Are you interested in learning more about our Surrogacy and/or Egg Donation programs at Simple Surrogacy? If you have been thinking about having a consultation, now is the time to schedule! We are offering no-charge consultations by appointment only on March 28, 29 or 30  between 9 and 4 in our Dallas, TX office.

Please call our Executive Program Director, Stephanie Scott to schedule at 214-673-9321

We look forward to meeting with you!

Surrogacy 101: Pregnancy and Delivery

This article continues our series on informational articles about surrogacy.

After a successful pregnancy is achieved, the surrogate is released to her regular OB/GYN and fertility medications are discontinued gradually.

The first ultrasound usually happens between 6-8 weeks, and that is when you will find out how many babies your surrogate is carrying.

If your reproductive endocrinologist transferred more than two embryos of excellent quality, you should be prepared for the news that you are expecting twins! Twins frequently occur when two excellent quality embryos are transferred. If both embryos took, you would have fraternal twins. If only one egg took, but split, you would have identical twins. Many of our Gay couples choose to transfer one embryo inseminated by each father. We’ve had several sets of twins result from that procedure, one being related to each father!

Once the ultrasound confirms the number of babies, the remainder of the pregnancy will be like any other pregnancy. The Surrogate will go for checkups monthly, and the big ultrasound at 20 or so weeks will tell you the sex of the baby(s) if you want to find out.

During pregnancy, you will discover what an amazing value you have in Simple Surrogacy. Not only do we provide excellent care as a surrogacy agency, we go above and beyond in helping our parents register for their baby registry, locate a provider or class to teach baby care and first aid, and we even help them register for a CPR class. We’re happy to provide those services as a courtesy to our clients, especially to single Ifs and couples who might have very little experience with baby care. Another factor to consider if you have the news of twins is the specialty care they can require. We are happy to recommend support groups for parents of twins, and also recommend special twins baby care classes.

Once your pregnancy is well underway and your escrow is funded, all that remains is for you to enjoy the pregnancy journey with your surrogate. Simple Surrogacy will take more of a back seat during this time, while still checking on your surrogate and you throughout the process. Once time for delivery nears, we’ll coordinate with the hospital to insure legal factors are considered when the baby is born.

At most hospitals, we’re able to coordinate a room so that the new parents can room in with their baby, space permitting. For International parents, we’ll coordinate the receipt of birth certificate and help facilitate the passports the baby will need to return home.

Simple Surrogacy’s Annual Get Together

Simple Surrogacy and Simple Donations held their annual (and sometimes bi-annual) get together at Maggianos Little Italy at Northpark on September 17^th. Simple Surrogacy likes to host these get-togethers from time to time so that we can catch up with our wonderful old clients and see their adorable children, and also so that we can introduce our new prospective clients to our staff and they can meet clients who have been through the program before them.

The chance for a potential IP to meet a client who has been through our program is priceless. For many potential clients, they feel like they are the only people they know who are going through the process, or they have done general research, but never actually spoken to someone who has gone through a surrogacy. It is extremely helpful for these potential clients to not only know and see Simple Surrogacy’s successful clients and their children, but to also see that even though the road to parenthood through surrogacy can be long, it is ultimately very rewarding to achieve it!

Another benefit to our get-togethers is Intended Parent’s opportunity to mingle with current and former surrogates, and see how they interact with their former and current IP’s. For many potential IPs, the surrogate’s reasons for being a surrogate are sometimes a challenge to understand. They also wonder about the relationships that will form between themselves and their surrogates, both during and after the surrogacy journey. Speaking with the surrogates helps relieve many of these worries, and in some cases, even facilitates future matches among our Surrogates and IP’s! We have had Intended Parents tell us that in speaking with a surrogate and seeing how family oriented, compassionate and generous they all are, they gained the confidence to undertake the surrogacy journey for themselves.

I speak for myself when I say that it was a great pleasure to meet both our Surrogates and Intended Parents in person, and get the chance to relax and dine together for a few hours. I already can’t wait for the next get-together which will be in the spring! I know we’ll welcome many more babies to the Simple Surrogacy family by then, and I will get the chance to cuddle with even more tiny bundles of joy! Thank you again to our wonderful staff, Surrogates and clients who were able to join us, we cherish each and every one of you!-Stephanie Scott

This article continues our series on informational articles about surrogacy.
After the initial medical screening, the Surrogate and Intended parents will also have counseling and psychological screenings and evaluations.

Counseling and Psychological Evaluations
The role of counseling is to prepare all parties involved in the treatment and to consider all factors which may influence the outcome. Counseling ensures that everyone is confident and comfortable with their participation and trusts each other. Counseling also minimizes foreseeable risks, thereby avoiding the placement of unacceptable burdens on any of the parties, including the future child. Some clinics require that a Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) be completed by the Gestational Surrogate and Egg Donor before entrance into their medical program. The MMPI is one of the most frequently used personality tests in the mental health fields. This assessment, or test, was designed to help identify personal, social, and behavioral problems in psychiatric patients. The test helps provide relevant information to aid in problem identification, diagnosis, and treatment planning for the patient. All Intended Parents, Surrogates and Donors participating in Simple Surrogacy’s Program are required to undergo a Psycho-Social Assessment before moving forward with the medical and legal process. These are provided by our program and are not an additional expense.

Gestational Surrogate/Intended Parent(s) Suggestions
During the treatment cycle both the Surrogate and Intended Parent(s) should:

·         Be open and honest regarding expectations and hopes throughout the process.
·         Refrain from smoking, drinking, and drug use.
·         Eat healthy food.
·         Take vitamin supplements.
·         Intended Fathers should refrain from taking hot showers or baths and sitting in Jacuzzi tubs within the week of their sperm donation to ensure their donation results in the best quality of sperm they have to offer.
·         Refrain from sexual intercourse during the cycling process.
·         Keep stress levels to a minimum.
·         Avoid overexertion .
·         Refrain from taking any additional medication other than that prescribed by the Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE) and/or your personal Physician.