4 Important Keys to Surrogate Screening

Key Points:

• Surrogacy Agencies differ on when they screen their surrogates.  The screening process often takes 2-4 months and can cost up to $5,000 per surrogate.
• Surrogates undergo a complete medical screening to ensure they are ready to move forward in the process.
• Psychological evaluations are important to determine readiness so that you can feel confident moving forward.
• More thoroughly screened, qualified candidates increase the likelihood of clinic acceptance and your overall success.

Surrogate screening directly impacts your wait time and your success. The more qualified the surrogate, the quicker you can connect and move forward in the process. To find a surrogate who has been thoroughly screened or learn more about the screening process, talk to one of our specialists today.

Speak with a specialist today!

How Do Agencies Screen Differently?

Typically, surrogacy agencies screen in these two ways:

1. The best surrogacy agencies pre-screen candidates before connecting them with couples.
2. Other agencies wait to start medical and psychological screening until after matching, forcing you to absorb costs while those evaluations occur.

The agencies that pre-screen surrogates benefit you by:

• Saving you 2-4 months wait time.
• Increase the likelihood of your clinic accepting the surrogate.
• Saving you from unnecessary financial loss.
• Prevent you from going through the re-matching process and starting over.

We know families like you don’t want to wait to become parents, and you want a highly qualified surrogate who gives you the best chance of success. 

Here are the top 3 agencies that pre-screen surrogates:

• American Surrogacy
• Circle Surrogacy
• Growing Generations

Now, continue to the 4 important keys to surrogate screening and how they impact you.

1. Medical

Determining a surrogate’s medical readiness for surrogacy is crucial. Families like you don’t want to connect with a surrogate only to find out later that she isn’t medically cleared to proceed. 

Items involved in the medical screening include: 

• Self-disclosed medical, social and drug history information. 
• Official medical records. 
• Birth records.
• A complete medical workup to check blood type, hormone levels, Pap smear, uterine check, STD testing and more.
• Spouses will also undergo drug testing and blood work to test for infectious diseases.

This thorough examination helps confirm a prospective surrogate is physically healthy and ready to carry a pregnancy to term.

Unfortunately, many surrogacy professionals don’t require full medical disclosure before connecting couples and surrogates. That decreases the chance of clinic approval and forces you to wait even longer to become a parent.

2. Psychological Evaluation

Carrying a child for someone else dreaming of becoming a parent is an amazing gift. It also requires a psychological evaluation to ensure a surrogate is ready to take on the mental challenges associated with pregnancy and surrogacy.

Background checks, an in-home assessment and mandated counseling and support will determine whether a surrogate is ready for the process.

Again, as a couple looking for a surrogacy agency to pursue this journey, it’s important that you confirm their screening process and ensure that any potential surrogate you connect with has undergone the necessary screenings and evaluations to determine their readiness.

You can contact an agency online to learn more about this process or get started today.

3. More Qualified Candidates

A more thorough screening process means more qualified candidates. As an intended parent, this directly impacts your wait time and success rate.

Couples like you want to become parents, and we know you’d rather work with an agency that offers more qualified candidates over an agency that doesn’t.

Smaller agencies who don’t have the marketing and outreach often offer lower costs, but that decreases your chances of matching with a surrogate who is ready to move forward in the process.

If, after matching, your surrogate still needs various screenings because they haven’t yet been deemed qualified, you are potentially talking about months of additional wait, not to mention additional costs.

Remember, you can always contact us online to talk to a professional and get connected with an agency that thoroughly screens and works with more qualified surrogate candidates.

4. A Balanced List

An agency that balances its list of fully screened surrogates and families can maintain short wait times because you aren’t competing with too many intended parents for too few surrogates.

Agencies with more marketing and outreach are able to identify and screen more quality surrogates. This also allows a more limited list of families to maintain a 1:1 ratio. Our partner, American Surrogacy, works diligently to maintain a balanced list so you aren’t waiting to connect with a highly qualified surrogate.

An agency’s ability to thoroughly screen surrogates is key to their success and yours. By completing our online form, you can quickly speak to a specialist who can further explain the screening process and get you started when ready.