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Timeline for Becoming Parents | Cost Breakdown | LGBTQIA+ Families |
Why Parents Pick Us | Support for Intended Parents
Redefining Support for Intended Parents
At Surrogacy Is we know deciding to pursue a surrogacy journey is a big decision and it can often feel overwhelming and uncertain. Imagining ourselves in your shoes is what drives us in our commitment to make sure we’re doing what’s right to take care of you. To us, that means offering comprehensive IP (intended parent) perks that just make sense. See first-hand how much heart we put into every journey!
What You Can Expect Working With Us:
No Deposit Until Match
We don’t believe in up-front costs for intended parents. In our eyes, your surrogate match is the essential first step in starting your journey with us and we’ll never ask you to pay anything until we’ve found her—and even then we break our deposit into two installments. (The second installment is after she is medically cleared).
There can be a lot of uncertainty in surrogacy, so we want to make things as easy and affordable for you to make sure you’re with the right surrogate to move forward with.
90-Day Match Guarantee
At Surrogacy Is, it pains us to hear how long IPs sit on wait lists wishing for the chance to start their journey. We made a vow as an agency to never feed hopeful parents false promises and to do whatever we can to start them on their journey to parenthood faster. That’s why we’ll never have a waitlist.
Since starting our surrogacy advocacy support group, we’ve talked to and educated 80+ potential surrogates on average every month. Because of this sheer value of new passionate surrogates, we’re confident we can find your perfect match in 90 days—or less. In fact, our match time is usually less than 21 days for intended parents (Seriously!)
Thorough Screening of Surrogates
By the time you see a surrogate’s profile, she’s been thoroughly vetted through our pre-screening process.
This includes…
- A full profile review
- Collection of medical records
- OB clearance
- Virtual home visit
- Insurance review with ART Risk
- Criminal backgrounds
- Psychological clearance.
Low Case Loads for Every Journey Coordinator
We’ve worked hard to build a team that puts their hearts into every journey. That’s why we have specific teams for every stage and limit each Journey Coordinator to 25 cases. This allows our team to be fully equipped to give every family the time and attention they deserve, including 24-hour support for whenever a question or concern comes up.
IVF Concierge for Your Surrogate
We know IVF clinics are extremely busy. We offer additional support to every surrogate through our IVF concierge, which includes teaching your surrogate how to take her medicine from our RN team and community of experienced surrogates. With the whole Surrogacy Is team on your side, you’ll never have to worry about whether your surrogate is taking her medication correctly.
Mental Health Support for BOTH IPs and Surrogate
Surrogacy can be an emotional process. If both sides have the opportunity to discuss their emotions with a professional psychologist, it creates a solid foundation for a beautiful, less stressful journey and relationship. We’ve partnered with a mental health specialist who’s a Dad through surrogacy himself, so he can relate and offer first-hand advice throughout the process.
Birth Order Help
It’s our goal once your baby is born that you can fully bask in the new joy of parenthood. That’s why we’ll work closely with the hospital so they know about the surrogacy arrangement and the birth clerk has all the necessary legal paperwork in place before you and your surrogate even walk through the door.
Postpartum Assistance
Even after your baby is born, our support doesn’t end. We’ll be here to help with any postpartum assistance you may need. If you need help setting up lodging in your surrogate’s city, figuring out arrangements to travel back home with your newborn, or even advice on how to bond with your new little one, we’ll be there.
Your Dream of Becoming a Parent is Closer Than You Think!
At Surrogacy Is our intended parent timeline makes parenthood more attainable. See the steps you can expect to complete on your journey.
Surrogacy Timeline
For Intended Parents
Meet the Team
To get started, you’ll meet with our IP Relations Manager to discuss all your hopes for a surrogacy journey and how our agency can help. If you decide you want to work with us, we’ll immediately start prepping you for the next step.
Profile Creation
Our IP Relations Manager will meet with you again to share her best tips on creating a thoughtful profile that shows your family’s unique personality so we can later share it with our pre-screened surrogates.
