To find out, consult with Meryl regarding the independent surrogacy process and the legal services you will need.
Pursuing Surrogacy on Your Own
"Independent Surrogacy" refers to a surrogacy arrangement in which Intended Parents do not use the services of an agency to locate their surrogate or to facilitate the surrogacy process. Instead, they pursue and manage the surrogacy process independently — ideally with the assistance of individual professionals like lawyers, doctors, and mental health providers. These Intended Parents have a “direct” relationship with their surrogate — including locating them, interfacing with their IVF clinic and other medical providers — and generally coordinating their process without the assistance of a matching or coordinating program.
Deciding Against a Surrogacy Matching Agency
The parties in Independent Surrogacy arrangements often are family members, friends, and even individuals who find each other through social media. Independent Surrogacy is less expensive than working with a matching service or an agency program because intended parents are not paying for the match or other services that surrogacy agencies provide throughout the process. The parent(s) will essentially perform these tasks themselves.
Independent Surrogacy has Advantages — but risks
While Independent Surrogacy allows Intended Parents a certain amount of control and flexibility, as well as cost-savings, choosing to manage the process yourself can be time-consuming, and runs a higher risk of legal, medical, and other complications. To avoid expensive or unfortunate bumps in the road, having a consultation with Meryl B. Rosenberg and having the benefit of her level of expertise and experience can smooth the way. Ensuring that all legal and other requirements are met is crucial to avoiding potential problems and issues down the road.
Surrogacy Involves Important Legal Steps
When you identify and choose your own surrogate, there are still critical legal steps to go through. Contracts, payments, and making sure you are complying with the surrogacy laws in your state and have the right parentage order prior to birth, all have to be taken care of.
Steps in Securing, Screening, and Coordinating Your Surrogate and Surrogacy Process
If you choose Independent Surrogacy, you will need to:
Work with the surrogate candidate through medical and psychological screening and then the legal process of the contract and legal clearance necessary to proceed.
Negotiate the terms of your Surrogacy Contract, including pay and benefits for the surrogate.
Vet the surrogate’s personal situation, including family life and home suitability.
Locate lawyers licensed in the surrogate’s home state who have expertise in surrogacy contract law, for your surrogate’s representation.
Meryl can help you decide if an Independent Surrogacy is right for you with Consultations for Surrogacy.
Schedule a brief 15-minute FREE consultation!
Overseeing Clinical Procedures
After your surrogate has been prescreened, matched with you, and signed your surrogacy contract, she can begin the medical process to become pregnant. Assuming you as Intended Parents have completed the IVF cycle and have healthy embryos ready, the surrogate must go through medical procedures to prepare for an embryo transfer. That requires detailed coordination with her local IVF clinic and pharmacy for her monitoring and other required testing.
Your responsibility:
Finding an appropriate fertility clinic to handle all the surrogate’s local monitoring and testing
Arranging for delivery of medications, daily treatments, and monitoring by a local specialist as needed
Travel arrangements for the surrogate
Vetting the surrogate’s health insurance and ensuring the OB and the delivery hospital are in network.
Supporting the Surrogate and building a partnership
Building a Partnership with the Surrogate
Surrogacy is a personal and emotional process for both the surrogate and for the parents. Central to the journey is the relationship between the surrogate and the parents. Successfully building and nurturing that relationship is the key to success.
Any surrogacy is a partnership between the parties and is usually a relationship that will grow over time. The surrogate will often look to the parents for emotional guidance, as well as for logistical support, throughout the entire process. Things you will need to be aware of:
Emotional support during pregnancy for the surrogate and for yourself as Intended Parents during the process
Regular oversight of the pregnancy, including counseling and other benefits if requested and as needed by the surrogate
Troubleshooting any conflicts in the relationship with the surrogate or the clinic
Coping with health insurance issues or other hurdles
The Bottom Line: Let Meryl Help with your Independent Surrogacy
When Intended Parents choose Independent Surrogacy, Meryl can consult at any point in the process — helping to explain required steps, assisting by referring to other professionals, helping to choose an IVF clinic, and much more. And generally serving as an outside expert who offers oversight and can point out the pitfalls, how to avoid them, and what is essential to ensure a successful journey.
If you are considering Independent Surrogacy, please contact Meryl for a free 15-minute introductory call. As always, consulting arrangements and fees can be structured to suit your needs overall.