It can often seem like quite the challenge when intended parents and surrogates first meet with
a clinic or a surrogacy agency. This is especially true for international families who place their
dreams in a stranger’s hands while trying to understand and make decisions regarding complex
matters throughout the various surrogacy milestones in a foreign land with its own laws,
medical protocols, healthcare, and insurance systems. Who do you turn to when seeking
guidance during such a life-changing journey? Who do you trust to provide you with imperative
advice and instruction? More importantly, who possesses the necessary knowledge and
experience required to guide you while simultaneously keeping you informed of each crucial
and essential step of the surrogacy process?
When you embark on a surrogacy journey, you will soon discover that your third-party
coordinator is not only your first introduction to an IVF clinic, but they are also the vital link that
guides the third-party patient in a surrogacy arrangement. Third-party patients may include an
egg donor, a gestational carrier, or a known sperm donor. No matter which patient, the third-
party coordinator works in partnership with an agency to ensure that intended parents, egg
donors and surrogates are taken care of throughout the entire process. Third-party
coordinator, Marin Boggs of Nevada Fertility Clinic, describes her role and the positive influence
that a third-party coordinator can have on a third-party patient: “We are the people with them
through the whole entire process. There are so many parts to this process that if you just take
one phone call or an email, if you don’t have someone going through each individual step to
basically hold your hand, to be the person to support you then it can get very overwhelming
and lead to a lot of misunderstandings”.
Applying her unyielding drive and dedication towards a career in Assisted Reproductive
Technology that provides Marin with the same passion and adherence she once possessed
while working as an ERN and a surrogacy director, Marin shares and understands the deep
desire of intended parents to create a family: “I was unable to have children of my own, so I
adopted my son. I know what it’s like to have that extreme urge to be a parent as it was my
only dream, and my body just wouldn’t allow me to do so at the time. Seven years later I ended
up having a high-risk pregnancy, but I gave birth to my daughter, so I have the best of both
worlds. With intended parents, I see the look in their eyes and what this journey means to
them. The timeframe, the financial aspect, everything of it and when I talk to these parents, I
just want to give them a baby”. Marin reflects on her affection towards her chosen profession:
“My passion is helping families all over the world. I’m an aunty to little babies all over and I get
pictures on WhatsApp all day long”.
It didn’t take long for Marin to fall in love with surrogacy while she excelled at managing her
agency’s intake team of recruiters as well as managing intended parents, achieving excellent
results by bringing both parties together to create memorable matches. However, it was a
chance encounter with internationally renowned and highly experienced reproductive
endocrinologist, Dr. Russell Foulk, at a dinner hosted by her agency that convinced Marin to join
his team of dedicated staff at Nevada Fertility Center. “I fell in love with his passion”, she
explains, “I never thought about coming to the clinic side until meeting him. I have certainly
met with many doctors that I have a lot of respect for and have very close relationships with
but just his passion to help people and what he is willing to do to help, how calm and amazing
he is. He sold me right there. I thought to myself that if he ever has something, I’m going to go
work for him. Sure enough, 4 months later and here I am. I came specifically for Dr. Foulk and
his passion for helping families. I just fell in love with it”.
Working as a third-party coordinator requires a strong set of skills while also bringing a human
side to the medical and IVF processes: “We are the face, the very first phone call, your
introduction to the clinic. The first call is quite simple, we try to keep it to the basics, so it isn’t
so overwhelming. We go through the process depending on what the parents are looking for
including if we need an egg donor. When they come to the clinic for the visit, one of us from
third party is there to greet them, to greet the surrogate, to greet the parents. While greeting
their surrogate, we are there to make sure that she is comfortable throughout the medical
process of the actual transfer. We are on the back end coordinating many things. We work
closely with the Utah team. I’m in Vegas but I work with the Utah team that manages the egg
donor database with about 300 egg donors that the IPs can choose from. The donor part of the
process can be a little bit time consuming and a lot of back and forth because we must check to
make sure that genetically, they can work with that donor and that neither of them are coming
up with the same genetic disease”.
Marin’s infectious personality and warm spirit is a welcome comfort to both surrogates and
intended parents: “Having a human side to this industry is so important. Having trust with
people you work with. I think having that trusted relationship between the clinic and the
agency is huge to be able to communicate with each other while contributing our own personal
experiences. With NewGen Families, I talk to Donnyé and Damien all the time. We all have the
same passion for what we do so it’s finding that balance with what works with everyone”.
The surrogacy process may be similar across the country, but it is the people involved in your
journey that will make it so unique, special and memorable. Marin encapsulates this message
with a simple and transparent ethos: “if you have someone who is caring, who understands and
has compassion, I think it helps the whole entire process”. The role of the third-party
coordinator is not only necessary but also important. In saying that, it is an individual like Marin
who follows her vocation with endless energy and devotion to help those in need to fulfill their
dreams, that makes all the difference.
