Surrogacy is a complex process that involves IVF treatment along with that the created embryo through IVF is transferred into the surrogate mother’s womb instead of the intended mother.
surrogacy clinics play multiple roles in this process.
Like, hiring a surrogate mother and performing all the essential medical procedures, follow-up visits, and relinquishing the child/children after delivery.
Usually, intended parents get surrogacy clinic referrals from their fertility clinics where they might get prior treatment for their infertility.
But the failure of treatment requires selecting surrogacy to build their family.
But it is always suggested that intended parents require to do some research at their end before selecting a surrogacy clinic to start the procedure.
Following are certain conditions:
- Medical Recognition
A clinic requires medical recognition to run the facility officially.
Intended parents are free to ask the admin department of a clinic to show the acquired accreditations.
The accreditation details ensure the quality standards essential to perform the procedure.
The traceability of the IVF lab of the clinic and audit information details also helps to provide the professionalism of the clinic.
Intended parents also ask about the data protection policy of the clinic.
- Reproductive technology
Intended parents must aware of the available reproductive technologies of the clinic and also treatment plans.
Currently, many advanced IVF procedures are available that gives more successful result than classic treatment.
Moreover, intended parents need to know about the protocol of donor-assisted reproduction.
The waiting period for a perfect match donor will be much slower if a surrogacy clinic has a link-up with an external gametes bank.
Collaboration helps intended parents to provide larger donor data for selection according to their criteria.
Intended parents must discuss the treatment plan in detail so that it requires additional treatment support can increase the success rate.
- Location
Both intended parents and surrogate mothers require individual roles in the surrogacy journey.
Intended parents usually want to keep present in the clinic during different steps involved in surrogacy.
On other hand, the surrogate has to attend all the clinic appointments without failing to precede the procedure correctly.
Therefore, the convenient location of the surrogacy clinic for both parties is important.
However, sometimes, intended parents prefer to select cross-broader surrogacy centers because of legal restrictions or expensive procedures in their home country.
But in such cases also intended parents need to be careful to select the location.
- Expense
Surrogacy is an expensive procedure for intended parents.
Therefore, before starting the journey intended parents should discuss with the surrogacy clinic the involved cost. Consideration of insurance coverage during selecting the surrogacy clinic is important.
Usually, surrogacy clinic also has different IVF package options.
Intended parents should discuss with the doctor to select a cost-effective individualized treatment package to avoid a financial crunch after initiating the treatment.
However, choosing a surrogacy clinic only based on cost factors is not a preferable idea.
But self-research, review analysis, and discussion with an expert are very important to avoid financial burden-related stress.
- Select the clinic that can fulfill the individual’s requirements
Following is the checklist that must be included in the surrogacy treatment package of the selected surrogacy clinic, though some additional requirements may require based on the individual patient requirement.
- Medical screening
- In vitro fertilization (IVF)
- Connections to gamete banks
- Gamete retrieval
- Cryopreservation
- Genetic screening of embryos
- Pregnancy testing for gestational surrogates
And more
Most surrogacy clinics offer similar types of services.
However, every intended couple should know what they need and what they can do without.
Asking multiple questions will be an effective way to evaluate whether or not a surrogacy clinic is going to be the right fit for individual parents and the surrogate.
Intended parents should do their research and make their checklist.
During the selection of a surrogacy clinic, all the questions need to discuss with the authority, and based upon the satisfactory answer, intended parents select the surrogacy clinic.