Not sure where i should be posting this but...
wondering if anyone has used a surrogate and if so the process that you went though as well as any requirements

From what i understand this is only an option for couples who have undergone many cycles of IVF- is this correct?
I also believe you must go before a board- again is this correct?

Would also love to hear from you if you have arranged surrogacy overseas

I tried to use the search but it wouldnt work

TIA

BUMP

There was a super interesting (and emotional!) discussion of surrogacy in Australia recently on SBS's Insight. It's probably still on their website. Good luck.

Hi TIA,

The sbs insight show was super interesting and emotional and had lots of very narrow minded people on there from what i seen (i only got to see the first part of it).

I am in the process of having a baby in a surrogacy agreement, i can't carry a child but still have my ovaries so the only option for us is surrogacy. in saying that, its an extremely long process (im in Victoria) involving counselling, psychological assessments, legal agreements, police checks, child protection orders and a hearing at the Victorian board.
The commissioning parents (or one of them) needs to be deemed infertile or unable to carry a child or had many many unsuccessful ivf cycles (not sure how many sorry!).
The surrogate needs to be over 25, had at least one live child and prefered to have finshed their family and you need to have known them for at least 2 years.

After saying all of that i hope i haven't scared the wits out of you!! We started the process in about september and have had a few delays but are hoping to have approval at the Victorian board around July/August.

Surrogacy isn't commercial in Australia so you can't pay someone to do it for you either and there are no registers to become a surrogate so you pretty much need to have someone offer to do it for you. My hubby and i thought about going overseas but were lucky enough for my cousin to offer to be our surrogate and it will work out much cheaper to do it here.

I hope i've been of some help for you, if you need anymore info let me know, or PM me.

Good luck

Jess

why dont you go to sbs website and find the name of the indian female DR who spoke on it? she was representing a clinic that seemed quite good.

I just googled
surrogate india
and got heaps of good looking leads to clinics.

Hi,
I think it depends on the state you are in. We are just wading through this process in QLD and it is tricky. We found it also varies from clinic to clinic as well as to how they run things and how much info they want. The run down for our clinic was
1. Go to FS and find out if you are a candidate - this criteria is if the mother would be unable to carry a child at all, or if a pregnancy would seriously impact on her health or multiple IVF failures (later found out - 8 full stims, donor oocytes tried and I think 5 FET is the criteria for this one!) this is the category we fall under
2. Surrogate gets checked out by FS to see if all is good
3. FS writes a proposal for his ethics board based on my medical history
4. Ethics approve or ask for more info
5. Counselling (us, surrogates and all 4 together) & lots of form filling out
6. Lawyers draw up agreement + affadavit saying we understand what we are doing & the process
7. Surrogates get independent legal advice + affadavit to say they understand what is happening legally
8. Financial interview with clinic to make sure you understand how much it will cost
9. Blood tests for all parties involved
10. Go into a stim cycle (we are using frozen embryos so not relevant)
11. 6 month quarrantine of embryos + more bloods
12. FET

That is just to try to get pregnant. When it is all done and if successful we have to have counselling at every trimester and more by another separate psychologist after the birth. Then between 28 days and 6 months after birth you have to go to court and apply for a parentage order which will then give you full custody of the child and record your names as the parents on the birth certificate.

In QLD none of the AC procedures to do with surrogacy are covered by Medicare or private health cover so it is very expensive. If it is successful the pregnancy is covered though. Out of pocket it can cost between 20-30k but this money is spread out so doesnt need to be paid in one hit.

Hope I havent freaked you out but this is what I now know after being through it. I stress this is one clinic in QLD I know of another that is not so labourious but havent used them so not sure of how good they are.

M