Video Shoot for Global IVF.com

This weekend was exciting! Both Kathryn and I had the pleasure of being part of an extensive 'expert' video shoot for the new website GlobalIVF.com If you haven't checked it out, please do! It's a great site, full of information for those IPs looking to travel overseas for any Assisted Reproduction services, and for those coming to the States for the same. It lists clinics, laws, costs, etc around the globe - and I know these days, many of us are thinking of going abroad for (most often) egg donation - and sometimes surrogacy. Our interviews of course focused on surrogacy and why we think the United States is still the best and safest place to go to do it. But we're certainly not blind to the fact that egg donation and surrogacy are becoming part of a much bigger, global picture - and that the costs in the United States for these services are sometimes too heavy a financial burden. That's why Global IVF.com is such a valuable resource -- finally a one stop place to get all of the necessary information to make an educated decision about creating your family. Knowledge is empowerment!

Our segments will most likely be 'airing' on GlobalIVF.com in the next few months -- we'll keep you posted!!

I know that GlobalIVF.com is always looking for stories from IPs who have gone abroad for services or IPs who have come to the United States... there are blogs, articles, forums... so if you've got a story to share, or an upcoming fertility trip, please get in touch with them at info@globalivf.com so that your experiences might help others.

Have a great day!
Lauri de Brito

Ranting & Raving about Doctors on the Internet

The following link raises some interesting thoughts regarding rants and raves about doctors on the internet. I'm sure what will follow is the same consideration regarding services -- including surrogacy agencies, egg donation agencies, etc. I guess more 'food for thought' that we not just blindly trust what we read on the web, and before making a very important decision - like choosing a doctor or an agency - do your research. Here at Agency for Surrogacy Solutions, Inc - we want you to be an educated consumer.

Docs seek to stifle patients' rants on Web sites
Doctors worried about their reputations are trying to fight back against bad Web site reviews, requiring patients to sign contracts - critics call them "gag orders" - promising not to post comments to public sites. But the move may be backfiring.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34794632/ns/health-health_care/from/ET

Britains most prolific surrogate!

This story gives plenty of food for thought ... here is a woman who has given the gift of life, over and over again to so many infertile people. In the press and online, many are questioning that she has done it too many times -- at the risk of her own health and potentially now of any future baby(ies). My greater concern is the fact that she has NEVER had/raised a child of her own -- yet acted as a traditional surrogate all these times prior to this current gestational situation. How did that happen? Another reason why I think the US is a much safer bet for surrogacy... no doctor (and no reputable agency for that matter) would ever work with a woman who does not have at least one child of her own. It freaks me out a bit to think that her first surrogacy was her very first pregnancy - and using her own eggs! I would have been terrified if I were the IM!! ......


Britain’s most prolific surrogate is pregnant again:

Jill Hawkins, from Brighton, has been implanted with two embryos from a professional couple in their early thirties.

Miss Hawkins said she was “absolutely ecstatic” after a home pregnancy test revealed at least one of the embryos has started to grow in her womb. It will be the first time she has carried a child not from her own eggs and she will find out later this month if she is expecting one baby or twins.

“There’s a good chance it could be a multiple pregnancy,” Miss Hawkins told the Daily Mail. “I hope it is. I have never had twins before so I’d love to have that experience.” Miss Hawkins, who has no children of her own, will hand over the baby – or babies – to the couple while still in the maternity ward.

Miss Hawkins, who will be paid around £12,000 in “expenses” for her pregnancy, had spent 18 months trying for an eighth baby, but without success. “My eggs have just packed up which is not unusual for a woman of my age,” she said. “I was worried that because my eggs aren’t as strong as they were that the rest of me might not be up to it either.

“But I’ve had scans and there’s nothing wrong with my womb so being a host should not be a problem. I love being pregnant. It’s a compulsion I suppose and I really miss it when I’m not pregnant.” All Miss Hawkins’ previous children she has given away have been conceived using her own eggs and sperm from the father which was artificially inseminated. Miss Hawkins, a legal secretary, is the most prolific surrogate mother living in Britain. Carole Horlock, from Stevenage in Hertfordshire, who has given birth to 12 surrogate babies, held the title before moving to France four years ago.

Happy 2010!

Happy New Year! Hoping that all of your dreams come true in 2010!

From all of us at Agency for Surrogacy Solutions!

Reflecting on 2009

I sit here on the night before New Year’s Eve, reflecting on the year that has slipped by so quickly. It almost feels like it went too quickly, like nothing monumental happened. But in fact, that is so very far from the truth. Agency for Surrogacy Solutions, Inc has been privileged to play a part in creating so many families this past year – families that would never have existed without surrogacy, egg donation, assisted reproduction. My heart is full of love for the incredible women who help us (those who cannot have children the so-called ‘normal’ way) and with every life that our agency was fortunate enough to have played a hand in, our glass is that much fuller. I look at my own children – now 10, 4 & 3 and I am so very very humbled to be their mother. I never thought infertility would become such a big part of my life and while I was going through, I only wished for it to end. And now I realize that it will never end and I am thankful for that – because it has brought such meaning to my life. It has made me stronger, more compassionate, more dedicated… and by far, a much better mom. To those of you who are surrogates or egg donors – you are amazing. To those of you who are parents via surrogacy or egg donation – you are warriors (remember eye on the prize!). And to those of you in the throes of infertility right now… you are not alone. Open your hearts and allow others to help. We’re here and we’ve walked in your shoes. Here's wishing us all a prosperous, peaceful and fertile 2010! Lauri & Kathryn

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you the happiest of holidays!

From all of us at Agency For Surrogacy Solutions!

What is the process of becoming pregnant via Gestational Surrogacy

The medical procedure for the Embryo Transfer (ET) to the Gestational Surrogate (GS) is similar to having a Pap smear. In most cases it's pain-free. First, your menstrual cycle and the menstrual cycle of the Intended Mother (IM) or Egg Donor (ED) are synchronized using birth control pills and daily injections of Lupron, a drug that suppresses ovulation. If it seems scary, don�t worry! Everyone who has been through the process feels intimidated at first. Often after the first few days they're amazed at how simple and relatively painless it is. The nurse at the reproductive clinic will talk you through the first injections, and we can always help you, too. You will also be taking Estrogen before the transfer, and the Intended Mother or Egg Donor (ED) will be taking daily injections of fertility drugs.

During this time, the development of the Intended Mother or ED's eggs is monitored by periodic blood work and ultrasounds. At the same time, the thickness of the lining of your uterus, which is crucial to the success of the Embryo Transfer, will be evaluated using blood tests and transvaginal ultrasounds. You can expect to visit the Reproductive Endocrinologist a few times before the Embryo Transfer in order to check your uterine lining for its readiness to receive the embryo. That exam is entirely painless. Three to five days after the eggs have been retrieved from the biological Mother (or Egg Donor) and fertilized with the sperm of the biological father (or Sperm Donor), the physician will transfer the embryos to you. As we've noted, that procedure is something like a Pap smear, and it's completed under sterile conditions. Depending on the physician, you may then begin progesterone injections and/or suppositories.

Many clinics require a period of bed rest after the Embryo Transfer. That can range from 12 to 72 hours. The Intended Parents will expect you treat the doctor's instructions seriously. If you need childcare to allow you to stay in bed, that will be provided as specified in your contract. Your contract will cover all such eventualities, so you will never have to worry about money to meet your surrogacy obligations. About 10 to 12 days after the embryo transfer, you'll get a pregnancy test. This will usually be done by drawing blood at the clinic or local lab.