What is Gestational Surrogacy and How to Become a Surrogate Mother in Colorado?
Are you from Colorado and want to become a surrogate? Do you want to know the basics of gestational surrogacy and what it is? Perhaps you enjoy being pregnant or want to help intended parents or individuals start a family. But before you do so, you want to get all the facts about gestational surrogacy and how it works. Maybe you are wondering what the process is like, how long it may take, or the benefits of becoming one. Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado is here to help you and provide you with all the information and resources you need in order to start your journey.
If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a surrogate, please call or text us at 303-670-4673 (HOPE) or visit us at Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado.
What is Gestational Surrogacy and How Does it Work?
Gestational carrier and surrogate are two interchangeable terms because they both refer to women who choose to carry someone else’s baby for them. You are not biologically related when you are a gestational carrier because either the intended mother’s egg or a donor’s egg is used. The egg is collected through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and is fertilized with the intended father’s sperm or donor’s.
In any case, your role as the surrogate mother is to carry the baby to term. Although you do not have any biological relation to the child or any parental rights, both you and the matched intended parents or individual are connected through the child’s well-being.
How Long Does the Process Last?
Before you are pregnant, there are multiple steps both the gestational carrier and intended individual(s) have to complete. First, it can take up to several months to be matched with an intended individual or parents. This is dependent on a variety of compatibility factors. After medical screenings on both parties end to make sure everyone fulfills their specific requirements, there are then legal contracts to sign in order to keep all members safe and happy. Then, it’s onto pregnancy and delivery! In general, you can expect the Colorado surrogacy process to take around 13 to 18 months.
What It Means to Choose a Surrogacy Agency
If you are interested in becoming a surrogate, you might be deciding between becoming an independent surrogate or working with an agency. Many times, people choose to go through an agency to help with the complexities that come along with the surrogacy process. Those who are independent surrogates are experienced and are confident in making the journey on their own.
Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado is a professional surrogacy agency with high-quality professionals that can help with any obstacle or challenge you may face in this process. We are here to help match surrogates to intended couples or individuals that are best suited for one another. We also ensure all parties involved fulfill the requirements needed to make this process as smooth and safe as possible. We also provide resources such as legal help, medical and screening services, coordination, and counseling for both surrogates and intended individuals and couples. We are also here to make sure you are compensated fairly and adequately throughout the process.
What Are Some Benefits to Becoming a Surrogate?
There are some incredible benefits to becoming a gestational carrier. You are helping to give back to others, whether it’s to a friend or family member you know or fulfilling an altruistic need to help those you don’t know. You are helping people build families for those who are infertile, have concerns about being pregnant, an individual, or are a same-sex couple. There are fewer legal complications that come with gestational surrogacy, so you are guaranteed that the child will go to the intended parents. As a result of IVF, the child you deliver can share a genetic link to their intended parents, making it a beautiful shared process for everyone involved. This process takes a lot of time and energy, and being pregnant can be an emotionally and physically taxing experience. You are compensated as well when you are a surrogate, which is formalized through both parties, legal counsel, and Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado.
What Does it Mean to Be a Part of Gestational Surrogacy?
You are helping to bring life into this world, and in doing so, you are providing joy to so many. You are creating meaningful bonds between intended parents and their child and between you and the couple you are helping. You are helping to create a beautiful shared experience between you and the intended parents which creates an enriching experience for everyone involved. This is a rewarding, emotional, and selfless decision and our surrogate agency is here to assist you with whatever you may need. If you have any questions, concerns, or need help getting started, we are here to help!
If you are interested in learning more about your gestational surrogacy options, contact Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado by email, phone, or text: Email Us, Text us: 720-371-1099, Call us: 303-670-4673 (HOPE). If you are hoping to adopt, please contact us here.
Meet the Author: Katie Doherty is a junior Writing, Literature, and Publishing major at Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts. She loves to write, read, and edit whether it’s technical or creative writing. Although she enjoys writing poetry, narrative nonfiction, and fiction writing, she also loves to write on current political events, cultural trends, and research. She spends her free time listening to music, watching the Great British Bake Off, and learning how to crochet.
