What is the Surrogate Screening Process in Colorado?
The surrogacy process is incredibly unique. If you are a woman looking to become a surrogate mother, you may be wondering what screening process you will have to go through to begin working for a couple. Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado is a private surrogacy agency that approves surrogate mothers and matches them with a couple, subsequently assisting both parties throughout the entire process. The screening process we require for our potential surrogate mothers is incredibly important and enables our agency to protect both the intended parents and the surrogate mother from emotional and physical distress.
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 the Surrogate Screening Process?
You will undergo both a physical and psychological screening to ensure you are in peak condition and are able to carry a child. In the physical screening, you will meet with a fertility specialist and be examined to determine if your body will carry a child. In addition to the examination, you will undergo lab work to check up on the health of your body overall. It is important that we ensure all our potential surrogate mothers are in top shape. In the psychological screening, you will meet with a mental health care specialist to determine if you are mentally prepared to undergo the strain of pregnancy and the emotional difficulties that accompany surrogacy.
In addition to your physical and mental screenings. In these in-home assessments, a social worker will come to your home and discuss what goals you have for your surrogacy process and your motivations behind pursuing surrogacy. This process allows our social workers to get to know you and determine if you will be a good fit as a surrogacy mother.
What Steps Do I Need to Take for the Colorado Surrogacy Screening Process?
As a potential surrogate mother, before you can commence with the screening process, you must meet the requirements of our surrogate agency. Some of these requirements include:
- 21-39 years of age
- Experience with at least one successful pregnancy
- Currently parenting a child
- Free from addiction to drugs or alcohol
- Not a smoker
- Self-reliant (no public assistance)
- Not on medication for mental health issues
- Is a U.S. citizen living in the United States
- No prior experience with postpartum depression
If you meet these requirements, you can continue with the application process. However, you will also have to complete a background check to ensure you don’t have any background in crime. Once these Colorado surrogacy qualifications have been fulfilled, you will begin the screening process.
Why is the Surrogacy Screening Process Important?
This screening process is elaborate and may seem daunting, but it is essential that Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado carefully selects surrogate mothers that will be able to withstand the difficulties of the process, both physically and mentally. Many couples that seek out surrogacy have been through fertility difficulties of their own, which is why it is so important that Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado provides these intended parents with surrogate mothers who will be able to sustain a child. If you are interested in becoming a surrogate mother or have any additional questions, please contact Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado. Our staff will be ready to answer any questions you may have.
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: Kyla’s life has been filled with adventure and transition – both good and difficult. She loves to take on challenges head-on and lead an organized and balanced life. She’s passionate about many different areas and loves how writing gives her the flexibility to engage in research of almost every field of study imaginable. She grew up very involved in theater and music and continues to use her free time to play the piano and sing. However, she is also very interested in how the natural world works and takes any chance she has to spend the day away from crowds, enveloped in the seclusion of nature. Growing up in the Philippines, she’s had some unique experiences that have shaped her worldview and given her a deeper understanding and appreciation for different cultures. She gets excited about research papers, completed to-do lists, and her morning coffee.
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!