Just as Dr. Seuss' book, titled, Oh, the Places You'll Go, discusses the various places one can travel, it seems as though WSS has been traveling to a great many places recently, sharing our knowledge and expertise with intended parents across the United States. Over the past two weeks, various Worldwide Surrogacy team members, including me, have traveled to Chicago and San Francisco and plan to travel back to Chicago this upcoming weekend for various conferences.

The three conferences visited, including an upcoming Chicago conference this weekend, are opportunities for us to not only gain new insights on surrogacy and its constant development, but also to meet with prospective intended parents to discuss our successful surrogacy matching agency based on the East Coast.

The first conference we attended was hosted by the organization, Men Having Babies (MHB) and was held in Chicago, IL. We have attended many conferences hosted by MHB in the past and continue to go to these conferences as it is a great way to re-connect with other surrogacy matching agencies as well as fertility clinics across the United States. At both the MHB conference, as well as the Families Through Surrogacy (FTS) conference in San Francisco, CA, we met and spoke with various individuals whose desires of becoming intended parents were wholeheartedly displayed with each conversation. It's conversations like these that constantly remind us of how valuable and rewarding our role is in finding the "right" surrogate for each intended parent we work with.

Consequently, one might ask what classifies someone as the "right" surrogate? There is no conclusive way to answer this question. A surrogate that is suitable for one intended parent might not be suitable for another for a variety of reasons. It can arguably boil down to an individual's preferences, along with the personal connection that is established between the surrogate and the intended parent. WSS supports both the intended parents and the surrogate throughout their journey to ensure a seamless process for both from beginning to end.

The most common question that intended parents have asked at all of these conferences is "Why should I work with your agency?" Although this question is quite simple at face value, the answer is to some extent multi-faceted.

One of the most important aspects to consider when choosing your agency is that you are comfortable with the agency's team members. Given that this is a huge undertaking, both financially and emotionally, you need to be able to confide in your team, and feel comfortable doing so. Therefore, my initial response to this question is that our agency focuses heavily on providing support to our intended parents starting from the initial stages through when the baby(ies) are born. Similarly, we offer the same level of support to surrogates; maintaining close contact and relationships with both parties until birth, and sometimes afterward. Many WSS team members remain in contact with intended parents well after the birth of their child(ren). Since there is such a close relationship between our agency and intended parents, we receive family photos, or even have parents and their baby(ies) come visit us in the office. Some even feel so secure and comfortable with our agency that they sign on with us again for a sibling project. It is indescribable to meet intended parents at these conferences and to know that if they choose our agency, we will play a small role in giving them the greatest gift of all.