Our Thorough Screening Process: Part 2

Brownstone’s screening process is so extensive, we couldn’t cover it all in one blog post!  If you missed Part 1, which covers our questionnaires, educational calls, and medical screening process, check it out here!

Psychological Screening  

Unlike many agencies which defer the psychological screening of surrogates until after they’ve matched with parents, we conduct the psychological screening process upfront so that the results can inform our matching.  (We do the same with our intended parents and believe it makes for better matches.)  Accordingly, each surrogate candidate will meet with a qualified mental health professional licensed in their state for a psychosocial assessment.  The assessment is not that scary in practice and is usually done virtually. 

Basically, the surrogate and their partner (if applicable) will have a conversation about their background, support system, decision to pursue surrogacy, and plans and expectations for the journey.  The mental health professional will also discuss certain sensitive areas, such as termination, and the potential risks and burdens of surrogacy on the surrogate and their family.  The surrogate will also take a mental health assessment like the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI).  After match, the intended parents and surrogate participate in a group counseling session to make sure everyone is truly on the same page. 

Other Screening Steps

Finally, beyond the medical and psychological screening, Brownstone also vets the surrogate candidate’s social and financial history.  This includes:

1. 1. 1. 1. Background check.  We conduct a background check of the surrogate and anyone over 18 in their household that covers: (a) national criminal databases, (b) social security trace, (c) sex offender registry search, (d) federal bankruptcy history, (e) motor vehicle records, and more.  We also have the surrogate pull their own credit report.
         2. Expert insurance review.  If the surrogate has insurance, we hire an insurance expert specializing in surrogacy to analyze the policy and give us a clear picture of what the surrogate’s policy will and will not cover.
         3. Reference checks (sometimes).  Brownstone offers intended parents the option for us to conduct reference checks.  In those cases, we ask the surrogate to provide contact information for close friends or family members aware of their plan to pursue surrogacy, and we reach out to discuss the candidate’s responsibility, trustworthiness, and stability.
         4. Home visits (sometimes).  Brownstone also offers intended parents the option for us to conduct home visits.  We promise there’s no “white glove treatment”!  With the home visit, we just want to get an overall sense of where the intended parents’ baby would be living in utero.

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We know the screening process can seem daunting, but we will walk you through every step of the way.  We believe it’s crucial to the success of the surrogacy arrangement.  Then it’s on to matching and the much more exciting and fun parts of the process!