Surrogacy and COVID-19 Vaccination
Maybe you are a potential surrogate who does not want to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Maybe you are an intended parent who prefers or is open to a surrogate who is not COVID-19 vaccinated. What are your options?
This is a rapidly evolving topic. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) has issued several publications addressing the COVID-19 vaccine and fertility and the general recommendation that pregnant women or women attempting pregnancy be vaccinated.[1]
On August 20, 2021, ASRM issued ASRM COVID-19 Task Force Update #17.[2] This update states, in part, “clinics should strongly consider requiring vaccination for gestational carriers and advise intended parents to include requirement of vaccination of gestational carriers in their contracts” (emphasis in original). Following this update, many clinics have begun requiring that gestational carrier candidates be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of medical clearance for surrogacy.
As a result, practically, it is becoming increasingly difficult to be or work with a gestational carrier who is not fully vaccinated or not willing to be vaccinated. The expectation is that more and more clinics will be requiring COVID-19 vaccination and it is not clear whether they will allow waiver.
If you are an intended parent, you should ask your clinic about their COVID-19 vaccination requirements for gestational carrier candidates, whether they are expecting a requirement to be in place soon, if it is not there already, and whether there is a waiver option. If your clinic requires or will be requiring COVID-19 vaccination, you can update your IP profile accordingly.
If you are a potential surrogate who is not willing to be COVID-19 vaccinated, it will be more difficult to match you. If you are working with an agency, you should discuss potential timelines to matching with your case manager. Your agency should have a good sense of which of their IPs are working with clinics that require COVID-19 vaccination. If you are going independent, you should clearly state that you are not willing to be vaccinated in your profile so potential IPs can assess whether you will be able to be medically cleared by their clinic.
[1] https://www.asrm.org/news-and-publications/news-and-research/press-releases-and-bulletins/update-no.-16---reproductive-facts-regarding-covid-19-vaccination/; https://www.asrm.org/news-and-publications/news-and-research/press-releases-and-bulletins/new-study-reveals-covid-vaccine-does-not-cause-female-sterility/
[2] https://www.asrm.org/news-and-publications/covid-19/statements/patient-management-and-clinical-recommendations-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/
