First Big Step

Geoff here. That's right - I'll be sharing blogging duties with Shannon. Count yourself lucky? Only time will tell. But in the meantime I've got a milestone to share. After extensive research, Shannon and I have decided to pursue surrogacy with the suitably named clinic, Surrogacy India. We'd narrowed the list down to seven agencies and then beat that list to death.

We culled our list from the very awesome Global Doctor Options website. I haven't spoken to the author(s), I don't know how often it's updated, and I honestly don't know how consistenly accurate it is. But for a seemingly balanced and comprehensive view, this site was the perfect primer. It covers all the basics and contains a very handy list of some of the better known India-based surrogacy clinics. [So why read this blog? Because it'll be a totally biased, one-sided view of our very personal experiences. Don't just trust us - read other blogs. But we promise an unvarnished view.]

These are the clinics we investigated:

• Rotunda
• Akanksha Infertility (of the famous Dr. Patel)
• Surrogacy India
• Delhi IVF
• Dr.Rama’s Institute for Fertility
• GG Hospital
• Srushti Hospital

Now lowest on our patented India Clinic Criteria Scale were the clinic websites themselves. In this 21st century Internet-age, I think we're all sufficiently savvy and/or cynical to disbelieve what's written on company websites. I'm not saying they're liars. I'm just saying that on the Web facts aren't black or white, they're stretched thin across a wide, gray scale. Anyway, the majority of India clinic websites aren't very good. In fact, our research taught us that some of the better clinics had the lousiest sites. Bottom line, use the clinic websites to get contact information and then move on.

Contacting the clinics can be a bit difficult at first. No matter how well it has sunk in that you're simply tracing the footsteps of countless other couples, the fact is it's you you're writing about. How to start? As for many other topics, we'll cover this one in future entries. For now, the first contact should be used primarily to get a price list and a list of references. Yes, there's a lot more to learn. But if you have these two you're on your way to comparing options.

Ah, the references. That's the magic. Contact all of them. Every single one of them. There's no better resource. The more the better. Did I mention you should get references? Part of my bias is that this is just sensible "shopping". However, part of it also comes from the fact that there is just an amazing community of Intended Parents out there. They've shared the same concerns, worried over the same fears, and had the guts to take the plunge. In fact, if you think about it, they're you, just a few months or years up the road. Speaking with these couples, Shannon and I felt like we were about to join an exclusive club of fantastic people. What an honor to count some of these folks as our friends.

After all of our research, Surrogacy India was, on the whole, the most professional and responsive clinic while Surrogacy India references were, on the whole, the most satisfied and encouraging contacts. Are we convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt? Of course not. No research is fool-proof and there's a long, knee-shaking road ahead of us. But we know we're ready to move on because when Shannon and I looked at each other and spoke the words, "Ready for the next step?" - we smiled.