Dear client / Intended parent and gamete donor,
Caribbean Center for Cognitive-behavioral Therapy (CCCBT) currently provides psychological evaluations for egg, sperm donors, and surrogates. The request for a psychological service can be made a medical specialist or the request for a psych evaluation can come directly from the intended parents.
Before I introduce my upcoming agency, Assisted Parenthood Services, I think that a brief description about Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART), particularly third party reproduction is necessary. Assisted reproduction happens when an infertile couple, woman single, man or a same-sex couple need the assistance of modern technology to conceive a child.
In nature fertilization and implantation of the egg for pregnancy happens unseen in the woman but infertile couples need the assistance of a medical specialist to provide in vivo fertilization (the medical doctor places sperm in the cervical canal) or in vitro fertilization (sperm fertilizes the egg in a lab and the embryo is implanted).
Some couples need further assistance of a third person. The persons seeking assistance may need an egg donor, sperm donor or surrogate. The third person is the egg donor who provides an egg(s) to be fertilized or a sperm donor who contributes sperm to fertilize an egg.
Another key third person is the surrogate. A gestational surrogate is a special and dedicated woman who chooses to carry a couple’s implanted embryo, hopefully, becomes pregnant and delivers the couple’s or person’s baby. This is not a task for just anyone; to become a surrogate stringent medical, physical, behavioral, emotional and social criteria must be met.
Assisted Parenthood Services plan to roll out additional services by June 2021. These services will help intended parents coordinate all the moving parts involved in the process of building a family. Assisted Parenthood Services will recruit and screen potential egg donors and surrogates. The selected candidates will go through a psychological evaluation. If they pass the evaluation they will be part of the Agency’s complement of donors and surrogates. The Agency will help couples match with donors and surrogates who have met a strict criteria to function in these roles.
Patricia Prescott, Phd.
Certified Cognitive Therapist
Caribbean Center for Cognitive Behevioural Therapy