SURROGATES

Helping Create a Miracle

First, we would like to thank you. Only the most extraordinary person would consider surrogacy. Surrogacy is one of the most selfless and rewarding acts that a woman can offer to another human being. Thanks to the giving spirit of women, such as yourself, there are many joyous parents whose hearts and lives have been fulfilled by the children they longed for.

Your precious gift -- a loving womb -- becomes a Gift of Life.

Why Surrogacy? Surrogacy is becoming a popular option for people who are unable to have a child in the conventional way. Unlike adoption, surrogacy gives the Intended Parents the opportunity to have a child genetically related to one or both of them. Surrogacy also allows the Intended Parents to be involved in the pregnancy and birth of their child.

Surrogates are extraordinary women that desire to help others experience the joy of parenthood. If you are thinking about becoming a Surrogate, you have already begun an incredible journey to help someone realize their dream of having a child. Giving the Gift of Life is not only rewarding for those that become parents, but the reward to one’s soul is truly indescribable. The biggest benefit is knowing that the Gift of Life you are providing to another family is the most precious gift they will ever receive.

Becoming a Surrogate

Gift of Life Surrogacy is here to help you to become a Surrogate for an Intended Parents' future child. Once the baby is born you will have helped to create a new family, and with Gift of Life Surrogacy you will have also gained an extended family of your own.

Our agency will match you with the right Intended Parents and facilitate the surrogacy process. We coordinate all legal, financial, and medical matters throughout the fertility process and the resulting pregnancy. We use fund management to allocate and disperse the fees you will receive when you become a Surrogate.

A Gestational Surrogate carries an embryo that is created in a laboratory and transferred into the Surrogate's womb by in-vitro fertilization (IVF). The embryo is created using the eggs from the Intended Mother (or an Egg Donor) and the sperm from the Intended Father (or a Sperm Donor). A Gestational Surrogate is not genetically related to the baby.

In order to be qualified to work with our agency as a Gestational Surrogate, you must:

• Be a resident of the United States
• Be between the ages of 21-42
• Be healthy overall and have a healthy weight/height ratio
• Have experienced a full-term pregnancy and delivery
• Have at least one child and be raising (or have raised) that child
• Be willing to provide copies of medical records for the pregnancy and delivery of all children, as well as medical records for any tubal ligation or other partial sterilization procedure
• Be in a stable living situation
• Have the support of your Spouse/Partner (when applicable), who must also consent to the contract
• Your Husband/Partner must be willing to have blood screening for certain infectious diseases
• Not be on public assistance
• Be covered by health insurance that will provide for the pregnancy, or the Intended Parents can provide health insurance if none is otherwise available
• Never have been convicted of a crime and be willing to have a criminal background check performed
• Have a minimum of a high school education
• Be willing to undergo medical and psychological testing and evaluations before becoming a Surrogate
• Be willing to take medications via injection (when instructed by Physician)
• Not smoke or take illegal drugs
• Be willing to refrain from alcohol throughout the pregnancy
• Be willing to keep caffeine intake to a minimum for the duration of the pregnancy
• Not have any sexually transmitted diseases
• Not have any psychiatric illness
• Have reliable transportation: You will have several doctor appointments before the transfer and during the first trimester, and you will also be seeing your OB regularly throughout the pregnancy
• Enjoy being pregnant
• Be motivated by the wish to help others create or add to their family

Once you have contacted us indicating your interest in becoming a Surrogate, we will mail you a Surrogate profile packet and application. As part of the process, you will complete an extensive questionnaire in which you will be asked for detailed information about yourself, your history and your health. These questions will cover a broad range of subjects so that the agency, and potential Intended Parents, can get to know you. We will also need a current photograph of you (with your family if you desire). It is more convenient if the photograph is in digital format and can be transmitted via the internet.

After you return your completed packet, we will conduct a phone interview with you. Once we agree to work together, we will schedule a personal meeting with you intended to help us get to know each other better. At this time we will review the responses provided in your profile packet and answer any further questions you may have. You will then sign our agency’s agreement, which states that you agree to work with us and gives us permission to present your profile and photograph to prospective Intended Parents. It also gives the Intended Parents permission to review your complete profile. (Gift of Life Surrogacy always insures that your privacy is protected. The Intended Parents will not see any confidential identifying information. Your last name and identifying information will not be revealed to any Intended Parents until you agree to work together.)