Stephanie joined the Adoption Choices family in 2014 as the Child Placement Supervisor. Her love for adoption began in first grade when she made friends with twins adopted from Vietnam. Her heart grew strong over the years for adopted children and ultimately led her to graduate school where she continued her focus to her dream of working in the adoption field. Stephanie earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Denver in 2001. Over the past 15 years, Stephanie has worked as a pregnancy counselor and as an adoptive parent counselor for foster care, international adoption and domestic adoption, writing hundreds of home studies for families, and helping build their forever families. Stephanie is married and has three boys ages 12, 9, and 5. Together with her family she enjoys riding bike, playing games, watching her three sons compete in their various sporting and musical activities and go on vacations.
Christy Ikeler, is our Executive Director and Birth Parent Director. Christy has been with Adoption Choices Team for 18 years, since opening the doors in 2002! Christy has a true passion for what she does and her true love is working with and helping each birth parent. Whether she is up all night on the phone talking with them, taking them to doctors appointments, out for their favorite treat, providing counseling or at the hospital during labor and delivery, Christy is very involved every step of the way. She has a contagious laugh and a spunky personality that our birth moms all can bond with and relate to. As an adoptive parent herself, adoption holds a very special place in her heart and she can relate on every level with both birth parents and adoptive parents. In her free time Christy loves spending time with her daughter, gardening, baking and taking vacations with her family. Christy is an excellent leader for our team at Adoption Choices and is truly one of a kind!! As Executive Director, Christy spends time with the staff, birth parents and adoptive families in order to ensure that the agency is running smoothly. She has placed a huge emphasis on community outreach and programs for birth parents. Christy loves the opportunity to lead the agency into a brighter future.
Ms. Mackenzie has built a successful counseling career over the past 20 years, supporting mothers and families, people of all ages and genders, students, community professionals and fellow clinicians. Liv values a diverse professional focus, including the entrepreneurial life of a sole proprietor, the evaluative process of certifying foster/adoptive homes, the insightful and mindful one-on-one one work with enthusiastic clients, and serving as an advocate for underserved populations. Liv is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds a BA in Pre-Law and Economics from American University, an MA in Counseling from Adams University and a certificate in Human Resource Management from Villanova University. Away from work you will find Liv spending time in nature, biking to the farmer’s market and adventuring with her family.
Catherine A. Madsen, joined the Adoption Choices family as legal counsel in 2013. Catherine is responsible for providing legal guidance to the Agency, training and updating staff on developments in adoption law and legislation, and program development. Catherine
Virginia Frank is an adoption attorney accredited since 1991 with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Ms. Frank is a leader in the field of private adoption and has completed over 4,000 adoptions in her career. Ms. Frank has a law degree from Oklahoma City University and a BA in both Political Science and Communications from the University of Oklahoma.
Cassidie has been with Adoption Choices since 2015, she has her bachelors in Interdisciplinary Affairs with concentrations in both Sociology and Business Management. Cassidie has additional training in Victim Advocacy, foster care and has been working in women’s services for over 10 years. Cassidie has always had a heart for adoption and it was her career dream to work in adoption. She started off doing volunteer work for advocacy programs, adoption organizations and worked in High Risk Maternal Fetal Medicine through the University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Cassidie is also blessed to have personally experienced an adoption of her own in 2012, completing her family of five! Cassidie loves what she does as a case worker from initial phone calls, meetings, doctor appointments, interaction with the adoptive families to delivery and counseling. Cassidie has a passion for those in need and strives to help make a difference in the lives of the people she meets. She is a firm believer in being kind, compassionate and open minded in all situations. “Unless you’ve walked in their shoes, there’s no place for judgment. A kind word or compliment can go a long way!” The bittersweet moments in adoption reminds Cassidie each and every time, why she loves what she does!