Healthy Habits: Benefits of Being a Surrogate

 

Surrogacy is a treasured journey that successfully ends in intended parents heading home with a healthy newborn. There is a newly formed bond between a surrogate and the parents they bring this invaluable joy. 

While the bulk of the benefits applies to intended parents, there are some benefits realized by surrogates that make the journey more than worthwhile.

Read on to find out some of the many benefits of being a surrogate.

Fulfillment and a sense of purpose

Many experienced surrogates have said gaining a new perspective on life during and after serving as surrogate mothers. 

This can be gotten from how they get to know the intended parents and understand the challenges they have faced in trying to conceive on their own. 

Learning how invaluable their role is inevitably to provide some fulfillment, and may render a sense of purpose found in doing something larger than one’s own life.

Going through the great experience of surrogacy as a service for another person’s family is, therefore, a character-building and individually enriching experience. 

The gratification of making such a profound contribution to someone’s existence heightens that sense of confidence, satisfaction, and fulfillment with one’s life choices.

Forming new relationships

Intended parents and surrogate mothers grow increasingly close during the process. This often marks the beginning of meaningful friendships that can last a lifetime. 

Surrogates view the intended parents and the baby they help bring into the world as a kind of a second family. This is because one cannot help but form connections with the people involved in the process.

These bonds usually extend to the family members of both surrogates and intended parents, since there is a lot of time spent on making decisions, attending medical procedures, and staying up to date on each other’s affairs.

This deeply personal and rewarding bond usually extends past the birth of the child, as the involved parties found shared values and perspectives through the long journey. 

These bonds similarly extend to other surrogates who are undergoing the process concurrently and those with some experience. Surrogates often encounter other women who have completed the process and find common ground when associating with them, resulting in the formation of new relationships that surpass individual surrogacy journeys.

Apart from other surrogates and intended parents, surrogates expand their social circles during individual surrogacy processes. 

Surrogate mothers encounter devoted mentors and counselors at different agencies and many support groups that they have access to as members of the surrogacy community in general. 

These support groups are plentiful and can be a great asset for making mentors, and friends, navigating pregnancy and finding support.

Experiencing the joys of pregnancy

Despite being a taxing phenomenon on a woman’s body, surrogacy allows women to feel the wonders of having another baby, even when their own family is complete. 

Pregnancy reminds many of us of what matters most in life, and thus surrogates feel empowered by their bodies. As a surrogate, you are likely to realize the pleasure of watching a baby grow and feeling the occasional kick.

Also, medical experts reckon that some physical conditions may improve as a result of pregnancy. These include reprieve in migraines, certain food intolerances and acne, and the emergence of lush hair. 

Many women have also revealed that going 9 months without a menstrual period is a welcome reprieve, especially for those who experience intense discomfort during these times.

Surrogate mothers also get to experience the fabled pregnancy ‘glow’ that has long been hailed by pregnant women and those around them.

Legal protection and Financial Compensation

Surrogates do not get involved with this personal journey based on financial gain as a primary motivation. However, surrogates are generally compensated well for their services, on top of having medical fees covered for the duration of the process. 

Experienced surrogates attract higher compensation, which has granted them financial security that they never envisioned.

These financial benefits have allowed many surrogates to make significant progress in their lives, such as financing homes, pursuing some education, and starting a savings fund that can help in different ways in their futures.

Many surrogacy agreements include legal protection and life insurance cover for surrogates. This translates to surrogates receiving top-notch healthcare and counseling to ensure stable physical and psychological health. 

These legally binding agreements allow surrogates to outline their responsibilities and expectations during the process and thus protect them from being manipulated or exploited by intended parents. 

This, and the aforementioned compensation, ensure that surrogates are not held responsible for the baby after birth, duly transferring the responsibility to the intended parents.

Conclusion

Surrogacy is an incredibly rewarding process that involves a surrogate helping others with fertility challenges to safely and successfully conceive and deliver a healthy child. 

The journey is associated with great personal fulfillment derived from understanding the impact of a very selfless act that serves the prospective parent being helped.

Surrogates form more life connections with intended parents, their family members, other surrogates, and working professionals, thus enriching their social circles through the process. 

Surrogates also experience other benefits such as alleviating menstrual woes and financial compensation which is a welcome reprieve from the rigors of daily living.

Surrogacy generally carries benefits for intended parents and surrogates alike. To get a better idea of what is in store, contact members and professionals of an established surrogacy community. Their experience will likely give some insight into surrogacy and all the details around it. 

Author: David

Bio: I work daily to make surrogacy available to as many intended parents, surrogate mothers and egg donors around the world as possible. You visit our surrogate community.