The Betta Institute collaborates in exclusive with Instituto Minas, dedicated to human rights, responsible for the triage and accompaniment of the Surrogate. The Surrogate is a free person, with legal age, who must live her life in her home and who has all rights recognized. Betta Institute helps the families to perform the treatment in a Center that follow the legal aspects and the international protocols of Assisted Reproduction. To be able to develop a Surrogacy process we from Betta Institute work together with the Surrogates, respecting their dignity, freedom, their private rights as well all human rights.
We have the philosophy that when a family decides to perform the treatment, and that Betta is undoubtedly the best group to represent their rights, we ask the family to make a statement so that it is the Surrogate who indicates that she wants to help them to have a child. In this way we demystify the social understanding of exploitation, rent or any other misinterpretation with respect to the parties and treatment.
SURROGATE’S SCREENING
For the protection of Surrogates and Babies, we take some care in the acceptance of candidates, among them:
- Age between 21 and 45 years;
- Body-mass index (BMI): from 19 to 27;
- Not being a consumer of tobacco, alcohol or drugs;
- Having at least one pregnancy and giving birth of a healthy child;
- Not having more than 5 vaginal deliveries;
- Not having more than 2 c-sections;
- Start the surrogacy process 6 months after the last birth;
- Not having had complications in previous pregnancies (gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, etc.);
- Do not have tattoos or piercings in the last 6 months;
- Do not take contraindicated medications;
- Psychological report made by an assisted reproduction specialist who attests the capacity to participate in.
In addition, we do all the clinical survey of the Surrogate in several aspects such as those reported below.
- Clinical history
- Gynecological examination and ultrasonography
- Cervicovaginal cytology
- HPV subtypes
- Blood count
- Coagulation studies, such as PT or PTT
- Serologies
- VDRL
- Blood type
- Immune profile
In addition, in a second consultation the Surrogate screening looks more detailed for other tests:
SECOND CONSULTATION
Gynecological hormonal profile (Day 1 to 3 menstrual cycle)
37-element QS
Insulin
Antidoping
First-Morning Urine (FMU)
Urine Culture
General and specific vaginal cultures to discard Chlamydia, Mycoplasma and Ureaplasma
Profile TORCH IgG and IgM
Psychometric evaluation
Psychological evaluation
From what you’ve seen, we take every care to ensure that the process of choosing the Pregnant Woman is as safe as possible and ensure that your baby is healthy and also committed to you.
Other care.
At BETTA, there is a consensus that the Surrogate should have and receive:
- National health insurance
- Psychological follow-up
- Prenatal clothing
- Food
- Medicines
- Food supplements (vitamins)
- Legal advice
- Nutritionist follow-up
- Monthly support in case of assignment resulting from pregnancy
Likewise, there is no legislation in the world that fully protects the Surrogate and therefore it is up to us to indicate that there are situations that should be considered. These are miscarriage, voluntary termination of pregnancy due to risk to the Surrogate or Fetus, loss of reproductive system or death as a result of treatment.
The Surrogate is also known as Gestational Carrier. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) define the Surrogate as the person (woman) who freely and voluntary gets pregnant, carry and give birth to a baby to help other family (future parents / Intended Parents)
Due to the fact the eggs will be obtained by egg retrieval from the Intended Mother or Egg Donor, this technique requires the use of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).
Who can be a Surrogate? It can become a Surrogate (Gestational Carrier) every woman with legal age, recommended age between 25 until 35 due to her personal projects come first than helping a family and to be included in the range where the fertility of the woman in the Assisted Reproduction is consider high, without having to pass through hormonal treatments.
How many times a Surrogate can participate? At Betta we recommend as much as 2 times, based in the highest dedication necessary in a Surrogacy process. Many women, according to reports from Canada, already perform more than 2 or 3 times, but in Brazil we believe that this help to families should have a limit.
Should the Surrogate do what the family determines? No. The SURROGATE will give her free consent (informed) so that the family has access to information related to the good care she proposes to have, but under no circumstances this mean the Surrogate gives up her freedom. Like no clinic in the world requests criminal records for the family, this principle is applied to the care of surrogate: good faith.
The Surrogacy process is an act of identification and compromise between those involved.
Accompaniment Department. We accompany with a Department that offers Surrogate’s with 24-hour care in case of emergencies. She will be cared for and accompanied by a Case Manager from the start of the process up to 12 months after the birth of her child.
How long must I wait to have a Surrogate to help my Family? When it comes to a free human being with the right to give up until embryo transfer, patience will be the most important of all so that our families can have a child. The Surrogate may want to participate in a process, but still cannot perform medical tests because she has personal and professional commitments that prevent her from moving forward at that moment. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to get the treatment. It is simply a matter of conciliation. Many families do not understand this and believe that if the beginning of the process takes a certain time it is due to a failure of the operative. It’s not like that. Finding the best for all parties is not easy and takes time. At BETTA families will always achieve the dream of having a child. You just need to be patient.
At Betta Institute we value the well-being of all parties, so we still consider that the Surrogate should receive a compensation. Something unexpected may occur, such as the loss of the reproductive system as a result of birth. Your child is born healthy, but the Surrogate loses the uterus due to a hemorrhage during childbirth. No one expects this to happen, but there is a possibility and we must take care of the Surrogate as if she were our relative. We cannot ignore that these situations may occur, but we can and must act in the face of something so severe towards the health of the Surrogate.
What if the Surrogate dies as a result of treatment? It is fair that her family receives an indemnity to compensate for the loss of life that can never be replaced and that no value can be equivalent, but that it can be compensated to demonstrate that there was due care for her. There is no hierarchy between Intended Parents and Surrogate. Those people who do not respect the rights of the Surrogate are not able to perform the treatment.
Another interesting point for the family to consider is that the Fertility Clinic cannot mediate the presentation of Surrogate and Intended Parents.