Intended
Parents
The
Surrogacy/Egg Donor Answer
Successful
Matching
Successful
Family Building
Surrogacy
Solutions Services for Intended Parents
The
Surrogacy/Egg Donation Answer
Intended parents
have many questions about their future family and questions about
surrogacy. We are sensitive to the fact that they may have been
through years of female factor infertility treatments that were
unsuccessful, and that they have suffered substantial emotional
and financial loss as a result. Many couples may have known from
the beginning of their relationship, or before, that they would
need to turn to third party reproduction to create a child.
Many have found
that surrogacy/egg donation is a viable solution to infertility.
In vitro fertilization, egg donation, and gestational surrogacy
procedures and success rates have increased steadily in the
United
States since 1983 when in vitro fertilization (IVF) technology
was first used to assist reproduction. Traditional surrogacy
has been
employed in the United States for a much longer time. Although
an unsuccessful attempt in the end, a reference to the beginning
of traditional surrogacy is even found
in the
Bible.
Abram’s wife said “the Lord has restrained me from
bearing children. Please go to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain
children
by her.” Hagar bore Abram a son. Genesis 16:2 and 15.
While adoption
is an available resource for childless couples, the waiting
period
for a healthy child is quite lengthy in this day where few babies
born are placed for adoption. Age limitations exclude many intended
parents from adoption programs. Sometimes, intended parents feel
uneasy about adopting a child for whom they will likely receive
little to no medical or genetic history, or where they do not know
whether the birth mother consumed harmful substances during
the
pregnancy. In an adoption setting the birth mother always has the
option of changing her mind and shattering the hopes of the adopting
couple. Surrogacy and/or egg donation is the answer to experiencing
the joy of
parenthood
for infertile
couples
that
would like
to have
a genetic relationship to their child, or have otherwise determined
that adoption is not right for them.
Surrogacy Solutions
will work with intended parents regardless of marital status.
For intended parents seeking egg donation and/or gestational
surrogacy, each infertility physician has his or her own guidelines
regarding marital status and age of the intended parents. We
do
not impose age restrictions in addition to those of the infertility
physicians, and will endeavor to assist you in locating an infertility
physician who will provide treatment if age or marital status
are
deterring factors. With respect to traditional surrogacies, we
prefer that an unmarried intended parent be under age sixty,
or that the
collective age of a married couple not exceed one hundred twenty.
However, we are open to considering requests to work with intended
parents beyond that age on a case by case basis.
Arkansas is
an ideal location in which to have your egg donation or surrogacy
contracts drawn and administered because its laws are favorable
to the process of surrogacy. Arkansas has a long history of
public
policy favoring the creation of new families. Unlike some states
which have only a body of case law such as California, Arkansas
has a statute directly
addressing surrogacy and properly recognizing children born to
surrogate mothers. The law regarding surrogacy in Arkansas is
among the most
favorable in the United States.
Successful
Matching
Our information-gathering
processes are effective in selecting egg donors and surrogates.
The lengthy application
requires the applicant for egg donation or surrogacy
to examine her own views and thoughts about the path ahead of her,
in addition to providing extensive medical history about herself
and her family. Following the written application and in addition
to the other screening procedures, prospective surrogates visit
with agency personnel several times so that we may gain insight
into their personality. We take this time to explore the emotional
needs and other expectations the surrogate may have. We visit with
egg donors as well, with a view towards satisfying ourselves that
a donor candidate can and will comply with the rigorous medication
protocol.
Once intended
parents commit to working with us for surrogacy, we discuss with
them at length their thoughts and feelings about what they are looking
for in a surrogate; their views about multiple birth, selective
reduction, and termination of pregnancy; their vision about the
type and amount of contact, and framework of the relationship they
envision with their surrogate; their preferences with respect to
attending medical appointments with their surrogate and the delivery
of their baby; and other matters of personality and personal preference
that will color their relationship with their surrogate. From all
of this, we are able to offer intended parents those surrogates
whose personality, views, and expectations most closely complement
that of the intended parents.
In matching
intended parents to egg donors, we begin with the mutual desire
of the donor and the intended parents regarding anonymity. From
there, we offer intended parents those egg donors who will most
closely fulfill the specifications set out by the intended parents
as to complexion, height, eye color, hair color, and any other unique
requests the intended parents may have for an egg donor’s
qualifications.
Successful
Family Building
The law enacted
by the Arkansas Legislature states that a child born to a surrogate
is the child of the intended father and his wife, if he is married.
(See Ark. Code Ann. § 9-10-201). The statute also provides
that the names of the intended father and his wife will be placed
on the child’s birth certificate upon issuance of an order
from the appropriate court. In that order, the existence of the
surrogacy contract is acknowledged. This is comforting law for
intended parent couples because they are not required to “adopt”
their own child when utilizing Arkansas law, and there is no opportunity
for the surrogate to keep the child under the statute. Unlike the
new Texas surrogacy statute, the Arkansas statute does not impose
residency and other restrictions on the intended parents. This
statute remains free from challenge or interpretation before an
Arkansas
appellate
court.
