Preparing for the Match Meeting

Completing the gestational surrogate profile

Going through the surrogacy process with Omega Family Global is pretty simple. It’s a five-step process that is clear and easy to follow. First, the candidate must meet the requirements set by the agency and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) to put together her profile. Once her profile is complete, Omega Surrogacy Advisers share her profile with intended parents.

Matching session

After reviewing profiles that the surrogacy adviser has presented, intended parents choose which surrogates they would like to meet. Intended parents usually request to visit with more than one candidate. The Surrogacy Adviser then sets up a match meeting when intended parents meet one surrogate individually. The meeting can occur online or in person. Omega highly recommends the latter if possible.

What is the purpose of the match meeting?

Connection

The purpose of a match meeting is to discover a connection between IPs and the surrogate. The relationship between the two is very important because they will share the surrogacy journey together. The experience involves trust, understanding, and considerate communication.

Trust

Both IPs and surrogates must feel sure that they can do this as a team. Intended parents must trust that their surrogate will take care of herself and their child in the best possible way. A surrogate should feel at ease discussing personal and private information with the baby’s parents.

What sort of questions should you expect to discuss?

Termination:

A potential surrogate should consider whether she would be willing to terminate a pregnancy if certain difficulties develop. Once she has decided, she then can ask the intended parents where they stand on this issue.

Breast milk:

A surrogate’s body will produce breast milk. It’s helpful to know if IPs are interested in using it for their newborn. Does the surrogate want to pump? If a surrogate wants to pump and the IPs are not interested in the breastmilk, Omega can help her find a place to either donate, sell, or dispose of it.

Be yourself:

It’s natural to feel nervous during a match meeting. Get to know each other: learn about what the IPs do for family time, what they do for fun. Does their family support surrogacy? Both IPs and surrogates should see if they have something personal in common that can spark a special connection.

Dietary Restrictions:

Some intended parents have strong preferences for the surrogate’s diet. Making sure what the expectations are is important. When a woman is pregnant, she may get cravings or want to eat certain foods. She must know how to manage her food intake.

If certain foods are deal-breakers, they should be discussed before moving forward in the journey. If IPs want their surrogate to eat only organic food, a stipend could be considered because eating organic is expensive.

Communication

How to communicate
Everyone has different personalities and, hence, different communication needs. A match meeting is an ideal time to discuss preferences for frequency and method of communication. Communication methods may include text messaging, video calls, telephone calls, emails, etc. A surrogate should ask IPs if they allow her to post pictures of her pregnancy on social media and vice-versa.

Frequency of communication
Some IPs love to communicate often; others prefer to keep it to a minimum. After the baby is born, would IPs agree to send their surrogate updates about the child’s growth and development? Both surrogates and IPs must be comfortable. This is also an ideal space to discuss how to overcome a language barrier. A journey with unmet communication needs can be complicated, so surrogates and IPs should avoid it from the start.

Helping families grow

A surrogacy journey’s goal is to help a family grow. This mission happens when everyone has their heart in the right place. Surrogates and IPs must feel comfortable and happy throughout the journey. The match meeting sets the tone for the relationship. Both parties must be themselves and do their best to establish the connection they want. Therefore, surrogates and IPs must know what it is they want out of their journey. They must try not to be discouraged if the first match meeting isn’t “the one”.