Your Surrogacy Team
Surrogacy is a unique way for healthy women to serve and provide for couples who cannot have children of their own. Although pregnancy isn’t always enjoyable or easy, choosing to become a surrogate mother has many benefits and is one of the most unique jobs that a woman can have. The key to having success as a surrogate mother is finding a great agency that will provide you with a helpful and supportive surrogacy team to guide you throughout the journey. Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado provides women with the resources they need to start the surrogacy process and connects surrogate mothers with intended parents. If you’re interested in becoming a surrogate mother, here is how to connect with a great surrogacy team and get started with the surrogacy process.
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 a Surrogacy Team?
When you contact Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado, you will be connected with staff members from our surrogacy agency that will help answer any questions you have related to surrogacy and help you determine if you are eligible to apply. This consultation is completely free and is very helpful for women who aren’t sure about pursuing surrogacy or don’t know if they are physically able to become surrogate mothers. If you are able to move forward with surrogacy after the consultation, you will be able to meet the surrogacy team at Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado. This group of individuals will help you understand what the agency provides and will provide you with an agreement to sign. Additionally, your surrogacy team will help you find a set of intended parents to work for. Your surrogacy team exists to guide you through the surrogacy process and consists of different individuals who are capable of providing you with different expertise that will be helpful as you navigate each step.
What Happens During the Surrogacy Process?
You may be wondering what aspects of the surrogacy process you will need a surrogacy team to guide you through. Things can get a little complicated when it comes to surrogacy, so having a surrogacy team to guide you is the best way to navigate any complications with minimal confusion. One of the major steps in your surrogacy journey will be to draft and sign a surrogacy agreement with the intended parents. In this agreement, your compensation as a surrogate mother will be determined, and details surrounding the surrender of the child at the end of the process, specific requirements that the intended parents may want you to fulfill, and other important details are included in this agreement. Having a surrogacy team to help you figure out what is important to include as a surrogate mother will ensure minimal conflict or confusion between you and the intended parents in the future. Your surrogacy team will also be able to help explain the In Vitro Fertilization process and support you throughout your pregnancy.
What is In Vitro Fertilization?
You will undergo a process known as In Vitro Fertilization through gestational surrogacy. Through this method of impregnation, the intended parents will visit a fertility clinic where their sperm and egg will be collected. The clinic will fertilize the egg with the sperm, and the consequent embryo will be implanted into your uterus, and you will hopefully become pregnant. Oftentimes, many embryos are transferred into the surrogate mother’s uterus to ensure that at least one of them will cause pregnancy, but this also means that there is a higher chance of giving birth to more than one child at a time. Although this might deter some women, it is often not a huge concern for surrogate mothers because the ability to provide a family for a couple that is unable to start one on their own is such an amazing opportunity, and there is also compensation provided in most cases.
How Do I Begin the Surrogacy Process?
If you are interested in pursuing Colorado surrogacy, you will have to first determine if you are physically able to become a surrogate mother. On Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado’s website, there is a list of requirements that surrogate mothers must fulfill in order to apply to be a surrogate mother. If you fulfill those qualifications, you will be connected with the agency and undergo further assessment. If you pass the medical and psychological exam that the agency will conduct, you will be able to move forward with the surrogate process. If this is something that you are interested in doing, please contact Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Colorado, where our staff is ready and willing to answer your questions and help guide you through the surrogacy process.
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!