Dear Savvy Surrogate: Why Does My BMI Matter?

Dear Savvy Surrogate:

I’ve been looking around at surrogacy agency websites, and I see that most include a specific BMI range as part of their qualification criteria.  My BMI is higher than the designated range, but I’ve had two extremely healthy, easy pregnancies with easy vaginal deliveries. Why does my BMI matter if I’ve had no complications during my own pregnancies?

Yours truly,

Want to Become a Surrogate

Dear Want to Become:

The agencies actually are not setting this rule--it comes from the IVF doctors who set these requirements.  While there is slight variation from doctor to doctor in the exact BMI required, all doctors will be looking for women who fall within healthy weight limits. The reason is that surrogacy is all about reducing risks--to both babies and the pregnant women.  With higher BMIs, the risks of complications increase.  This can cause harm to both the surrogate and the baby.  Some of the complications associated with higher BMI include gestational diabetes, hypertension, and premature birth.  These are exactly the types of complications we want to reduce through surrogacy.

As a surrogate candidate, you must put your own family first.  Your family needs you to be as healthy as possible.  It's just not worth going into a pregnancy for someone else when your own health is going to be put at risk.

There is also some data out there to suggest that IVF success rates are reduced with a higher BMI.  While it's unclear if this also applies to surrogates, who only undergo the embryo transfer part of the IVF process, many intended parents don't feel it's worth the risk.

The good news is that BMI is one of the few qualification criteria that you have some control over.  You cannot change your pregnancy history, you cannot change your medical background, but you can change your BMI.  I'm not saying losing weight is easy (certainly, it's not) but with hard work, you can get within the range required by the IVF doctors.

Best wishes!

The Savvy Surrogate

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