Surrogate Parenting

Making yourself available as a surrogate mother is a wonderful way to help infertile couples to become parents. Also, you will find that the majority of them will be compensated financially for their time. It is not something to be done without risks though, so these risks will need to be evaluated before she even thinks about making contacts. The surrogate mother will need to be strong, emotionally as well as physically. Plus, she will need to be financially stable before she even thinks about doing research into it.

There are some commonly held misunderstandings about surrogacy. These can range from, the financial aspect, how a surrogate mother is matched with her intended parents, how easy the process is and also there are some surrogate mothers who mistakenly believe that after giving birth to the child they need have no more contact with the child or parents again.

The infertile couple need the surrogate mother to carry their unborn child within her womb to full term, so that their child will be safely and healthily born. The financial compensation given will depend on many things. The state that the contract is made in, whether you are in it for the long term and how many children you have had for that particular couple. Also, it depends on if you have arranged this procedure privately or have gone through an agency. The cost of surrogacy can range from $20,00 to $40,00. Travel and medical costs are usually paid for by either the agency or the intended parents. Very often a surrogate mother can locate her couple through an agency. While the majority of agencies will allow the surrogate mother to choose the parents she would like to help there are a small number of agencies that do the pairing with intended parents independently.

While some women consider surrogacy for the financial compensation will have to realise that this procedure can take an enormous toll on a woman, physically and emotionally and this must be considered. Plus the time commitment, it can take a couple of years for the whole process to reach completion.

The few risks that the surrogate mother will find are, she may have to go through some fertility treatment of become pregnant and she may find some of these to be difficult. Also, there is the risk of miscarriage. There is also the chance of post-partum/postnatal depression that can be made worse by the fact that the baby has been taken away from the surrogate mother. Added to this is the chance that she will become too emotionally attached to the child and will not want to give the child up. For this reason, surrogate parents are advised to use counselling services or support groups all the way through pregnancy.

Most women will find that there are benefits in being a surrogate mother. The first thing is the compensation, she should be able to live off this while being pregnant, in fact, it may even last for a while after. Also she should find that all of her travel and medical expenses are paid for by either the agency or the intended parents, though not her medical insurance payments. Plus, having the ability to help her intended parents conceive and start their own family can cause an extremely strong bond to grow between the intended parents and the surrogate parent, and this can last a lifetime.