There are some women who are happy to be a surrogate just once. They give intended parents the gift of life and then go back to living their own life. Then there are those who thoroughly enjoyed the experience and are looking to do it again. The question is though: Can someone be a surrogate mother multiple times? The short answer is a resounding: Yes! In fact, many intended parents consider a previous surrogacy to be a welcome sign and a valuable characteristic to look for. They are often willing to pay extra to secure the help of a repeat surrogate.
There are several factors to consider when determining how many surrogacies a single mother can go through. The decision will ultimately be up to your doctor, your fertility clinic and your chosen surrogacy agency. Talk to your surrogacy professional to learn more about how many times you could become a surrogate mother.
As for our own surrogacy agency in Oregon, we adhere to guidelines set out by medical professionals in the field. Our standard is that we can’t accept surrogacy candidates that have had over five previous pregnancies. They can have their sixth and final pregnancy be a surrogate pregnancy, but that is it. We will discuss with the fertility practices we partner with, but we consider six pregnancies to be our absolute maximum. If you’ve had six prior pregnancies in the past then you may not be able to qualify as a candidate to become a surrogate mother.
With that said, there are still several other factors to consider. If a woman has maintained a healthy track record of pregnancies and births, has had less than three C-sections, and is under the age of 38, then she may still qualify for surrogacy. We would take the time to screen her as much as we do any other woman that comes to us to be a surrogate. However, we would leave any health considerations to the IVF doctors.
We firmly believe that the health of a surrogate mother should come first. We would never want to jeopardize their health. We also keep in mind that intended parents invest a lot of time, money and energy into their surrogacy journey. They want nothing but the best, most dedicated, and healthiest women. That’s also what we want to give the intended parents that come to us.