We know that this process can cause a mix of emotions, and it’s normal for intended parents to feel overwhelmed, daunted, and excited all at the same time. We want to help make the process as transparent and straightforward as possible. Knowing what to expect on your journey to parenthood is a great place to start.
Although every intended parent may have different reasons for turning to surrogacy, the clinical process is fairly standard even for those using different fertility clinics. We’ve outlined the process below to give you a better idea of what to expect – especially if you have never worked with a fertility clinic before. We will also be here to support you at every step along the way.
Once you begin your My Surrogacy Journey membership, you will meet with a member of our in-house clinical team to have a conversation about your health, including your past medical and surgical history and any current health concerns you may have. This will include discussing any previous or current medications that may affect your gamete (sperm and/or egg) health. We will also, with an open mind and without judgement, explore your social habits. This will include an open conversation about smoking, drinking and recreational drug use. It’s important to discuss all of these factors because, together, all of this information helps create a bigger picture of your health, potential embryo creation success rates, and identify if there are any temporary changes to your lifestyle that might improve your chances of creating healthy embryos. We will likely also talk about elements of your upcoming journey including the benefits of CGT (carrier genetic testing), embryo creation, recommending a fertility clinic for you if you need one, and the counseling support available to you during your journey.
Intended parents must have a psychological assessment to proceed with surrogacy (this is standard in both Mexico and the USA, and your surrogate will also need to pass a psychological screening). While an ‘assessment’ can sound scary, you shouldn’t consider it as a test. Rather, it’s an opportunity for you to speak with a mental health professional who is specially trained in third party reproduction to make sure that you fully understand the implications and process of having a child through surrogacy.
You will have one session, and if you have a partner, it will be a joint session. After the meeting, the psychologist will provide a confidential report that will be included in the bundle of documents submitted to the Mexican Court for your pre-birth order. In addition to this initial session, as part of your membership you have 4 additional hours of support with a mental health professional (MHP) who specializes in surrogacy and egg donation. Many of our partner MHPs have personal experience with third party reproduction, and some also have further specialties such as trauma or oncology. We want to make sure that you have access to support and information beyond the required session.
Male testing includes full semen analysis and general sperm health guidance, including information on how social habits contribute to sperm health and advice on how to obtain optimal sperm health. It’s a requirement to screen the individual(s) who are providing sperm; screening is extensive and includes virology, HIV, Hepatitis B & C, STDs, Karyotype, and cystic fibrosis.
Female testing includes AMH (anti-Müllerian hormone), an antral follicle count scan and a BMI check. While the age limit to use your own egg will vary by clinic, and be guided by the results of the above tests, typically most doctors will recommend egg donation after the age of forty-five. Age has a direct impact on both egg quality and the number you can produce during a retrieval cycle. While we know that this can be a challenging and emotional decision, it is important to be mindful of this when it comes to a successful outcome.
If you already have embryos, then we’ll need to know which clinic they were created with and their vitrification method. If gametes were provided with an egg or sperm donor, we would also need to verify that you have the legal right to use these internationally; this will typically be covered in the contract you signed with the donor or the egg/sperm bank. There must be a genetic connection to at least one of the intended parents, so if you have donor embryos you will not be able to use these in Mexico.
For intended parents who need to create new embryos there are many factors to consider, including the gametes you will be using. If you need donors, consider what criteria you are looking for in a donor and whether you would prefer a local Mexican donor or a donor from the USA.
If you are using your own eggs, you will need to go through egg retrieval, which is effectively the first part of an IVF cycle. You’ll need to decide if you will be doing this in Mexico at our partner clinic or whether you will create embryos at a clinic in the USA in order to ship them. We can provide information about both options to help you make an informed decision. Before you go through the egg retrieval, we’ll also walk you through the process: the medications you’ll need to take, the procedure for egg collection, and what happens in the lab afterwards to create your embryos.
After your or your donor’s egg retrieval the embryos will be created by fertilizing the eggs with the sperm provided by an intended father or sperm donor, and the embryos will be put in an incubator to develop On day 5 or 6 of embryo development, when your embryo has become a blastocyst comprising of hundreds of cells, your embryos will be frozen to temporarily stop any further development. It’s very safe to freeze embryos, and they can remain frozen for years. If you opt to do PGTa testing, a small number of those cells will be safely removed for testing before the embryos are frozen. You will typically receive the PGTa results within 3 weeks, and the results will inform you whether the embryo is chromosomally normal and, if you choose to find out, if the embryo has XY or XX chromosomes.
After you have been matched with your surrogate and have signed the surrogacy contract, we can arrange the embryo transfer. Your surrogate will be cared for, monitored by us and the clinic to ensure her wellbeing, and she will have lots of support to help her understand medication she needs to take, how to administer it, and the embryo transfer process. We will be with your surrogate at every step of the way, and one of our team members in Mexico accompanies her in person to every single appointment.
As the intended parent(s), you are welcome to come to Mexico for the embryo transfer if you want but please note that you can’t be in the room while the transfer is happening. Don’t worry though, we record every embryo transfer and share this with the intended parents!
Before the embryo transfer, you and your surrogate will sign a contract (each supported by an independent legal team) outlining your journey together. This legal document will also be a key part of your pre-birth order application to the Mexico City court. Your legal team will ensure that you discuss everything that is important to include, ensuring everyone is represented and understands the legal process towards parenthood.
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