Our match has been made and now it is time to put in some work. Up next is the medical and psychological screening. Starting the medical screening was a bit overwhelming, but thankfully Joe and Melissa with NYSC were awesome and assisted me through the process. The agency helped find and connect me with a monitoring fertility clinic in my state. Once I was connected with an agency, we set up an appointment based on my cycle. My husband came with me to my appointment and it was way less intimidating than I thought it would be. I had a lot of blood drawn. Pro tip: if you are getting any kind of blood drawn it helps to make sure you are well-hydrated beforehand. Then I had a unique ultrasound done called a sonohysterography. It was painless and surprisingly quick. Everything was sent over to the fertility clinic for review.
After a couple of weeks, I was told everything looked great and I only needed to get a vaccine I must not have received as a child. Once I got the vaccine, I provided proof to the clinic and received my official medical clearance. It was an exciting time because once I received my psych clearance; it meant we would be one step closer to creating a beautiful baby for my intended parents.
Speaking of psych clearance, that was also coordinated through NYSC. I was put in contact with the chosen psychiatrist of the intended parents. The psychiatrist sent me multiple different questionnaires to complete before our zoom evaluation. Our zoom evaluation lasted about two hours with her having my husband jump in for the last twenty minutes to get his feelings on me becoming a surrogate. While two hours sounds so long, it was not as intimidating as it sounds. We reviewed my questionnaires and discussed my childhood, my marriage, our family dynamics, my support system, my belief symptoms, and lots of questions surrounding surrogacy. She had already met with the intended parents and it was her job to ensure not just our individual psych clearances, but to ensure we were compatible with no outstanding conflicting beliefs or concerns.
Once she met with us individually, we scheduled to complete an additional meeting altogether. This session was much more brief and was meant to ensure we were all on the same page regarding our expectations for this journey we were taking on together. I was thankful for this meeting because it helped us all to understand we were all tip-toeing around each other regarding reaching out for additional communication. The intended mother and I began talking on a more regular basis after this meeting and we were both grateful for it. After a week, we all received official psych clearance and we were ready for the next step, legal. NYSC assisted us with getting an attorney in our state and the review of the contract began. Once this is completed we get to the best part. Making a baby for the intended parents!
