Making Money As A Surrogate Mother

A Surrogate mother is a woman who bears a child on behalf of another woman, either from her own egg fertilized by the other woman's partner, or from the implantation in her uterus of a fertilized egg from the other woman.
 

How to Become a Surrogate Mother

Becoming a surrogate mother requires a generous heart. There are numerous physical, emotional, and legal issues involved, and the compensation, when received, is not proportional to these difficulties. You might be led through many of these issues if you work through a surrogacy agency, but if you do a private surrogacy, you will need to work through many of these issues on your own. The following is a basic guide about how to become a surrogate mother and what to expect.

Part 1 of 3: Agencies versus Private Surrogacy

Contact an agency. Find a surrogacy agency in your state and ask for an application. An agency will find the prospective parents and lead you through the majority of the procedures and steps involved.

Find out if you're qualified. An agency will be able to explain to you any state or federal rules governing who can and cannot be a surrogate. These rules typically cover qualities such as age range, prior pregnancy experience, and overall health. The agency may also have additional qualifications, however, which could make becoming a surrogate more difficult.

Fill out the agency's application.  You must answer truthfully and will likely face legal consequences if you do not. Applications usually require you to fill out basic information about your age and state of health and may also include a portion in which you will have to verify that you understand the conditions you will be held to maintain during pregnancy.

Be prepared to undergo examinations. If your application is accepted, the agency will require that you go through testing to verify that you do not have any STDs and that you are in stable mental and physical health. The advantage of working through an agency is that the agency may offset part or all of the cost involved with such testing.

Know your compensation rights. Surrogate mothers working through an agency almost always get paid, but the compensation will vary. Payment often ranges between $10,000 and $15,000.^[2] It is important to note, however, that much of this payment is given so that you can use it on matters related to the pregnancy. 

Wait for the contract. Another perk about working through an agency is that the agency will work with legal professionals to write up a contract that should protect the rights of all parties involved. Due to the amount of experience the agency has, it will know what such contracts need to cover. The downside is that you may have very little say in the contract as it is written and will need to ensure that your rights are addressed before signing.

Obey the agency's time table. The agency will work with you to set up doctor appointments and other scheduled exams, saving you the trouble of setting up and paying for the exams yourself. You will need to stick to the schedule arranged for you by the agency, however.

2  Arrange a private surrogacy. If you know friends or family members in need of a surrogate mother, you can arrange a private surrogacy with them. You can also answer a classified ad or place one yourself. Private surrogacy arrangements can have more freedom but offer less protection.

Only enter an agreement a with reliable party. Surrogacy agencies put potential parents through a screening process, but when arranging a surrogacy on your own, no such process exists. You must verify for yourself whether or not the potential parents are reliable. If they are not friends or relatives, make sure to ask for character references before agreeing to the process.

Be aware of any possible genetic issues.In traditional surrogacy arrangements, the father's sperm is injected into the surrogate mother's egg. Do not become a traditional surrogate mother for an immediate family member, such as a parent or sibling, since doing so would result in inbred genes. Only become a surrogate for immediate family if both the intended mother's egg and the intended father's sperm are used.

Prepare to handle all the legal stuff yourself. Another disadvantage of private surrogacy situations is that you will have to sort through the legalities on your own. Inform yourself of state laws governing surrogacy  and have a contract written to protect yourself. Hiring an attorney is your best course of action, but it can be an extra expense. On the plus side, you will have greater involvement in the process, and you may have more control over the conditions set in the contract.

Work for free, or close to it. Prospective parents usually choose the route of private surrogacy because it saves them money, but that also means that you will not receive as much compensation. This is especially true in instances where the surrogate mother is aiding friends or family. Technically, you can set your own rate of payment, but usually you can only expect the prospective parents to pay for part or all of the medical expenses accrued during the pregnancy and not much more.Only get exams you feel are necessary. You may want to verify whether or not you are in good condition to give birth, but you can probably skip the STD test and psychological test as long as the parents do not demand that you take them.

Know the medical health of the prospective parents. Make sure that the parents do not have any infectious diseases that can be passed to you during the process. The FDA requires tests to be performed within 30 days of egg retrieval and 7 days of sperm collection.

Be self-disciplined. Private surrogacy can be less structured than surrogacy performed through an agency, which does allow you more opportunity to schedule doctor appointments and meetings with the parents at your own pace. This also means that you have to be more self-disciplined, though.

Part 2: Pregnancy

1      Brush up on the two types of surrogacy. There are two types of surrogacy.

In traditional surrogacy, the surrogate mother is artificially inseminated with the biological father's sperm. The biological father can either be the father who intends to raise the child or an anonymous sperm donor. The surrogate mother, in this case, is the baby's biological mother.

In gestational surrogacy or in vitro fertilization, the eggs from the prospective mother and the sperm of the prospective father are fertilized outside of the body before being placed into the womb of the surrogate mother. The surrogate mother is not genetically tied to the baby.

2     Navigate the contract. For the sake of everyone involved, it is best if you hire an attorney well-versed in surrogacy laws for your state in order to draft a fair contract that addresses the concerns of both parties. The contract should cover all major aspects of the process.

Clearly identify who will retain legal custody of the child after birth.