Once you are a part of our agency, we will run a criminal background check and set up appointments for the medical and pscychological evaluations to determine that you are healthy, able and willing to carry a surrogacy pregnancy. We comply with the guidelines set by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Both you and your Partner (if you have one) will need to be medically evaluated. Your testing will usually be done at our selected clinic. In addition to screening for STD's (sexually transmitted diseases) and HIV, you will have a gynecological exam. The Reproductive Specialist or Reproductive Endocrinologist will determine if other tests are necessary. Your Partner will need to have a blood test for STD's and HIV. You will meet with our Psychologist who specializes in third party reproduction and you will be administered a psychological assessment test. When applicable, your Spouse/Partner is typically required to meet with the Psychologist as well. All of this is to ensure that you and your Partner (if applicable), understand the commitment being a Surrogate takes and that you are medically and emotionally prepared to proceed. Once you have passed these screenings, your basic profile and photograph will be listed on our website for Intended Parents to read.

We will contact you immediately once Intended Parents express interest in you as their potential Gestational Surrogate. You will get a copy of the Intended Parents' profile and their biographies to help you get to know them and to determine whether you have a mutual interest in meeting with them. You will learn about the Intended Parents' history, their infertility struggles, if they already have children, if they would like more than one child, their likes and dislike, their personalities, etc. You will be able to ask additional questions after reading their profile. If you decide that you would like to move forward with the Intended Parents, we will coordinate and schedule your first meeting.

Intended Parents usually look for a Surrogate who is healthy and stable, but they also want someone with whom they feel they can comfortably work with during the intimate, emotional process of a surrogacy pregnancy. The agency cannot guarantee when you will be selected. You could be chosen in one week, one month, or one year from the time you complete your qualifications.

We will schedule a meeting with the agency, the Intended Parents, and you and your Partner (when applicable). If you and the Intended Parents are not able to meet in person, we will arrange a conference call scheduled at everyones' convenience. If the meeting is successful and you, your Partner and the Intended Parents are interested in working together, we will move onto the contract negotiations phase.

You will determine the fee for carrying and delivering. Although the gift of your surrogacy is incalculably precious to someone unable to conceive, most Surrogates request $15,000-$20,000 for a single birth and $3,000 - $5,000 for each additional child you carry. If you are an experienced Surrogate, you can expect to receive compensation of $25,000+. We will gladly assist you in determining the compensation you feel is most appropriate. You will also receive compensation for expenses, lost wages, maternity clothes, as well as other benefits. Once you agree upon a fee and the particulars of your surrogacy, we will have our lawyer draw up the contract. You will then be given enough time to consult with your personal attorney, if desired, before signing the contract.

Gift of Life Surrogacy will arrange life insurance for you, which is mandatory per the Intended Parent/Gestational Surrogate contract. If needed, we will also arrange appropriate medical insurance, although in the majority of cases, most Gestational Surrogates already have medical coverage for the pregnancy and birth, so this may not be necessary. Both will be payed for by the Intended Parents per the contract details.

An attorney specializing in reproductive law will be available to answer any legal questions you may have regarding the surrogacy process. The legal contract must be signed by all parties before starting the embryo transfer cycle.

Informative resource links about the legal process of surrogacy:
National Fertility Law Center Surrogacy Agreement FAQ's
Individual State Laws Governing Surrogacy 

The Reproductive Endocrinologist will work with your Intended Parents to determine the cycle plan and your medication protocol. There are many differences in protocols depending on your Intended Parents’ Reproductive Endocrinologist’s recommendations; however, the summation below will give you a general idea of what will occur:

First, your menstrual cycle and the menstrual cycle of the Intended Mother (or Egg Donor) are synchronized using birth control pills and daily injections of Lupron (a drug that suppresses ovulation), estrogen and progesterone in either oral, patch, injection or a combination of two or more forms so that as your body is being prepared for pregnancy, the Intended Mother (or Egg Donor) is being prepared for her egg retrieval. The nurse at the reproductive clinic will talk you through the first injections, and we will also go over all of the information with you to make sure you understand the cycle and medication instructions, as it is vital that all directions are followed precisely.