Matching
Next, you’ll work with our Matching Coordinator to find your perfect surrogate match. As soon as she gets your profile she diligently looks through all our surrogate profiles to find the most compatible match based on each side’s preferences. Usually, she will have a profile for you to review within 24 hours. Before a match call is even set up, we allow the IPs to review a surrogate’s profile first, if they like her then we share their profile with the surrogate. If the surrogate agrees that she likes the IPs too, we send her medical records to be reviewed by the IP’s fertility clinic. We do this just in case they see anything that would prevent moving forward with her. This saves time and potential heartbreak later. If the clinic says the surrogate meets their specific protocol, we set up a match call over Zoom. After the call, each side gets to decide if they want to move forward. If all agree, a match is made—and that’s when we ask you to pay the first installment or your agency fee.
In-Person Medical Screening
Once your match is official, you’ll be introduced to your Journey Coordinator and she will work with your surrogate and IVF clinic to schedule her medical screening. Your reproductive endocrinologist will perform several tests to evaluate your surrogate’s reproductive health. This is sometimes the perfect time for a surrogate and intended parents to meet for the first time in person! After she passes her medical screening at the clinic, you’ll pay the rest of your agency fee.
Legal
Our team will help with recommendations for separate representation for both you and your surrogate to navigate one of the most important aspects of your surrogacy journey—the legal contract! The legal professionals we turn to all have 5+ years of experience in surrogacy law and have drafted several surrogacy contracts. During the legal process, our team will help maintain a happy relationship between you and your surrogate by acting as the liaison to help facilitate communication about legal matters.
Additional Insurance Set-Up (If Needed)
When your surrogate is screened with us our team will have her current insurance policy (if she has one) reviewed with ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) Risk insurance professionals. When you review her profile you’ll know what her insurance situation looks like and if she will be needing additional coverage. If there is a need for additional coverage, ART Risk will help compare options, costs, and exclusions. You will need to have the insurance plan set up and funded in your trust account before your surrogate starts her IVF medications.
Fully Funding Your Escrow
After matching, our team will help you set up your escrow account with a trusted third-party escrow company, but after your legal contracts are finalized, we ask that you fully fund your account for your whole journey. Having your account fully funded (with some buffer for just-in-case instances) means we’ll never have to come back and ask you for additional money throughout your journey. Throughout your journey, we’ll manage all the reimbursement requests while keeping you in the loop at all times—so you can avoid the awkwardness of discussing finances with your surrogate.
IVF Med Calendar
Your surrogate will start taking her IVF medication to prep for the big transfer day. Our team offers 1:1 IVF guidance to make sure she understands her med calendar, knows exactly how to take all her medication and how to store it, plus we’ll share our seasoned tricks to make taking shots easier and less scary for her.
Transfer
You’re one big step closer to meeting your baby! We’ll help make this emotionally charged day easier by coordinating the lodging and travel arrangements for your surrogate. We’ll also be there to give guidance and support to both you and your surrogate—while sending all the sticky, positive vibes from our whole Surrogacy Is team.
Pregnancy—Providing Support for Both IPs & Surrogate
To ensure the best care, we’ll help you find the right healthcare professionals with surrogacy experience. We’ll actively help coordinate appointments and facilitate communication between both parties so the bond can continue to grow. Besides medical support, we also provide ongoing emotional support for both sides from caring mental health professionals.
Delivery
OH-MY-GOSH…the big day is here! Before your due date even approaches we work behind the scenes to ensure your hospital is aware of the surrogacy arrangement and they’re prepared for this unique scenario, including having the legal paperwork ready for the birth order. We can also help you with finding a place to stay in your surrogate’s city.
Parenthood
Your new baby is here! As you settle into life as parents, we’ll continue to be that friend who is here and willing to help with anything and everything you might need. Do you need help organizing a plan to get back home with your new baby? Or do you need to figure out how to ship breastmilk? Maybe you even need some tips on doing something special for your surrogate. Whatever it is, we want you to ask us so we can take whatever off your plate so you focus more time on snuggling and loving on your new baby.