Specify whether the procedure is to be a traditional or gestational surrogacy.

Indicate the number of embryos to be transferred if going through a gestational surrogacy.

Spell out what will happen in regards to obligations and rights if multiples are born.

Outline how often the baby will be tested during pregnancy and a rough schedule of when those tests will occur.

State what will happen in the event that test results come back poorly.

List financial obligations, from who must pay for check-ups to compensation.

3   Have the endometrial prepared. Before an embryo can be transferred, the endometrial, or uterine cavity, must be prepared so that the embryo can implant properly.

Take birth control pills at the beginning of the menstrual cycle. This regulates your system.

Go in for hormone injections. The doctor will inject hormones to stimulate the pituitary glad, thereby regulating your ovaries.

Within 8 to 12 days, your period should occur.

Receive estrogen injections. These injections are used so that the lining of the endometrial will thicken.

Take an ultrasound. A vaginal ultrasound is used to measure how thick the lining is.

Stop taking the pituitary hormone when the genetic mother donates her egg. Continue with the estrogen and begin taking progesterone injections.

4   Go to a doctor trained in implantation. If you work through an agency, the agency will either have its own doctor or be able to refer you to one. If not, you will need to work with the parents to find a doctor who can perform the procedure.

Embryo transfer is an out-patient procedure, so you will be released from the clinic roughly four to six hours after the implantation.

The embryo and a small amount of liquid growing medium will be inserted through the cervix and into the uterus using a soft rubber catheter. The doctor may use an ultrasound to determine where to place the embryo in your uterus.

Stay in bed with your feet raised and head lowered until released from the clinic.

5   Schedule frequent check-ups. The prenatal check-up timeline you follow for a surrogacy pregnancy should essentially be the same as the timeline followed during a standard pregnancy.

Go to the doctor for a blood test two weeks after the pregnancy. This will confirm the pregnancy. Continue taking estrogen and progesterone for the next three months or until the doctor takes you off of it.

Schedule your next prenatal visit within the first 8 to 12 weeks. Sooner is better than later. The doctor will verify that the pregnancy is still going well and will check for fetal heart tones.

Plan additional doctor visits every three to four weeks through your second trimester. The doctor may perform an ultrasound at the end of your first trimester and will begin to monitor fetal growth by the second trimester.

Schedule more frequent visits during your final trimester. During the last three months, you should go for check-ups every two to three weeks. The doctor will perform a variety of exams, including ones that screen for gestational diabetes, signs of preterm labor, and other possible birthing risks. The doctor will also try to determine the position of the fetus in your womb.

Discuss birthing options with the doctor. Find out if you can expect a normal delivery. Labor may need to be induced if the baby comes late, and in some cases, a Caesarean may need to be performed.

6  Stay in consistent contact with the parents. The parents need to be involved in the pregnancy as much as possible.

Invite them to the check-ups, especially those in which an ultrasound will be performed. If they cannot attend, be sure to call them afterward with an update.

Let them know how serious you are. Ease their concerns by explaining how well you take care of your body and all the effort you make in helping their baby to develop.

Inform them about your own concerns. Ease your own fears by entrusting them with information about any difficulties you might be experiencing during the pregnancy, even if those difficulties are as simple as morning sickness. If they are friends or relatives, you may also be able to express a desire to get to know their new baby after he or she is born. Assure them, however, that your eagerness is in no way an indication of you wanting to keep the child yourself.

7   Find emotional support. The surrogacy process can be mentally and emotionally taxing, so a strong base of support is essential.

Trust in your spouse or partner, if you have one.

Meet with other surrogate mothers. Attend support groups for surrogate mothers or seek out help online. These women will understand exactly what you are going through.

See a counselor, if necessary. Some surrogate mothers may need to seek professional help in order to cope with the psychological difficulties involved in carrying someone else's child.

8  Take steps to ensure fetal health. Follow the same guidelines you would follow if the pregnancy were your own.

Do not engage in strenuous physical activity, especially during your first trimester.

Stay away from tobacco, alcohol, and caffeine. Maintain a well-balanced diet.

Keep your life as stress-free as possible. Stress can terminate a pregnancy early on and can induce early labor later in the pregnancy.

Take prenatal vitamins. These vitamins are formulated to keep both birth mother and baby healthy.

Part 3 of 3: Legal Aspects

Know your legal obligations. Laws regulating surrogate pregnancies vary from state to state and tend to be fairly loose. As such, most of your obligations will be the result of your contractual agreement.

You will be legally obligated to do all you can, within reason, to maintain the pregnancy. You must attend your prenatal check-ups and seek additional medical help if a problem with the pregnancy occurs. You must also refrain from reckless behavior that could endanger the baby.

You will need to surrender the child at birth. While there have been cases in which the surrogate mother refused to give the child up at birth, a well-written contract will likely prevent this from happening. Regardless of how attached you get to the baby through your pregnancy, you must be prepared to give her or him up to his parents after giving birth.

You cannot terminate the pregnancy early without the parents' agreement. If you change your mind halfway through, you may not be able to terminate the pregnancy early if the contract specifically prohibits you from doing so. The only exception might be if your life is in danger because of the pregnancy, especially if the danger comes from a threat you did not previously know about.