How Are Intended Parents Screened?

How American Surrogacy Screens Intended Parents

When you work with us, you can be sure all intended parents are fully ready to raise a child born via surrogacy — making your decision a little easier.

American Surrogacy goes well beyond industry standards to ensure gestational surrogates find their ideal surrogacy situation. While part of this comes with allowing you to choose your own intended parents, another crucial aspect is our intense screening of intended parents — to make sure they’re ready for the surrogacy journey and to successfully partner with you for the next year or more to come.

Just like all prospective surrogates undergo background screening, intended parents must complete their own extensive screening process as well. This can include everything from criminal background checks to psychological studies to home assessments. Each one of these steps is designed to test whether intended parents are truly ready to become parents via surrogacy — and, if so, prepare them for a match with you and the surrogacy journey awaiting them.

When you are active with American Surrogacy and ready to find a match, you can take comfort knowing any intended parent presented to you has already been fully screened by our staff and by multiple third-party professionals.

Our screening process goes above and beyond most other surrogacy professionals and ensures all intended parents are:

  • 100 percent committed to surrogacy

  • physically and emotionally ready for parenthood

  • living in a safe and viable home in which to raise a child

  • free of any criminal or legal troubles

  • financially prepared for surrogacy and for raising a child

American Surrogacy’s screening process for intended parents includes three comprehensive steps:

1. Surrogacy Planning Questionnaire (SPQ)

When intended parents first approach American Surrogacy, they’ll need to complete an initial application to start their surrogacy process. This will include the Surrogacy Planning Questionnaire, an extensive list of questions allowing us to get to know intended parents better and to relay this information to you.

They will be asked about a variety of topics, including:

  • Egg or sperm donor requirements

  • Type of contact arrangement before delivery

  • Type of contact arrangement after delivery

  • Past history with surrogacy

  • How they will talk to the child about surrogacy

  • And much more

The answers to their Surrogacy Planning Questionnaire will also help us create their family profiles, which you will be able to view as a prospective surrogate. These profiles will tell you more about what kind of family they are and what they’re looking for in a surrogate. Requiring both our intended parents and prospective surrogates to complete these questionnaires and profiles ensures that we find the perfect match for you as you begin your surrogacy journey.

2. Home Assessment (If Necessary)

Although home assessments are not legally required in surrogacy, for an added layer of protection, American Surrogacy reserves the right to require our intended parents to complete one before being cleared for our surrogacy services.

But what does this home assessment entail?

If necessary, a social worker will visit the home of the intended parents to review every aspect of their lives that could impact their surrogacy process. The assessment may include interviews with all household members, an observation of children already in the home and a check to see that the home environment is prepared for a newborn baby. The home assessment will also give intended parents a chance to ask any questions they have about surrogacy and how they can prepare as a family to raise a child born via surrogacy.

3. Background Checks

Just like you have to undergo background checks to become a prospective surrogate, all intended parents must undergo multiple clearances from various governmental bodies to ensure they’re free of any criminal or legal trouble. These checks are just another way we make sure intended parents are capable of providing a safe home to a child born via surrogacy.

The parents and people over 12 years old and living in their home must pass:

  • FBI clearances

  • Criminal background checks

  • Child abuse records checks

Therefore, you can be sure that every intended parent we work with is clear of criminal charges and fully prepared to safely raise a child that you give birth to via surrogacy.

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Just because we thoroughly screen our intended parents doesn’t mean that each one is right for you; that’s why we give you the chance to choose the intended parents that match your preferences and work perfectly for your situation. By screening our intended parents before their profile is presented to you, we make sure that all of our intended parents are physically, mentally, emotionally and financially ready to raise a child — letting you focus on finding the perfect family without worrying about their capability to raise a child.

While many surrogates come to American Surrogacy unmatched, if you have already located intended parents, you can still receive the assurance from background checks and clearances. We will still complete the screening process for every intended family that works with us, even if they are already matched to a surrogate like you.

To learn more about how to become a surrogate and find the perfect intended parents for you, please call our surrogacy specialists today at 1-800-875-2229.