FAQs About Surrogacy and Intended Parents

A Gestational Surrogate, which is the most common, is a surrogate who is not genetically connected to the child she is carrying. Her eggs are not used at all. The eggs are retrieved from the Intended Mother or an egg donor, are fertilized with the prospective father’s sperm or sperm donor in a lab.  The embryo is then transferred to the Surrogate’s womb through in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

A Traditional Surrogate is a Surrogate who donates her egg and will be the biological parent of the child she is carrying. The Surrogate is artificially inseminated with the Intended Father’s or donor sperm using a process known as intrauterine insemination, or IUI. This process allows fertilization to occur naturally.

After Intended Parents are matched with a Surrogate, the next steps are as follows:

• Medical Evaluation of the Parents and their Surrogate
• Psychological Consult for the Parents
• Review of Health Insurance for Surrogate, Child & Parents
• Agency Match Agreement between Parents and Surrogate
• Establish the Escrow Account
• Legal Contract Process
• Commencement of the IVF Cycle
• Pregnancy
• Judgment of Parentage Process (pre-birth order)
• Preparation for your Child’s Birth
• Preparation for the Child’s departure home (International Clients)

We usually have a good number of Surrogate candidates available, so that there is a good opportunity to find a well-suited match. It may take as little as a few days, or as long as several months to find the ideal candidate. Our onsite matching program will help to get you started; then, we will help you narrow down the choices based on similar beliefs, interests, preference of relationship between you and the surrogate, and overall compatibility.

Finding the right Surrogate for you is the most important part of this journey. You should not rush, nor make a choice based on availability or convenience.

The reasons why someone chooses to become a Surrogate vary by individual, but most often these women feel compelled to give back to their community or society. Often, they are women who feel grateful and blessed to have easily conceived their own children, and they want others to experience all the joys of having a family of their own.

This is truly the most unselfish and amazing acts of kindness that anyone could offer. Financial draw aside, surrogacy is not for everyone but the women who feel especially called to do this.

• Overall Good Physical Health including Reproductive Health
• Appropriate Age Range (21-39 years of age)
• Non-Smoking/Non Drug Using
• Must have had at least one child of her own
• No complications with her previous pregnancies
• Healthy Weight Range
• Financially Secure/Self Supporting
• Emotionally Stable
• Good Support System