As the country is opening back up many American adults are weighing their decision on whether they will get a Covid-19 vaccine or not. As of July 2021 over half of American adults have made the choice to get vaccinated for Covid and it seems OBGYN’s and fertility doctors across the country not only support that decision but are requiring covid vaccines for surrogates.
The covid vaccine is encouraged by both ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) and ASRM (American Society for Reproductive Medicine). Many fertility clinics are starting to require the vaccine as protocol to be medically approved to become a surrogate and those fertility clinics who don’t require a vaccine for clearance, often have Intended Parents that want their surrogate vaccinated regardless.
While most agencies don’t require surrogate applicants to be vaccinated it is becoming increasingly challenging to match unvaccinated surrogates with Intended Parents and many fertility doctors won’t approve surrogates who are unvaccinated.
“The vaccine is new but that does not mean it hasn’t been well studied. It has been studied and in pregnancy too with over 30k and counting pregnant women who have gotten it and they have delivered healthy babies, it does not cause infertility, miscarriage. It can prevent severe complications like preterm labor, preterm delivery and maternal death and she can pass on antibodies and protect the baby too.” Says Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh of draimee.org.
So, the short answer is that while unvaccinated surrogates may be able to find a match, most fertility doctors at this point won’t medically clear unvaccinated surrogates for transfer. If you have made the choice to not be vaccinated at this time, it may ultimately mean not being approved for a surrogacy journey.
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