Application Process

The first step to becoming a surrogate mother is to complete our online application. The application will ask you for some general information so that potential Intended Parents can get to know a little about who you are and why you are interested in becoming a Gestational Surrrogate.

You will also be asked about your pregnancy history, health history, family life and surrogacy match considerations.

Once your application is accepted, we will begin the process of gathering copies of your pregnancy-related medical records and performing the necessary background checks.

The Right Match

We believe the most important part of a successful surrogacy journey for both surrogates and Intended Parents is finding the Right Match.

Once your application has been approved, one of our surrogacy team members will schedule a consult with you to learn about what is important to you as a surrogate. While some agencies focus heavily on finding the right surrogate for the Intended Parents, we strongly believe that we also need to find the right Intended Parents for you.

We will listen to your hopes and desires for your surrogacy journey and present your profile to Intended Parents who we believe you will be very happy to help.

Clinic Screening

After you and the Intended Parents have matched, we will provide copies of your medical records to the IVF Clinic with which the Intended Parents are working.

Although the screening process for surrogacy can vary slightly from clinic to clinic, the typical IVF Clinic screening appointment for you will consist of:

• Consultation with the IVF physician and nurses
• Discussion of the IVF process, including the medications that will be prescribed
• Uterine evaluation
• Bloodwork and urinalysis for sexually transmitted diseasesas well as drug, nicotine and alcohol use for you and your partner
• Mental health evaluation and consultation

Legal Process

The legal aspects of surrogacy can be complicated. Because of this, both you and the Intended Parents must receive independent legal advice from an attorney experienced in surrogacy. In general, the legal process includes:

• Drafting and negotiation of the surrogacy contract: You will be able to select an attorney experienced in reproductive law with whom you feel comfortable with.
• Legal Clearance: The IVF Clinic will require a legal clearance letter prior to the start of the IVF Cycle.
• Pre-birth order: In most states, it is possible to obtain a court order before birth, declaring the Intended Parents to be the legal parents of the child. Equally important, that order will also declare that you are not the legal parent and are not legally responsible for the child.

IVF Cycle

The IVF Clinic will provide you with detailed instructions on how to prepare for the embryo transfer.

Some Intended Parents will be doing a fresh cycle, meaning that the eggs will be retrieved from the Intended Mother or an egg donor, fertilized with the Intended Father or sperm donor's sperm and then transferred several days later to their Gestational Surrogate's uterus.

Other Intended Parents have embryos already frozen that will be thawed the day of the embryo transfer. Either way, the process will generally consist of:

• Outline of the IVF Cycle calendar - A nurse will provide you with a calendar of when to start and stop taking medications.
• Monitoring - You will have several blood draws and ultrasounds prior to the embryo transfer. These are done to ensure your uterine lining is thickening properly. The monitoring appointments are done early mornings so that they will have as minimal impact on your schedule as possible.
• Embryo Transfer - You will have an embryo or embryos transferred through the use of a catheter that is inserted into the cervical opening up into the uterine cavity.

Pregnancy & Birth

Once the embryo transfer has taken place, you will continue to have monitoring appointments and then a blood test approximately two weeks after the embryo transfer to confirm the pregnancy. An ultrasound will be performed approximately two weeks later to observe the heartbeat(s). You will be weaned off of the IVF medications and released to your obstetrician.

• Confirmation of pregnancy: The initial blood tests and ultrasound to confirm pregnancy are ordered and reviewed by the IVF physician.
• Release to Obstetrician: Once you have been cleared by the IVF clinic, you will be released to your own obstetrician who will oversee your pregnancy in much the same way they treated you for your own pregnancy or pregnancies.
• Participation: The Center for Surrogacy & Egg Donation requires that all Intended Parents participate in the pregnancy as much as possible. Some Intended Parents will be able to attend all of the monthly appointments, while others may be able to attend only a few in person or over the phone. Either way, it is important that you and the parents communicate in whatever format works best for you and your Intended Parents. We will be there to support you and the parents throughout the pregnancy.
• Delivery: A hospital social worker will be able to provide support for the Intended Parent(s) and Gestational Carrier as well as her spouse or partner in preparation for delivery and while the parties are in the hospital. Once the big day arrives, the Intended Parents will be there to support you and to share the joy of the birth of their child.