Can I Become a Surrogate for My Cousin?

Why You Need to Work with an Experienced Professional 

Becoming a surrogate for a cousin is a heroic decision to help a family member become a parent. Before committing, however, it’s important to understand what surrogacy is and how it can impact your relationship. 

You might be thinking, “Is it weird to be a surrogate for your cousin?” 

Not at all. Surrogacy is becoming a popular way for someone like yourself to experience pregnancy again and the strong desire to help an individual, a couple struggling with infertility or a member of the LGBTQ community dreaming of becoming a parent. 

In this case, you’re making the heroic decision to help a member of your family. While gestational surrogacy is a beautiful way to help your cousin experience parenthood, there are essential things to know about surrogacy, the screening process and the changes your journey will make to your relationship. 

This complete guide will answer your question of, “Can I become a surrogate for my cousin?” and provide you with information on why working with an experienced surrogacy agency is important. 

You can get connected to a surrogacy agency today by completing this online form. A trusted and experienced professional is waiting to provide you with everything you need to begin your surrogacy journey. 

Until then, continue reading to learn more about becoming a surrogate for your cousin

How to Become a Surrogate for Your Cousin 

Surrogacy can be a lengthy process, so, it’s crucial to prepare yourself for the steps to becoming a qualified surrogate. There are four steps of the surrogacy process. 

Step 1: Choosing Surrogacy 

Did you know that you have already completed the first step by choosing and committing to the surrogacy process?  

So, when you’re asking, Can I become a surrogate for my cousin?” the answer is yes, as long as you have decided surrogacy is right for you and you have met the requirements. 

Because surrogacy is a big decision, you can reach out to an experienced professional to get the necessary information to make the best decision you can know what the process entails. 

Step 2: The Screening Process to Become a Qualified Candidate 

The process begins with a screening to determine whether you meet all requirements. The surrogacy agency you work with will guide you through the entire process and help prepare you for everything involved in the surrogate screening. 

Here are just some of the requirements for becoming a surrogate

  • A previous successful pregnancy  
  • Currently raising a child in your home 
  • You’re between the ages of 21-41 
  • A BMI of less than 32 
  • No usage of anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medication within the past 12 months 
  • And more 

The screening process will include a combination of physical, medical and psychological evaluations to help determine whether you’re a qualified candidate. You must meet all requirements to ensure your readiness and the health and safety of the pregnancy. 

Once you’ve completed the screening process, it’s time to create your surrogacy contract. 

Step 3: What’s a Surrogacy Contract? 

surrogacy contract is a legal agreement you and your cousin will make for your surrogacy journey. There are several aspects of surrogacy that require you and the intended parent to be keenly aware of and agree to specific terms to ensure the process is safe, smooth and everyone is on the same page. 

You’ll work with a surrogacy attorney to create the parameters for your journey. Your surrogacy attorney is provided for you when you work with the right agency. Having a trusted and experienced legal professional to help you with the contract provides you with important protections and handles your surrogacy journey’s legal steps, according to current state surrogacy laws

Some of the details of your legal contract can include: 

  • Both parties become fully aware of the potential medical and emotional risks involved in surrogacy
  • How many attempts at IVF embryo transfer will be made to achieve a positive pregnancy. 
  • Financial compensation beyond reimbursement for pregnancy- and surrogacy-related medical expenses. 
  • Creating necessary boundaries during the surrogacy process. 

Remember, you can always get more information on surrogacy for a cousin, the surrogacy process and the legal contract by completing this form online to get connected to a professional.  

Step 4: Working with a Fertility Clinic and Transferring the Embryo 

Once you’ve passed all screening requirements, created your contract and are ready to move forward with your surrogacy journey, you will begin the medical portion of becoming a surrogate for your cousin. 

Once the egg and sperm from your cousin and their partner or a donor have created a viable embryo, you will visit their fertility clinic for the in vitro fertilization (IVF) transfer process. When there is a positive pregnancy, and a heartbeat is heard, you will begin prenatal care as you would with any pregnancy. 

With the help of your surrogacy agency, all medical appointments and pregnancy-related visits are made and managed. You’ll continue moving forward with your pregnancy and receive the best possible care and guidance to ensure your pregnancy is safe, happy and healthy. 

Because you and your cousin are experiencing different emotions during your pregnancy journey, it’s essential you create boundaries. By working with the right surrogacy agency and attorney, you will have developed and agreed on a certain level of communication during the pregnancy. 

Can I Become a Surrogate for my Cousin? [Why Working with the Right Surrogacy Agency Matters] 

As we’ve discussed previously, there are many crucial details and steps to having a safe and healthy surrogacy journey. Because you’re becoming a surrogate for your cousin, there is the added familial relationship

Surrogacy and pregnancy will have their range of emotions, so being prepared to go through this journey with a family member and for the changes, it will make to your relationship is vital as you think about what becoming a surrogate for your cousin means long-term.  

It goes without saying that after the baby is born, you’ll want to look back on this experience with your cousin and bond over this incredible gift. You made the heroic decision to help give your cousin a chance at parenting a child. 

Watching them raise their child and grow a family is one of the many reasons you chose to become a surrogate. Avoiding any adverse changes in your relationship is one of the many benefits you receive when working with a surrogacy professional. They can provide mediation and help with communication throughout your journey. 

So, if you’re wondering, “Is it weird to be a surrogate for your cousin?” not only is it not weird, it’s a courageous and beautiful decision to give a family member the greatest gift in life. You can also grow your relationship to an even deeper level through this experience.  

When Surrogacy for Your Cousin isn’t Right for You 

If during the initial stages of deciding to become a surrogate for your cousin you ultimately decide surrogacy isn’t right for you, consider becoming a surrogate for another intended family.  

Hopeful intended parents are waiting for the opportunity to meet a heroic surrogate mother like you to have the chance to become a parent when it’s physically or biologically impossible. 

By contacting a surrogacy agency, you can find out how to find an intended family outside your family and still give someone the extraordinary gift of becoming a parent. 

If you feel as though surrogacy is right for you and you’re ready to begin the process of becoming a qualified surrogate, reach out to a surrogacy agency by completing this online form. Your surrogacy journey is just a click away! 

Want to read stories of other surrogates and intended parents to understand better how surrogacy changes lives? Check out this website to read about several incredible journeys.