To assist in
building your family, Surrogacy Solutions needs considerable personal
information from you that will help us match you with an egg donor
or surrogate, including a color photocopy of your driver’s
licenses, current photographs, consent to child abuse registry inquiries,
complete fingerprint based criminal background checks, certain medical
screening tests, and health histories.
Surrogacy
Solutions Services for Intended Parents
Surrogacy Solutions offers the following services to intended
parents in connection with surrogacy and/or egg donation. Some intended
parents will not require all of the services listed below, while
others may require additional assistance. We provide personal service
and assistance to each and every intended parent from a wealth of
resources, all in accordance with the actual needs of each intended
parent. With our agency, you are never left to figure things out
for yourself or make arrangements on your own. We pride ourselves
on taking care of those all important details for you.
The
Agency:
- Locates
candidates for egg donation or surrogacy, obtaining information
on their medical, family medical, social, and educational history
(49 page application)
- Obtains
a psychological evaluation on candidates regarding fitness for
surrogacy or egg donation
- Interviews
candidates in a series of visits
- Checks backgrounds
of candidates and their partners for child abuse and criminal
offenses
- Engages
in discussions with intended parents to identify their desired
characteristics for an egg donor or surrogate, develop an understanding
of the level of involvement intended parents desire with a surrogate,
assist intended parents in forming parameters for surrogate or
egg donor qualifications, addresses any unique or uncommon qualifications
intended parents seek in a surrogate or egg donor; assists intended
parents in determining what personal information will be shared
with surrogate or egg donor candidate in the matching process;
and obtains insight into the personalities of intended parents
to enable the best possible surrogate match
- Offers assistance
in securing financing for intended parents, if needed
- Determines
the best surrogate or egg donor match for intended parents based
upon information gathered from candidates and intended parents,
including stated preferences of each and similarities of opinion
in ethical issues
- When necessary,
actively solicits surrogates or egg donors specifically for intended
parents who have expressed unique or uncommon preferences for
surrogate or egg donor qualifications through a network of professional
resources
- Provides
intended parents with a copy of the profile for one or more candidates
offering the best match to intended parents. Last names, spouse
or partner names, street addresses, places of employment, social
security number, and other information which would disclose the
identity of the candidate are redacted from the profile provided
at this stage. Profile provided at this stage includes photos
of surrogate and her children, or of egg donor and donor’s
children, if any
- Upon tentative
selection of a surrogate or egg donor by intended parents, agency
contacts surrogate or egg donor to advise of potential match and
provides general information about intended parents to secure
initial agreement of surrogate or egg donor to assist those specific
intended parents (no identifying information provided to surrogate
or egg donor, other than the first names and city of residence
of intended parents)
- Provides
verbal confirmation to intended parents and surrogate or egg donor
of mutual desire and willingness of the other to move forward
- Negotiates
a monetary contract with egg donor or surrogate on your behalf
- Negotiates
the dozens of contract details with the surrogate for non-monetary
issues, such as the number of inseminations or IVF cycles, who
will be present in the delivery room, etc.
- Engages
law firm for the intended parents and coordinates directly with
law firm for preparation of the written contract
- Assists in
securing separate attorney for surrogate or egg donor
- Outlines
contract details and provides contract administration to couples
who come to us already having selected an egg donor or surrogate,
and engages law firm for intended parents and coordinates with
law firm for actual preparation of the written contract
- Serves as
intermediary for anonymous egg donation contracts between intended
parents and egg donor.
Provides last name, address, and other identifying information
about the surrogate to intended parents once the contract is signed
- Actively
administers the egg donation or surrogate contract to assist in
fulfilling contractual obligations of the parties, including scheduling
physician appointments, providing egg donors and gestational surrogates
with medication calendars, making travel arrangements, filing
insurance claim forms, making hospital arrangements for delivery,
etc. Provides intended parents, surrogate and egg donor with twenty-four
hour, seven day a week access to agency personnel to assist with
any need, concern, or question that may arise
- Shares in
the financial risk involved with possible failures at different
points of the process by offering refunds of portions of fees
in the event that the process fails to go forward to a live birth
- Establishes
a separate interest bearing bank account in trust for each intended
parent, and escrows funds for surrogate fees and anticipated medical
expenses, making payment to medical providers and surrogate on
behalf of intended parents in accordance with the contract
- Arranges
travel and accommodations for surrogate prior to delivery of the
child
- Continuously
communicates with egg donor throughout the process, including
near daily telephone communication during medication cycle to
confirm understanding and compliance with physician’s instructions
- Assists
and communicates with intended parents and surrogate throughout
the process from before conception until intended parents receive
the birth certificate in their names
- Facilitates
and secures legal representation for intended parents in finalizing
parental rights and obtaining the birth certificate in their names
after the birth of their child (no additional fee incurred for
an Arkansas birth; additional fee for out of state birth applies,
see Fees)
For more information
on any of the above services, please contact us by telephone or
e-mail: (501) 835-9800 or parenthood@surrogacysolutions.net.
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