Dear Prospective Surrogate:

Thank you or expressing an interest in being a gestational or artificial inseminated (AI) surrogate. As a surrogate you will help a couple who would otherwise have no chance of becoming parents. Your assistance in carrying a child for a couple as in "Gestational Surrogacy" or providing the egg and carrying the child as in "AI Surrogacy" will give them the experience of pregnancy through you as well as the joy of birth. Only because of you will they be able to build a family. Your caring and the happiness it will bring are immeasurable.

In this process a woman such as yourself will be referred to as the "gestational" or "AI surrogate." You are the party able to carry a child in your uterus. The "commissioning couple" is a couple where the woman may or may not be able to produce her own eggs and the man is able to produce sperm, which will fertilize these eggs. There may also be an egg donor involved with this process. The Commissioning Mother, in these cases is, however, not able to carry the fertilized egg and resulting embryo to term because of defects or problems with her uterus or loss of her uterus through hysterectomy. Most of these couples have experienced many years of infertility, with its rigors of treatment, tests, and unending disappointments and frustrations.

Under normal conditions, a woman develops and releases one egg per monthly cycle. In the surrogate process, medications are given to either the "Commissioning mother", the "Egg Donor", or yourself as an "AI surrogate" in order to stimulate the development of several eggs during that cycle. Increasing the number of eggs available for fertilization tends to increase the chances of success in the fertilization and implantation procedure. At the appropriate time, the commissioning mother’s, egg donor’s, or AI surrogate’s eggs will be fertilized by the sperm of her partner. These fertilized egg(s) will then be transferred to your body to be carried to term. Sometimes more than one egg fertilizes and will be transferred. You will not be expected to carry more embryos than are safe for you and the resultant children. You will then follow a regular course of prenatal care with a physician selected by you and the "commissioning couple."

Aside from the satisfaction of helping a couple unable to bear a child, you will have some benefits from your participation in the program. You will have a full physical exam and laboratory profile at no charge. The results will be available to you at your normal check-up. You will also receive compensation for your living and medical expenses before, during and for six weeks after pregnancy. These payments will be arranged through our office and are given as you complete certain portions of the program.

In all likelihood, you will experience a great deal of personal satisfaction in giving the "gift of life" to a couple in need of a "gestational" or "AI surrogate." It is not uncommon, however, to feel some ambivalence or uncertainty regarding your decision, or to experience anxiety about the medical procedures. My office staff, counselors and or nurses will be available to offer emotional support and counseling.

If after reading this letter you are interested in being considered as a "gestational" or "AI surrogate," please fill out and return the enclosed questionnaire. I will then contact you and will be pleased to answer any further questions you might have. Then, if you wish to proceed, I will arrange to meet you and begin the process.

On behalf of my clients, the commissioning couple, I would like to thank you for taking this first step. Our entire staff will use their best effort to make this experience as rewarding for you as possible.

Sincerely,