Meanwhile, the development of the Intended Mother’s eggs are monitored by blood work and ultrasounds. At the same time, the thickness of the lining of your uterus, which is essential to the success of the embryo transfer, will be evaluated using blood tests and ultrasounds also. You can expect to visit the Reproductive Endocrinologist several times before the embryo transfer in order to check your uterine lining for its readiness to receive the embryo. Three to five days after the eggs have been retrieved from the Intended Mother (or Egg Donor) and fertilized with the sperm of the Intended Father (or Sperm Donor), the physician will transfer the embryos to you. The medical procedure for the embryo transfer to the Gestational Surrogate is similar to having a pap smear, and is completed under sterile conditions. You may then begin progesterone injections or suppositories around this time, depending on the physician and your response to the medications.

Many clinics require 2-3 days of bed rest after the embryo transfer. The Intended Parents will expect you treat the physician's instructions seriously. If you need childcare to allow you to stay in bed, that will be provided as specified in your contract. Gift of Life Surrogacy suggests that all Surrogates spend this time resting in a hotel, away from their daily responsibilities. Your contract will cover all such eventualities, so you will never have to worry about money to meet your surrogacy obligations.

You will have a pregnancy test about 10 to 12 days after the embryo transfer. This will usually be done by drawing blood at the clinic or a local lab.

You and your Intended Parents will determine together how much contact you will have during the pregnancy. If both parties want a lot of contact, you can arrange for frequent visits or phone calls. If you both want little contact, or live far apart, you may just see the Intended Parents for some doctor appointments and correspond through e-mail. If there are ever any questions, changes or problems, we will be there to help resolve them. We encourage a healthy and respectful relationship between the Intended Parents and the Surrogate. We are dedicated to doing our best to make this experience pleasant and rewarding for everyone, and believe that communication is a very important factor in a great surrogacy relationship.

The surrogacy arrangement and contract ensures that the Surrogate will not lose any money. The Intended Parents are responsible for all expenses such as medical procedures, doctor’s fees, medications, attorney’s fees, phone calls, etc. Surrogates even have a monthly allowance to pay for such out-of-pocket expenses as transportation to and from surrogacy appointments.

Gift of Life Surrogacy will set up a funds management account for you and your Intended Parents, into which they will place the funds for the surrogacy before the embryo transfer. That way, payments will always be sent on time. Even if something were to happen to your Intended Parents, you would still be compensated, since the funds are already set aside. In that unfortunate event, you will not have to worry about what will happen to the baby(ies) you are carrying; the Intended Parents will have designated a guardian.

If your Intended Parents' clinic is not near your home, you may have to travel. If so, the Intended Parents and the agency will make your travel arrangements and the Intended Parents will pay for the costs. We can also arrange for medical monitoring to be done near your home. In these cases the Surrogate usually only has to travel for the initial medical screening and at the time of the embryo transfer.

We go beyond matching you with Intended Parents. We also give our Surrogates total support with all of the emotional, medical and legal details involved in the surrogacy process. We have a comprehensive Support Program for our Surrogates to ensure they have a wonderful surrogacy experience. We work to ensure our Surrogates receive lots of support, including weekly calls from the time they are matched until their post-partum checkup, monthly support group meetings, periodic get-togethers and special events for Surrogates and their families. You will deal directly with either Shannon Norris or Deborah Reid, the agency Co-Directors, throughout the arrangement, from the time you are accepted into the program through the birth of the baby and after. We will always be there to answer any questions or concerns that arise.

Few things in life are as heartbreaking as the inability to fulfill one's desire to start a family. Let us emphasize once more that being a Surrogate can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. You already know of the joys that being a parent brings, and the fact that you are contemplating becoming a Surrogate defines what a caring and compassionate person you are. We would be honored to share it with you.We hope to hear from you.

You can contact us through our "Contact Us " page or call us at (208) 442-6523.

Fill out profile http://giftoflifesurrogacy.com/doc/surrogate-profile.rtf  . Please send a photo and print and sign the signature page 32. You can fax,e-mail,mail to me.

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