Psychological screenings for surrogates

Family Therapist Kim Bergman, PhD, explains the importance of psychologically screening a potential surrogate in order to check for any mental illness or other discerning factors
Choosing A Surrogate - The Importance of Psychological Screenings
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Psychological screenings for surrogates

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When psychologically screening a surrogate, we were looking at ruling out any kind of major mental illness -- or minor mental illness, any kind of depression or anxiety; anything that could interfere with the process. It does take quite a while. There are a lot of things that she needs to do and a lot of instructions to follow. We were also looking at, what was her motivation? How does she see herself in relation to the child, to the parents? What are her expectations for the future? What are her expectations for the pregnancy? How will she comply with what the parents want? All of these things are assessed psychologically. We also do a criminal background check and some other ancillary screenings, but we really want to make sure that we are dealing with a psychologically stable, sound person whose motivations are what we want them to be.
PREGNANCY, Fertility, Surrogacy

Family Therapist Kim Bergman, PhD, explains the importance of psychologically screening a potential surrogate in order to check for any mental illness or other discerning factors

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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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