Screening of gestational carriers in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To assess medical and psychosocial screening and evaluation received by gestational carriers and compare those using agencies to those not using agencies. DESIGN: Cross-sectional questionnaire. SETTING: Not applicable. PATIENT(S): A total of 204 women who completed a survey on their experiences as gestational carriers in the United States. INTERVENTION(S): None. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Self-reported screening received before gestational carrier pregnancies. RESULT(S): Overall, 97.1% of gestational carriers had a complete medical evaluation and 94.6% had an evaluation or counseling by a mental health professional. Most participants indicated that they had been informed of at least some medical risks (92.6%) and psychological considerations (89.7%). Participants most often recalled being informed of the risks of multiple pregnancy (89.2%) and medical procedures and medications (87.2%), but least often recalled being informed about the risks of impact on their own employment (46.6%) and to their own children (61.3%). There were no differences in outcome measures between those using an agency and those who did not. CONCLUSION(S): Self-reported screening and evaluation was high, but still not 100% on all measures. Further education of providers regarding guidelines for the screening and evaluation of gestational carriers may be needed.