If you want to become a surrogate in Pennsylvania, you may be unsure of where to start. Surrogacy can be a confusing process, and finding a safe and ethical way forward can be more difficult than you imagine.
Fortunately, Central PA Surrogacy is here to help. We’ve guided many women through the gestational surrogacy journey, and we’d be happy to do the same for you. As a full-service, local surrogacy program, we’ll provide personalized support and case management from start to finish. When you work with our team, you can rest assured all of your questions and concerns about becoming a surrogate in Pennsylvania will be answered.
To learn more about our surrogacy program, please contact us online anytime or call us at 814-237-7900. Our team can help you decide if being a surrogate mother is right for you and, when you’re ready, help you get started.
In the meantime, you can learn a bit more about how to be a surrogate mother in the Keystone State below.
How to Become a Surrogate Mother in Pennsylvania
Every woman’s journey through surrogacy will be different. That’s why Central PA Surrogacy will create a personalized plan for you based on your needs and preferences. Whatever you want out of your surrogacy experience, we’ll work to make it a possibility.
However, anyone who wishes to become a surrogate in Pennsylvania must be prepared for these general steps:
Step 1: Meet Surrogacy Requirements.
Surrogacy is not right for everyone. A woman must be 100 percent physically and mentally ready for the challenges ahead before getting started. That’s why we require everyone interested in becoming a surrogate in Pennsylvania to meet our list of requirements.
When you submit our initial application, you will give us some basic social and medical history. We’ll use that to determine whether you meet our requirements and can safely move forward with surrogacy. Our team members will talk to you about our services and how surrogacy works in Pennsylvania to ensure you’re comfortable with the path ahead.
For more information on our requirements for becoming a surrogate mother in Pennsylvania, please contact us today.
Step 2: Find Intended Parents.
Once we confirm your eligibility to become a surrogate mother in Pennsylvania, we’ll start searching for an intended parent match. Using the information you shared in your initial surrogate application, we’ll look for intended parents who share the same goals and preferences for this journey.
Once we find intended parents, we’ll give you basic information to help you decide whether you’re interested in learning more about them. If you are, we’ll set up an initial conference call to allow you both to get to know each other better. If you both are comfortable after that, we will set up an in-person meeting (facilitated by our team member) to confirm this is the right partnership for you both.
Step 3: Complete Psychological and Medical Screening.
Before you can officially become a surrogate mother for a set of intended parents, you must first pass important screening.
You will be required to undergo a psychological evaluation by a mental health professional. This professional will discuss the potential ups and downs of the surrogacy process, including how you might respond to certain “what-if” situations.
You must also complete a medical screening at the intended parents’ fertility clinic. Their reproductive endocrinologist will evaluate your physical health to confirm you’re ready for the upcoming medical process of becoming a surrogate. Often, this involves a pap smear, blood tests and more.
Step 4: Sign Legal Contracts.
Once you have finished all necessary screening, you can finalize your surrogacy partnership with a legal contract. Every Pennsylvania surrogacy must include a legal contract, and you and the intended parents will need to be represented by separate attorneys for this document to be ethical and valid.
Your legal contract will address every detail of the upcoming journey, including rights and responsibilities, risks and liabilities, expectations and more. When you work with our full-service program, we will connect you with an experienced attorney, thanks to our special partnership with local law firm Bierly & Rabuck. While these professionals represent our intended parents, they will be happy to refer you to another local attorney they trust for your legal needs. Your legal expenses will always be free to you, just like every other expense in the surrogacy process.
Step 5: Complete the Medical Process.
After the legal contract is signed, you will work with the intended parents’ fertility clinic to complete the pre-surrogacy medical process. First, you will take certain fertility medication to regulate your menstrual cycle. When the reproductive endocrinologist deems your body ready, you will travel to the clinic to undergo the embryo transfer process.
Once your pregnancy is confirmed a few days later, your medical path to being a surrogate is complete! From here, you will spend the next nine months providing a safe in-utero development for the baby, keeping the intended parents updated on any new developments and maintaining a relationship with them.
Remember, when you become a surrogate mother with our program, you will always have the support of our team during this time.
Step 6: Complete Pre-Birth Order Requirements.
While your attorney will handle the legal requirements of establishing the intended parents’ rights, you will have to complete some paperwork during this step.
The process of establishing parental rights will start when you are five months pregnant. At this time, your attorney will require you to review and sign legal paperwork prior to their court appearance. While you won’t need to attend the parentage hearing, the intended parents’ attorney will need your signature to present to the judge and obtain a pre-birth parentage order.
Their attorney will obtain this pre-birth order long before you give birth, and this document will be filed with the Vital Records Birth Certificate clerk at the hospital where you will deliver. Therefore, it’s established long before you give birth who the baby’s parents are and they will take custody of this child upon delivery. When it comes time to give birth, all of this will already be taken care of, thanks to friendly Pennsylvania laws.
Step 7: Welcome the Baby!
During your second trimester, our team will help you and the intended parents create a hospital plan, detailing how your labor and delivery experience will go. The vast majority of intended parents are excited to be there during their child’s birth, and you will create a plan together to confirm you are both comfortable with this experience.
Once the child is born, the intended parents will take custody of him or her — and your journey of being a surrogate mother in Pennsylvania will be complete! You will be able to take a few weeks to recover from delivery and adjust back to your normal life. We will still be there to offer any support you may need.
While these are the general steps of how to become a surrogate in Pennsylvania, remember that your experience will be tailored to your needs and expectations. For more information on how you can become a surrogate mother in Pennsylvania, contact our team anytime.
