Is my fertility clinic surrogate friendly
For the past five years one question has remained for all of our clients. “How do I know that my Fertility clinic is Surrogate Friendly?” In our initial consult with new clients, we cover a lot of ground from “what are you looking for in a Surrogate”, to “Overall costs of the process”, but one question that is often tough for us to answer, without offending our clients is this- “How do I know my clinic is Surrogate Friendly, and what are my clinics stats?”
Over the years, CFC has gathered stats on clinics in Canada, as well as relying on SART, and CFAS stats. The one demographic that doesn’t seem to ever be listed is Surrogacy. We have developed our own criteria for what makes a Surrogate friendly clinic, and here they are:
*Q: How many Surrogacy cases does your clinic facilitate each month?
*A: We suggest that a clinic works with a minimum of 10 Surrogacy cycles per month, and has a dedicated nurse manager to oversee surrogacy cycles, as the process can be quite different when working with a Gestational carrier, who isn’t infertile, and often has no experience with ivf treatments.
*Q: How do we know that our Surrogate will get support throughout the Surrogacy process?
*A: The fertility clinics that we most often suggest have in house counselors, and we have made arrangements with leading clinics that the counseling staff will commit to supporting our Gestational carriers throughout the pregnancy, either by phone, or in person at the clinic. Whichever best suits the carrier.
*Q: Can we go by traditional ivf stats when looking for a clinic to bring our Gestational carrier to?
*A: We often find that having an initial consultation, whether by phone, or in person is the best way to really source out your clinics stats, relating to Gestational surrogacy. Many clinics published stats are more of a general stat, covering all patients using ivf, and if you are working with a clinic who for example, works with many women of advanced age, or doesn’t have an age cut off, the stats may not look as though they are Surrogate friendly.
*Q: How involved with the Fertility clinic be, given that I am using both a Gestational carrier, and an egg donor, meaning that I wont be a patient at all?
*A: CFC works with clinics on this point all the time- We want to ensure that throughout this process you are treated as the patient, and more importantly, the parent of the child/children being created. It is important that the case manager at any clinic is working with you, and your surrogate, ensuring that you all feel included, and valued during the process. You will likely have many questions, as will your carrier, and this goes back to my original point, of the importance of a nurse manager specific to your surrogacy case.
