Screening

 

Before you can make your match official, and then go on to get pregnant, some screening needs to happen. The order is somewhat flexible, and you may declare your match official before all screening is complete, but it does need to be completed before transfer can happen.

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• First, before a match is made official, the surrogate, her spouse or partner (if she has one), and the IPs should all submit to background checks. There is a good chance you won't want to go handing your SSN out to potential matches on the internet, and I do not suggest that you do. Instead, there are a couple of things that you can do. You can gather other information, such as address or location, full names, and dates of birth. You can use those things to do some of your own research. You can also buy background checks based on this information alone. There are also options to get more detailed background checks using your SSNs without giving out your SSNs. One option is to use a company like GoodHire. They have a service called "True Me" where you can run a background check on yourself. Once the background check is complete, you can download it and share it with your potential match. It shows only the last 4 of your SSN on the report. See more information about GoodHire's True Me product here (link opens in a new page to GoodHire's True Me webpage).
   

• All parties (surrogate, surrogate's spouse, and IPs) will also have to pass psychological screening. This usually involves talking to a psychologist, counselor, therapist, etc. and - at least for the surrogate - taking some sort of multiple-choice personality test, such as the MMPI-2. The first part, speaking with a therapist of some kind, can happen in a few different ways. Sometimes this interview is done in person and sometimes it is done via Skype (or other video chatting service). Usually the surrogate and her spouse or partner (if she has one) will have one interview, and the IP or IPs will have one interview. Sometimes a second interview will be held with all parties present.
   

• Medical screening - First, a surrogate's relevant medical records (pregnancy and birth records from all children) need to be obtained and reviewed by the IPs' RE/clinic. Then, she will need to have medical screening done, usually at the IPs' clinic, which usually includes: blood work, such as a CBC and CMP, STD testing, drug screening, TSH levels and/or a thyroid panel; some sort of visualization of her uterus, either a regular ultrasound, a saline ultrasound (aka a sonohysterogram or sonohysterography) (probably the most common technique used), or a hysteroscopy. Rarely, this screening will be done locally to the surrogate rather than at the IPs' fertility clinic. For example, if the fertility clinic being used is in a different country than the surrogate. The surrogate's spouse or partner, if she has one, and the IPs will also need to complete STD testing prior to transfer.

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