of her life. It includes her relationship and work history; her pregnancies and health; and her lifestyle, interests, and goals. The questionnaire also lets Maya express her preferences for the process, including what type of families she is most interested in working with. Later on, as part of the matching process, we will remove Maya’s personally identifying information from the questionnaire (such as last names and addresses) and share it with the family we think would be a good fit for her.

Surrogate Questionnaire

A surrogate questionnaire

After Maya submits the questionnaire, her Coordinator lets her know she received it and that we will get back to her in about a week. During that week the Coordinator reviews the questionnaire thoroughly for anything that could prevent Maya from moving forward or that we need more information about. For instance, Maya mentioned that she shares custody of her older child with his biological father, so the Coordinator makes a note to ask for more details about their relationship.

Next Up…

Before Maya can come in for an interview, her Coordinator needs to run background checks on Maya and some of the people in her life. Read Part 2 to continue following Maya through her path to become a surrogate.

Are you ready to get started now? Fill out an intake form and one of our Coordinators will get in touch!


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