Surrogacy has intrigued me since the day Phoebe Buffet of Friends carried her brother’s babies. As my son was about to turn 1, I found myself yet again binge-watching Friends and started seriously thinking about surrogacy. As with first birthdays, I was reflective on that first year with my son. I had found so much joy and purpose in motherhood and couldn’t stop thinking about helping another family know that same joy and purpose. At the time, my husband and I talked extensively about what this would look like for our family. I read blogs, listened to podcasts, and talked with a friend-of-a-friend who was currently on a surrogacy journey. The more I learned, the more I knew this was something I could and wanted to do.
I started the process with SurrogacyIs, a surrogate advocacy group, and was matched with a couple of agencies. I chose NY Surrogacy Center, completed their application, and had my first call with Joe shortly after. I was immediately put at ease with how friendly and kind he was and knew I had made the right decision on which agency to work with.
There was paperwork to complete, medical tests to run, and appointments to attend to get all the information needed. This included a drug screening, an STD screening, a background check for both me and my husband, OBGYN approval and updated pap-smear, and more.
Once NYSC reviewed all my information, there was an additional letter from my doctor requested and an additional blood draw to run to clarify some matters. All these tasks were simple to complete, and all parties were easy to work with, especially NYSC. The NYSC team was invaluable during this process. They were helpful and kind, and I never felt like my questions were a bother to them.
From application to review and approval, the pre-screening process took about 3 months. And then we were off to the matching process!
