Application process to become a gestational carrier

Gestational carrier applicants contact surrogacy agencies when they want to learn more about the experience. Sometimes they are ready to match and get started ASAP! Whether you are learning more about the process or ready to match with a family, starting the application process is a good choice.

What should you expect if you decide to apply?

At Forward Fertility, the application process can be completed within a few weeks, or you can take your time and learn more about the process as you go. Regardless of your timing preferences, our surrogacy agency will help you learn about what to expect and guide you along the way.

Either way, these are the components to complete:

• Easy, online application.
• Phone call with Nurse Practitioner Christie Olsen.
• Gather documentation: pay stubs, driver’s license, medical records, health insurance information, and a form completed by your OB-GYN provider indicating you’re a good candidate for a subsequent pregnancy.
• Zoom call: you and your partner (if applicable) connect with Christie Olsen for a video call to discuss the details, process, compensation, matching process, and more.
• Background check: you (and your partner, if applicable) will have a criminal, civil, and driving background check completed.
• In-person meeting: With current COVID-19 precautions in place, Christie will come to your home for a ten- to 15-minute in-person meeting to connect face to face.
• Psychological evaluation: Due to COVID precautions, the psychological evaluation will be done via video call. You’ll discuss your motivation for being a carrier, your support system, and your own preferences for the kind of family you’d like to match with.

Forward Fertility will have your medical records and psychological consultation reviewed by an IVF clinic so the parents-to-be also have reassurance that your medical history is adequate for proceeding as a carrier.

At this point, your profile is created and can be shared with parents-to-be and vice versa. If the carrier likes the parents’ profile and the parents like the carrier’s profile, then a Zoom video call is scheduled with Christie Olsen and both parties. After the Zoom call, if parties want to proceed, then everyone meets for an in-person match meeting (COVID precautions taken).

Because Forward Fertility is a surrogacy agency that puts careful thought into suggesting matches, 95% of people will match with the profile that was presented to them. However, if that profile doesn’t suit you, then the matching process will continue. Once you are matched with a family, most carriers will deliver in 12-18 months from the match meeting.

For the 39 gestational carriers who had transfers between 2017 and 2020, 90% of them delivered a baby. Twenty six gestational carriers conceived on the first transfer, eight conceived on the second transfer, and one conceived on the third transfer. Four gestational carriers went through transfers and did not conceive at all (embryos were exhausted or parents moved on to a new carrier).

Forward Fertility is here for you every step of the way. If you have questions about the process, just ask. Contact us online or by phone at 608.217.7511.

For more information and news about healthy surrogacy and how to become a gestational carrier to help a family grow, follow Forward Fertility on Facebook and Instagram.