Choosing the right agency for surrogacy or donation

Family Therapist Kim Bergman, PhD, shares advice on the different factors to consider in order to choose the surrogacy or donation agency for you
Tips For Choosing The Right Agency For Surrogacy or Donation
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Choosing the right agency for surrogacy or donation

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So when you choose your agency, there are a number of different criteria to look for. You want to make sure that they are who they say they are, so unfortunately surrogacy is a completely unregulated field so anybody can put up a beautiful website that they know how to be a surrogacy agency and claim to take care of you. And unfortunately, that happens all the time and people lose money. So you really want to make sure that expert knows what they are doing. Get references, ask them for clients that have gone through their program, ask them for clients that went through their program five years ago, ask them to show you that they´ve got malpractice insurance, all the different levels of insurance that they need to have, that they have real people go their office. Make sure they are a real place and find out how long they have been in business. Find out what is the actual professional expertise of the people running the agency. Once you do your homework and find a good agency, you can really trust them and put yourself in their hands. But your job is to make sure that you are putting yourself in the right hands because it´s a really big, big decision and really big journey.

Family Therapist Kim Bergman, PhD, shares advice on the different factors to consider in order to choose the surrogacy or donation agency for you

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Kim Bergman, PhD

Family Therapist

Kim Bergman, PhD, a licensed psychologist of 22 years, has specialized in the area of gay and lesbian parenting, parenting by choice and third party assisted reproduction for the last two decades. Dr. Bergman has created a comprehensive psychological screening, support and monitoring process for Intended Parents, Surrogates and Donors. She is the co-owner of Fertility Counseling Services and Growing Generations and is a member of the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, the American Fertility Association, the American Psychological Association, the Los Angeles County Psychological Association, the Lesbian and Gay Psychotherapy Association, and the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association. She is on the national board of the Family Equality Council. Dr. Bergman writes, teaches and speaks extensively on parenting by choice. Along with co-authors, she published "Gay Men Who Become Fathers via Surrogacy: The Transition to Parenthood" (Journal of GLBT Family Studies, April 2010). Dr. Bergman created her own family using third party assisted reproduction and she lives with her wife of 28 years and their two teenage daughters. 

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Transcription: 
So when you choose your agency, there are a number of different criteria to look for. You want to make sure that they are who they say they are, so unfortunately surrogacy is a completely unregulated field so anybody can put up a beautiful website that they know how to be a surrogacy agency and claim to take care of you. And unfortunately, that happens all the time and people lose money. So you really want to make sure that expert knows what they are doing. Get references, ask them for clients that have gone through their program, ask them for clients that went through their program five years ago, ask them to show you that they´ve got malpractice insurance, all the different levels of insurance that they need to have, that they have real people go their office. Make sure they are a real place and find out how long they have been in business. Find out what is the actual professional expertise of the people running the agency. Once you do your homework and find a good agency, you can really trust them and put yourself in their hands. But your job is to make sure that you are putting yourself in the right hands because it´s a really big, big decision and really big journey.