At a recent intended parent conference there was an overwhelming and persistent theme of worry about the many moving parts of assisted family building, especially when both an egg donor and a surrogate are a part of the team. Heads seemed to be swirling with representatives from clinics, agencies, escrow services, law practices, mental health practices all vying for their attention, each with compelling reason for why the intended parent should pick up their brochure, ask some questions, gather some information.
Acknowledging that family building through surrogacy is complex is an important first step. And the next step needs to be connecting with someone who can simplify and assist with all the many professional relationships you will be building, from the fertility center, to your lawyer’s office, to the mental health professional, the escrow manager to, of course, successful matching with an egg donor, a surrogate or both. Yikes, it is overwhelming, but it is also very, very doable.
Gifted Journeys came to be from years of previous work experiences and relationship building, when Gifted Journeys opened its doors, its principals were already well-known and well-respected and an immediate network of the best of assisted family building professionals came together. Because Gifted Journeys’ founder, Wendie Wilson-Miller and members of the GJ team have been engaged in the field for so many years, we effectively and efficiently guide our clients through every aspect of successful family building.
Typically, the first work we do with our clients is identifying an egg donor. Our egg donor coordinator will take the intended parent through the matching process, we will advise on donor selection, inform about the process and coordinate all that will take place at the clinic. The entire egg donation process is overseen by one of our staff. The intended parent is given attorney referrals, our team stays in touch with both the parents’ and the donor’s attorney and we make sure that your egg donation agreement is signed in advance of your donor beginning medications for your cycle, as required by most clinics. We will be with the intended parent and the donor through out the egg donation cycle, we will be sure that the donor’s compensation and the moneys needed for the egg donation expenses are being handled by a licensed, professional escrow management services, consistent with the highest of industry standards. We are present and active through to the egg retrieval, and beyond.
While we usually first start working with clients needing to create embryos, sometimes intended parents come to us with embryos already cryo-preserved (frozen) and now need our assistance with finding a surrogate. Like the care and attention we offer during an egg donation cycle, when working with intended parents in anticipation of a surrogacy journey we oversee every aspect of what will take place over the next 12 plus months. We are present throughout as we are with our egg donation cycles, we stay in close touch with the clinic, the attorneys, the escrow manager and any other professional, we are available and engaged with the intended parents and the surrogate every step of the way. We often will accompany a surrogate to an embryo transfer, we are available to her for all of her pre-natal care and if invited, which we often are, it is our thrill to be present following the birth.
When you come to Gifted Journeys, you do not need to go anywhere else, you can look forward to building your family in as stress free, predictable and pleasant manner as possible. We are with you every step of the way.