How OBGYNs and health care providers can help women become gestational carriers

In July Forward Fertility reached out to health care providers in Wisconsin to let them know how parents-to-be who face fertility challenges but want to have children can connect with egg or embryo donors as well as gestational carriers.

Medical advancements have given parents-to-be more options, including partnering with gestational carriers. When medical professionals get questions from patients about their options for helping other families have a child, having a knowledgeable, available, and supportive agency involved ‘outside of the OB office’ can ease the process for the gestational carrier, the parents, and for doctors.

OBGYNs and health care providers can help women become gestational carriers by providing this information:

Who are gestational carriers? Most of the gestational carriers who work with Forward Fertility live in Wisconsin. A gestational carrier is healthy and mature, with at least one uncomplicated term pregnancy, no more than two C-sections, and no more than five total deliveries.

Gestational carrier candidates should have a stable family environment and a supportive network to help them cope with any stresses of pregnancy. Both the gestational carrier and parents-to-be choose who they want to work with, so they can find the right fit for them.

Pregnancy with a gestational carrier comes with added complexities including having parents-to-be at the carrier’s OB visits, educating all parties about test results, and considering the emotional aspects of this type of pregnancy.

What can doctors do for patients who want to learn more about being a gestational carrier?

  • Share Forward Fertility’s contact information and patients will receive complimentary information about the process from a nurse with years of experience in women’s health.
  • Suggest they work with an agency that provides ongoing support throughout the treatment and pregnancy. Forward Fertility offers monthly meetups with other gestational carriers to share the joys and setbacks of fertility treatment and pregnancy.
  • Schedule a complimentary workshop. Forward Fertility can do office visits and share what is new with IVF, gestational carriers, and techniques for working with matches.

When a patient asks about being a gestational carrier: please consider referring her to Forward Fertility.  I take great care to guide carriers through the process and send them back to their doctors for obstetrical care and delivery services.

 

About Christie Olsen – Nurse Practitioner/Founder: As an ob/gyn nurse practitioner and the founder of Forward Fertility, I am based in Wisconsin and have been in reproductive health care for nearly 20 years. Forward Fertility is one of the few agencies—if not the only agency—owned and operated by a women’s health nurse practitioner.