Becoming a Surrogate Mother

Each year, millions of women seek out fertility methods in hopes of conceiving and having a healthy baby. For many, however, that dream will not become a reality. For these mothers-to-be, turning to a surrogate mother provides a viable option to start a family. For women considering the option of surrogacy, understanding the process involved in approval for surrogacy, the emotional and psychological implications as well as the physical implications, will provide for a more educated decision process.

The process in which to become a surrogate mother, on paper, seems rather simple. However, the actual approval is anything but that. Many fertility clinics comply with a strict guideline to ensure the surrogate mother is a right match for the couple seeking to have a child. As a general rule, surrogate mothers are women who have already born children and are between the ages of 21 and 37 years. In most cases, women who are approved for surrogacy are women who are currently married, with college education and work fulltime. However, there are many single women also involved in the programs. Because there is an exchange of "principal", most often monetary, between the surrogate mother and the couple, this can be an underlying motivation for the surrogate mother to seek out the opportunity for approval. However, in most surrogate approval processes, the surrogate mother must demonstrate financial independence before approval will occur.