Before becoming a parent, doubts plague your mind. Will I be a good parent? How can I be a good parent? While it’s easy to let your imagination run wild, let’s reign those thoughts back in! After all, you already are a good parent. Don’t forget – you’re putting time, research and energy into every decision on your journey to becoming an expected parent. The constant worrying about your child’s needs means you have what it takes. Only great parents do everything to ensure that their child is happy, safe and healthy.
If you are considering gestational surrogacy, Adoption Choices of Oklahoma is dedicated to going above and beyond. We’ll refer to our intended parent experts at Adoption and Surrogacy Choices of Reno, who will share their knowledge with you as a prospective intended parent. Remember that a little soul can and will find his or her intended home with you. Whether from your womb or someone else’s.
Who are Intended Parents?
If you are like most intended parents, you have probably tried to have your own biological child, either through in vitro or naturally, and haven’t found success on your own. Sometimes, having a third party like a gestational carrier can help. As a reader, you may be wondering who a “typical” intended parent is. However, there is no “fit in a box” or “one size fits all” criteria. In fact, intended parents of gestational surrogacy are commonly from every walk of like. They may be:
- Single women
- Single men
- Same sex female couples
- Same sex male couples
- Heterosexual couples
Who Qualifies to be an Intended Parent?
As the intended parents of gestational surrogacy, you will need to fill out an application regarding pertinent information, such as your social history, family and the reason you are looking into gestational surrogacy. After the application is reviewed, you will have a meeting with a gestational surrogacy specialist to gather more information in a questionnaire form. The following will be covered:
- Type of services you are looking at
- Type and amount of contact you are wanting with your surrogate before, during and after the process
- Possibly what budget you are looking at
- What you’re expecting from the gestational carrier and agency
The Next Steps
After all the information is reviewed, you, your partner or spouse and any other family members who will have close contact with your family or baby will undergo a background check. This is to ensure that you don’t have any criminal or child abuse history and to confirm that our agency is placing your child in a safe, stable home.
You will then most likely have a home visit. While these are not legally required by all states, our social workers want to learn more about your lifestyle and the environment your child will be raised in. They will also observe any other children you have, if applicable.
Following all of this, you and your partner or spouse can begin your search for a potential gestational carrier.
Intended Parents of Gestational Surrogacy
We understand that having a child is magical. Being a parent gives you the power to fall in love with someone before you even meet them. You have this newly-found instinct to be protective and vulnerable, all at the same time. Children fuel your every movement in ways that you can’t explain, which makes you work hard to accomplish things you thought were not possible. That’s why you keep pushing, even when you are purely exhausted.
A child’s unconditional love expands your heart beyond measure. Being a parent is one of the scariest times in your life. It’s hard knowing that a little life is so dependent on you. But, as a mother, I can tell you, all of the tantrums, boogers, late nights, first words are more than worth it. If you are ready to expand your heart to a child that wants nothing more than the love you have to offer, your dreams can come true through gestational surrogacy.
Adoption Choices of Oklahoma
Adoption Choices of Oklahoma is a private adoption agency, licensed by the state of Oklahoma and leader in the adoption community. We have been assisting birth parents, children, and adoptive families in Oklahoma for over 19 years. Our staff members are committed to providing an ethical, empowering, and personalized adoption experience to all involved in the adoption process. If you are currently in the process of adopting a baby and have any questions or concerns, feel free to contact us. You may visit our website here or call 405-794-7500 (Oklahoma City) or 918-982-6220 (Tulsa).
Support Adoption Choices
Adoption Choices, Inc. is partnering with Crowdrise, a fundraising website for nonprofits, to help our adoptive parents and birth parents with much needed financial assistance. We understand that expenses keep clients from fulfilling their dreams. Both with birth parents making a plan for adoption, and with adoptive parents growing their family. It is our mission to provide financial assistance through grants and scholarships, awarded annually in November, in honor of National Adoption Month. Funds assist adoptive parents with matching and placements, adoption finalization and helping birth mothers improve their lives through higher education — and much more.
However, we can’t do it alone. Please read up on our programs and donate money where you are able. Your donation will make a huge impact.
About the Author
Ashley Johnson is an Editorial Intern from Pendroy, Montana. She writes a weekly lifestyle blog which includes adoption and surrogacy. Before starting at Adoption Choices, Inc., Ashley worked for six years as a legal clerk for a judge in Montana. She has decided to go back to college to finish her degree in Communications in hopes of pursuing her passion for writing. Ashley is excited to share her experience with adoption as well as being able to bring a rural outlook on adoption and surrogacy.
In her spare time, Ashley enjoys working on her family ranch with her husband and two children, coaching high school basketball and settling in.
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Sources:
“Intended Parents | Legal Definition Of Intended Parents By Law Insider”. Lawinsider.Com, 2020, https://www.lawinsider.com/dictionary/intended-parents. Accessed 21 Mar 2020.
“Most Parents Doubt Their Skills”. Webmd, 2020, https://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20021101/most-parents-doubt-their-skills#1. Accessed 25 Mar 2020.
