Signing up
After contacting Bundles of Joy and our coordinator Sara Vogel you will fill out The Surrogacy Questionnaire which will enable us to match you with the best possible Intended Parents for your surrogacy. If you are satisfied with the couple we present to you, you will start the process of pre-screening to verify that you are medically a good candidate.
Pre-screening
Once approved by the reproductive endocrinologist you will follow a protocol designed to prepare your body to receive the embryo(s). In many cases your period will be synchronized with that of the egg donor so that your body is producing the proper hormones on the day of the transfer. Then we wait and we wait to test your blood for pregnancy.
In vitro fertilization (IVF) and embryo transfer
The embryo will be created by their reproductive endocrinologist via in vitro fertilization. The creation of embryos outside the womb allows for choosing the best embryos (the rest are frozen for possible future use). The Parents might want to participate in many processes related to the pregnancy; for example, on the day of transfer (of the embryos to your uterus), approximately 10 days after transfer when the fertility clinic is able to determine if you are pregnant (“chemical pregnancy”), thereafter the ultrasound to show the embryo(s)’ heart-beat(s), when you are transferred to the care of an ob-gyn, when the ultrasound shows the gender of the baby(ies), and finally, when the baby is born.
The baby’s birth
It is our hope that both you and the Parents have a very harmonious relationship which is usually the case. Bundles of Joy will facilitate the birthing plan that the parties agree to. We will also contact the hospital and counsel to make all the necessary arrangements to assure these desires are fulfilled. After the delivery of the baby(ies), the Parents will take their baby(ies) home. Then the attorneys will terminate your parental rights and grant legal custody to the Intended Parents. It is our pleasure to accompany and advise you throughout the entire process: from matching you’re your Intended parents to the day that they take their baby(ies) home and you are discharged by your ob-gyn.
Many times, the Intended Parents will also ask you to pump milk so that the first weeks of the babie’s life, he/she can receive maternal milk. This is not a requirement but we are happy to facilitate this extra service on your behalf.