Five Self-Care Tips for Gestational Carriers 

Amidst the already stressful environment impacted by fear of COVID-19, it is not easy being a gestational carrier at the moment. At a time when your hormones are fluctuating, your anxiety levels could be peaking as you try to find a healthy lifestyle balance. Several issues at hand could stress gestational carriers’ well-being and physical health, ranging from pressuring daily responsibilities to incurred financial burden caused on the long-run due to the surrogacy process. 

Generally, stress and anxiety are the enemies of fertility health, and being mentally well is crucial for the entire journey. If you are a gestational carrier, it is important to consider the basics of self-care, such as freeing your schedule from unnecessary obligations that cause you stress. Doing this could be the first step towards achieving a healthy balance. 

Here are five other self-care tips for gestational carriers that will help you have a relaxing and successful pregnancy.                          

1)      Try out Acupuncture      

Acupuncture has not only been used to treat infertility in Eastern medicine for many years, but has also proven to be effective in diffusing stress and anxiety. Acupuncture is a de-stress tool that will help you a lot if you consider adding it to your self-care plan. 

It is helpful with pain relief, especially for neck and back pain, headaches or any discomfort that’s generated in labor. But, it works only when you believe it will bring in the anticipated results. Therefore, the first step to trying acupuncture is to find the right practitioner.  You can always decide on the right acupuncturist for you by reading verified reviews about clinics in Oklahoma.     

2)      Drop Non-essential Obligations 

Achieving self-care tips for gestational carriers is time consuming and is expected to take a slot in your schedule, so it is important to leave out all the non-essential obligations that may be weighing you down. Once you get time for yourself, you will learn how to give yourself the capacity to go to appointments without rushing or scheduling conflicts. Your schedule may be packed with obligations that you were never aware of because of how you were used to them in the past.  Non-essential tasks could range from running errands for others or doing unnecessary manual labor around the house. With non-essential obligations being dropped, you can finally pace out your medical treatment appointments and give them the attention they deserve.

3)      Seek out a Counselor 

The whole process of gestational surrogacy could take a mental and emotional toll on you that may be beyond your control and so it is important to seek a counselor as per one of the self-care tips for gestational carriers.  You should consider seeking professional help that will assist you in practicing self-care. Finding a therapist who is familiar with gestational surrogacy, or is specialized in treating such cases, will make wonders for your emotional health. It will feel liberating to talk to someone who understands what you are going through while you are on the path of this process. 

Anxieties and concerns can be alleviated with the right tools provided by your social counselor or therapist. Psychology Today offers a recommended list of psychologists and therapists in Oklahoma that could help you throughout your journey.

4)      Don’t Hesitate to Say “No”

Your gestational surrogacy process is not an easy journey to handle and it requires a lot of time and energy. So, it is important to reject what you can’t handle. Don’t feel guilty for being unable to live the life you lived before becoming a gestational carrier. Being a different person is only natural when embarking on a new journey. In such cases, the word “no” is powerful enough to put you on the first steps towards self-care.

5)      Pamper Yourself with Fun Mocktails     

While this is not the case with all gestational carriers, giving up alcohol could be hard. However, that doesn’t mean you are giving up the fun! Summer is the prime time of cool fluids and mocktails.  It wouldn’t hurt if you go creative with fixing new non-alcoholic drinks. 

Self-Care Tips for Gestational Carriers

It is important, at the end of the day, to remember that you are only human and nothing will make a difference unless you take life day by day. Gestational surrogacy is a process that focuses on the future.  So, it will always be helpful to think and remind yourself how you, as a gestational carrier, helped intended parents build a family that they have always been longing for. As you focus on the long-term goals, you will find it easy to take care of yourself as you anticipate the moment when it becomes rewarding in the end.

Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Oklahoma is a surrogacy and adoption agency, licensed by the state of Oklahoma and leader in the community. We assist both intended parents and gestational carriers (surrogates). Our staff members are committed to providing an ethical, empowering, and personalized experience to all involved in the surrogacy process. 

You may visit our website here or call toll-free: 800-898-6028 | OKC Local: 405-755-1999 | Tulsa Local: 918-447-7777
or Text: 405-310-8790

Meet the Author: A native Arabic speaker from Cairo, Egypt, Fatma Khaled is a graduate student from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, class 2020 where she focused on visual journalism and long-form narrative. Her work in journalism began in 2013 when she covered the political turmoil in Egypt at the time and reported on different beats afterwards in the country including women’s issues, press freedom, and minority rights. 

She is one of the White House Correspondents Association scholars for 2020 and recipient of a certificate of achievement from HarvardX initiative specializing in humanitarian crisis and conflict resolutions. She has experience in business reporting with focus on the impact of state economic policies on financial markets and business sectors including real estate, trade, and entrepreneurship.

​Throughout her experience in Egypt and the U.S., she covered different reporting beats including LGBTQ, mental health, religion, education, gender issues, homelessness, international politics, business, culture and immigration. Tackling day to day job challenges, she is always in the process of honing her writing and multimedia skills to produce a high quality of shoe-leather reporting.