Missing pregnancy or delivery records do not automatically prevent you from becoming a surrogate. Fertility clinics request these records to better understand your pregnancy history and evaluate potential medical risks, but screening requirements vary from one clinic to another.

If you’re unsure whether your records will affect your eligibility, fill out our contact form, and our surrogacy specialists can help you understand what documentation your fertility clinic may require and what your next steps could look like.

Why Pregnancy and Delivery Records Matter

Fertility clinics request pregnancy and delivery records to evaluate your overall pregnancy history, confirm a track record of healthy births, and minimize potential medical risks during a surrogacy pregnancy. Reproductive endocrinologists rely on these records to verify that your body can safely carry a pregnancy to term without unmanaged complications.

When reviewing your medical history, fertility clinics specifically look for:

• Prenatal Care Notes: Documentation showing consistent prenatal care, healthy blood pressure, normal glucose screenings, and proper fetal development.
• Labor and Delivery Summaries: Details regarding gestational age at delivery, delivery method (vaginal or C-section), estimated blood loss, and any intrapartum complications.
• Postpartum Records: Notes confirming a healthy recovery following delivery without significant hemorrhaging, infection, or severe postpartum complications.

Documentation requirements differ from one fertility clinic to another. Some clinics maintain stricter record policies, while others take a more comprehensive look at your overall pregnancy history and current health when determining whether you qualify to become a surrogate.

Missing Medical Records Don’t Always Mean the Journey Is Over

Missing medical records do not automatically disqualify you from becoming a surrogate. Whether you can continue the screening process depends on which records are missing, how long ago your pregnancies occurred, and the documentation requirements of your fertility clinic.

Whether missing records affect your eligibility often comes down to a few key factors:

• Which Records Are Missing: Missing documentation from a single routine prenatal visit is generally less significant than missing complete labor and delivery records from a previous pregnancy.
• Age of the Pregnancy: Fertility clinics understand that records from a birth eight to ten years ago can be much more difficult to obtain than records from a recent pregnancy.
• Clinic Requirements: Every fertility clinic has its own screening standards. Some maintain stricter documentation requirements, while others may accept secondary records, physician summaries, or other supporting documentation when complete records are unavailable.

Understanding these factors can help set realistic expectations for the screening process. If additional documentation is needed or a clinic accepts alternative records, it may affect how long it takes to receive medical clearance for surrogacy.

What to Do if You Can’t Find Your Medical Records

If you can’t locate your pregnancy or delivery records, don’t panic. Many records can still be recovered, even years after delivery. Start by contacting the providers involved in your care and asking whether your records were archived, transferred, or retained elsewhere. Taking the following steps can help you locate the documentation you need:

• Step 1: Contact Your OB/GYN Office: Reach out to the medical records or Health Information Management (HIM) department of the practice that provided your prenatal care. You may need to complete and sign a medical records release form before records can be sent to you or your surrogacy agency.
• Step 2: Contact the Hospital Where You Delivered: Hospitals often maintain their own labor and delivery records, discharge summaries, and other documentation separate from your OB/GYN’s office. Even if your provider has closed or no longer has your records, the hospital may still have copies.
• Step 3: Check Your Patient Portal: Log in to your hospital or health system’s online portal, such as MyChart, to see whether prenatal records, lab results, discharge summaries, or other documents are available electronically.
• Step 4: Ask Whether Records Were Archived: If the office tells you your records are unavailable, ask whether they were transferred to an off-site storage facility or a third-party medical records company. Older records are often archived rather than permanently deleted.
• Step 5: Request Written Documentation if Records Were Destroyed: If your records were destroyed in accordance with the provider’s retention policy, ask for written confirmation. Some fertility clinics may accept documentation verifying that the records are no longer available when reviewing your medical history.

When Older Medical Records No Longer Exist

Older pregnancy and delivery records are not always available. While healthcare providers are required to retain medical records for a certain period of time, retention requirements vary by state, and providers are generally not required to keep records indefinitely.

As a result, records from pregnancies that occurred many years ago may have been archived or lawfully destroyed under a provider’s record retention policy. If your records are no longer available, you may still be able to provide other documentation that helps verify your pregnancy history, such as:

• Written Confirmation That Records Are Unavailable: Ask your former healthcare provider or hospital for a letter stating that your records are no longer available due to the facility’s record retention policy. Some fertility clinics may accept this documentation when reviewing your medical history.
• Pediatric Medical Records: If your child’s pediatrician has records dating back to birth, they may include details such as gestational age, birth weight, Apgar scores, or other information that helps confirm the outcome of your pregnancy.
• Physician Summary Letter: If your former OB/GYN or another provider familiar with your pregnancy is still practicing, they may be able to write a summary letter describing your prenatal care, delivery, and any significant pregnancy complications or confirming that none occurred.

Talk to an Agency if Your Records Are Missing

Ultimately, the documentation a fertility clinic will accept varies by provider. If complete pregnancy records are unavailable, your surrogacy specialist can help you determine what alternative documentation may be acceptable and guide you through the next steps.

Missing medical records do not automatically mean you cannot become a surrogate. Contact us today and learn how at American Surrogacy, we’ll help you understand what documentation your fertility clinic may require, explore alternative records when available, and guide you through every step of the screening process.