Where does this leave anxiety medication? By this, we are not talking about over-the-counter pills intended to relieve headaches caused in part by daily stress. By anxiety medication, we mean prescription drugs intended to help regulate clinically diagnosed anxiety. And they are often a no-no when it comes to volunteering as a surrogate mother.
But why, you might wonder?
Simply put, these medications add an element of risk to the baby, much as nitrite additives in your meat and smoking or alcohol do. They are an impurity, and intended parents are seeking the purest environment for their baby to develop in.
What if you take yourself off the anxiety medication? Would that help you qualify for becoming a surrogate mother?
Most likely, yes, although it depends on the nature of the anxiety. In many cases, being pregnant reduces a woman’s daily anxiety, grounds her and gives her a purpose that helps calm the anxiety.
In many other cases, pregnancy itself amplifies or even causes anxiety. Waiting for an injection can bring out the worst in a person who might already be sensitive. Worry over the health of the child or after one’s own health can make a person anxious, too. Surrogacy is on the one hand a beautiful gift of oneself, but on the other hand a long series of medical procedures, where doctors are manipulating your body.
What does this mean? It means that the anxiety medication is half the story. The other half is your psychological state of equilibrium. And that is why there is a psychological screening that every potential surrogate mother undergoes before being accepted into a program. Part of that screening will assess how likely she is to remain stable during pregnancy.
It is important that the child develop in an environment free of unnecessary medications, but it is also important for the child to develop in an environment of psychological calm. While some women prone to anxiety have made great surrogates, others have proven to be too great a risk to be acceptable to the intended parents
There is another question to consider, and that is the health of the surrogate mother. If she is on medication for anxiety, it is for a reason. She should not stop taking needed medication just because she wants to become a surrogate. That simply makes no sense. If her anxiety is controllable without medication, only then should she consider becoming a surrogate mother.
