The Surrogate Screening Process: Ensuring Successful Matches
Not all surrogacy matches are created equal. A surrogate must go through five crucial screening steps before being matched with intended parents (IPs). Many surrogacy programs match after only the first screening step, which often results in a higher failure rate. Ideally, you should work with a surrogacy agency that waits to match until all five steps have been completed.
Even after these five steps, there is a sixth phase where the intended parent's fertility clinic reviews the surrogate’s medical records and conducts a medical consultation. However, many surrogacy agencies match between steps 1 and 3, which significantly increases the chances of match failure, costing intended parents both time and money.
The Surrogate Screen Process
Step 1: Initial Basic Screening (ASRM Guidelines)
This step helps identify the most common disqualifiers early on, including:
- A history of at least one prior pregnancy and parenting a child at home
- Body Mass Index (BMI) requirements
- Age
- Tobacco use
- Medication use
- Pregnancy complications
- Education level
- Financial stability or reliance on state assistance
- Criminal history
Step 2: Social Questionnaire, Interviews, and Home Assessment
This stage evaluates the candidate's social environment and life circumstances for any potential red flags. Key areas of assessment include:
- Family support for the surrogacy journey
- The ability to balance surrogacy with work, children, and other responsibilities
- Whether any previous trauma has been properly addressed
- A detailed review of her pregnancy and postpartum history
- Personal medical history, including current medications or drug use
- Her motivation for becoming a surrogate
- Openness to key matching factors such as termination policies, family type, location, travel requirements, timing, and compensation
- Likelihood of being easily matched based on these factors
Step 3: Medical Records Review
A comprehensive review of the candidate’s medical history is conducted, focusing on issues that fertility clinics typically reject. These may include:
- History of preeclampsia
- Medicated gestational diabetes
- Prior postpartum hemorrhage
- Placenta complications
- Other significant medical conditions
Step 4: Criminal and Background Checks
This step investigates any criminal or financial history that could raise concerns, including:
- Felony convictions or other serious legal issues
- History of bankruptcies or liens (disqualification on a case-by-case basis)
- Verification of address and phone number history
Step 5: Psychological Testing and Counseling
The surrogate undergoes a psychological evaluation to ensure she is emotionally and mentally ready for the surrogacy journey. Areas of focus include:
- Past trauma and whether it has been adequately treated
- History of postpartum depression
- Risks to the surrogate’s health, such as potential infertility
- Alignment between the surrogate and her spouse on key decisions
- Discussion of her matching preferences and how they might affect her journey
- Personality markers from the Psychological Assessment Inventory (PAI) that could impact compatibility with surrogacy
Step 6: Intended Parents’ Clinic Review
Once the surrogate has passed all five previous steps, the intended parent’s fertility clinic will review her medical records and schedule a physical consultation to confirm her medical eligibility for the surrogacy process.
Thorough Screening: The Key to a Faster, Safer Surrogacy Journey
A thorough surrogate screening process is essential to reduce the risk of failed matches and protect both intended parents and surrogates from unnecessary emotional and financial strain. By ensuring all six steps are completed before matching, surrogacy agencies can significantly increase the chances of a successful and smooth journey for everyone involved.
To illustrate the thorough screening our surrogates undergo vs. most other agencies and where they match families like you in relation to screening, take a look at the comparison below.
It's important to understand that most other agencies are matching you with an underscreened surrogate, impacting their chances of qualifying and, ultimately, your success. You don't deserve to spend more time waiting while you attempt to find a qualified surrogate.
We are committed to your success and only match our families with thoroughly screened candidates.