Do Military Wives Make Better Surrogates?

Not to be outdone by Newsweek, ABC News has done a piece on surrogacy. Again, this is a balanced and informative look at surrogates and why they agree to carry a child for another couple. I have worked with many surrogates, both military and not, and I cannot say that military wives make better surrogates. They have been some of the best surrogates I have worked with and some of the worst. Like anything, there is the good and the bad.

Like the Center for Surrogate Parenting, I am careful working with military surrogates whose husbands are deployed. While these women are used to managing their children and households single-handedly, every surrogate needs a support system and if the surrogate has none while her husband is deployed, then I recommend not working with her.

I also question military surrogates on their husbands' future orders, as the spouse could get orders to move to a state that does not recognize surrogacy. For the most part, the surrogate and her husband know that they will be getting their orders months in advance, but I worked with a surrogate whose husband recently got orders to move to Japan. Thankfully, we were only in the matching stage and she had not cycled with the couple and was not pregnant. During the interview with this surrogate, she said that her husband is here to stay and he has no plans to get transfer orders. This surrogate appeared genuine so I have to believe she had no idea he was getting his orders.

Because my practice is based in San Diego, which has two military bases, my contract always has a clause requiring the surrogate to remain in their home state, which is usually California, through the delivery. As you can see this is especially critical when working with military surrogates.

Read the full article here: http://www.abcnews.go.com/US/ReproductiveHealth/Story?id=4561403&page=1