Portland Surrogacy Process
Whether you’re considering applying to be a Portland surrogate or an intended parent, you’ve found the right resource for the surrogacy process in Portland, Oregon.
Can you fully commit to surrogacy?
The Portland surrogacy process takes around 15 to 24 months on average. Each step can take a varying amount of time depending on several personal factors. Diving in and educating yourself can help you be sure that you are ready to meet the physical, emotional and legal obligations before beginning the process.
How can you decide if Portland surrogacy is right for you? Both surrogates and intended parents will have to invest a significant amount of time and effort. Intended parents have to choose between all the available options to build their family, giving particular attention to the ways each option can affect their finances, emotions and mental health. Becoming a surrogate can significantly affect someone’s career and family life, aside from the expected changes to their bodies and emotional state.
If the answer to the question above is yes, the following five steps are what intended parents and surrogates generally go through, although it’s important to note each Portland surrogacy process is different for everyone.
Step 1: Choose the type of surrogacy
Once you’re fully committed to surrogacy in Portland, the next step involves deciding which type of surrogacy is best for your situation: traditional surrogacy or gestational surrogacy.
Gestational surrogacy is the preferred method of surrogacy professionals in Portland. With this type, an embryo is made through IVF using sperm and an egg from intended parents or donors. It is then transferred to the uterus of the gestational surrogate. This way, gestational carriers are not biologically related to the child or children they are carrying.
Traditional surrogacy has become a less-preferred surrogacy method in Portland due to the legal and emotional dangers commonly associated with the process. In fact, many surrogacy professionals refuse to complete it because of these risks. Since a traditional surrogate uses her own egg and fertilizes it with sperm from the intended father or a donor, they are the biological mothers of the child or children they are carrying.
Step 2: Choose whether to work independently or with a surrogacy agency
If you need to search for a surrogate or intended parent, partnering with a surrogacy agency will significantly boost your chances of success.
A reputable surrogacy agency like All Families Surrogacy can help complete the majority of the needed steps for the Portland surrogacy process. An agency can help match surrogates and intended parents, screen candidates, handle case management, perform counseling and provide referrals for both parties.
Surrogacy partners don’t have to reside in Portland, Oregon. You can match with a surrogate or intended parent who lives anywhere in the U.S. and long-distance matches are normal. When you don’t confine yourself to certain locations, your wait time is significantly reduced.
Agencies show you pre-screened candidates that meet your goals. While you can try to find a match on your own, you would not have the protection of an agency behind you. Independent surrogacy means the intended parents are fully responsible for vetting potential surrogates, so proceed with caution.
Do you have other questions about the surrogacy process in Portland?
Speak to our team of surrogacy professionals at All Families Surrogacy!
Step 3: Accomplish the Legal Steps for Surrogacy in Portland
After matching with a surrogacy partner, many people assume that it’s time to complete the medical procedure. First, surrogates and intended parents have to complete the legal process together. Both parties require individual representation by a Portland surrogacy attorney to create contracts. These contracts will include the critical details, such as:
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- Surrogate compensation
- Accepted risks, roles and responsibilities
- Desire for breastmilk post-delivery and compensation
- Expenses to be paid to the surrogate such as travel, lost wages and childcare
- Medical procedures that all parties would and would not be comfortable with
- And more
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Miscommunications happen when expectations aren’t set beforehand. These surrogacy contracts work as a blueprint that will help guide everyone along the way as they go on the surrogacy journey in Portland. After finalizing the contracts, you can then proceed to the medical steps.
Step 4: Go Through the Medical Steps of Surrogacy in Portland
Before becoming a surrogate, a candidate must go through several screening processes and meet certain health requirements. This is because she will have to take fertility medications and hormones before undergoing an embryo transfer.
Using the eggs and sperm from either a donor or the intended parents through IVF, medical professionals create an embryo. It is then transferred to the uterus of the gestational surrogate. This step usually happens at the chosen fertility clinic of the intended parents. If the surrogate needs to travel to where the clinic is located, these expenses would be compensated for by the intended parents.
Sometimes, multiple cycles are needed before a healthy pregnancy is achieved. This is completely normal. Once pregnancy is confirmed, surrogates can begin going to their own OB-GYN for regular checkups. Surrogates and intended parents can keep in regular contact about the pregnancy leading up to delivery.
Step 5: Welcoming the birth of your child/children
When the surrogate goes into labor, most intended parents travel to support them. Many surrogates and intended parents form a bond throughout the experience, so celebrating this pivotal moment is very common. Since long-distance matches are not unusual in Portland surrogacy, making plans well in advance to travel to where the surrogate will give birth is commonplace.
During the surrogacy journey, the majority of surrogates and intended parents form a unique bond. Remaining good friends and staying in contact even after the surrogacy process ends is the norm. If needed, it is possible to reach out to your Portland surrogacy agency to assist you in arranging a post-surrogacy connection with your partner.
Do you want to change lives and help others build a family, or are you interested in learning how to become a parent through surrogacy in Portland? Contact the team of surrogacy professionals at All Families Surrogacy to learn more about the process.