Meet The Team
Your new baby is here! As you settle into life as parents, we’ll continue to be that friend who is here and willing to help with anything and everything you might need. Do you need help organizing a plan to get back home with your new baby? Or do you need to figure out how to ship breastmilk? Maybe you even need some tips on doing something special for your surrogate. Whatever it is, we want you to ask us so we can take whatever off your plate so you focus more time on snuggling and loving on your new baby.
Profile Creation
Our IP Relations Manager will meet with you again to share her best tips on creating a thoughtful profile that shows your family’s unique personality so we can later share it with our pre-screened surrogates.
Matching
Next, you’ll work with our Matching Coordinator to find your perfect surrogate match. As soon as she gets your profile she diligently looks through all our surrogate profiles to find the most compatible match based on each side’s preferences. Usually, she will have a profile for you to review within 24 hours. Before a match call is even set up, we allow the IPs to review a surrogate’s profile first, if they like her then we share their profile with the surrogate. If the surrogate agrees that she likes the IPs too, we send her medical records to be reviewed by the IP’s fertility clinic. We do this just in case they see anything that would prevent moving forward with her. This saves time and potential heartbreak later. If the clinic says the surrogate meets their specific protocol, we set up a match call over Zoom. After the call, each side gets to decide if they want to move forward. If all agree, a match is made—and that’s when we ask you to pay the first installment or your agency fee (only $10,000).
In-Person Medical Screening
Once your match is official, you’ll be introduced to your Journey Coordinator and she will work with your surrogate and IVF clinic to schedule her medical screening. Your reproductive endocrinologist will perform several tests to evaluate your surrogate’s reproductive health. This is sometimes the perfect time for a surrogate and intended parents to meet for the first time in person! After she passes her medical screening at the clinic, you’ll pay the rest of your agency fee.
Legal
Our team will help with recommendations for separate representation for both you and your surrogate to navigate one of the most important aspects of your surrogacy journey—the legal contract! The legal professionals we turn to all have 5+ years of experience in surrogacy law and have drafted several surrogacy contracts. During the legal process, our team will help maintain a happy relationship between you and your surrogate by acting as the liaison to help facilitate communication about legal matters.
Additional Insurance Set-Up (If Needed)
When your surrogate is screened with us our team will have her current insurance policy (if she has one) reviewed with ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) Risk insurance professionals. When you review her profile you’ll know what her insurance situation looks like and if she will be needing additional coverage. If there is a need for additional coverage, ART Risk will help compare options, costs, and exclusions. You will need to have the insurance plan set up and funded in your trust account before your surrogate starts her IVF medications.
Fully Funding Your Escrow
After matching, our team will help you set up your escrow account with a trusted third-party escrow company but after your legal contracts are finalized, we ask that you fully fund your account for your whole journey. Having your account fully funded (with some buffer for just-in-case instances) means we’ll never have to come back and ask you for additional money throughout your journey. Throughout your journey, we’ll manage all the reimbursement requests while keeping you in the loop at all times—so you can avoid the awkwardness of discussing finances with your surrogate.
IVF Med Calendar
Your surrogate will start taking her IVF medication to prep for the big transfer day. Our team offers 1:1 IVF guidance to make sure she understands her med calendar, knows exactly how to take all her medication and how to store it, plus we’ll share our seasoned tricks to make taking shots easier and less scary for her.
Transfer
You’re one big step closer to meeting your baby! We’ll help make this emotionally charged day easier by coordinating the lodging and travel arrangements for your surrogate. We’ll also be there to give guidance and support to both you and your surrogate—while sending all the sticky, positive vibes from our whole Surrogacy Is team.
Pregnancy—Providing Support for Both IPs & Surrogate
To ensure the best care, we’ll help you find the right healthcare professionals with surrogacy experience. We’ll actively help coordinate appointments and facilitate communication between both parties so the bond can continue to grow. Besides medical support, we also provide ongoing emotional support for both sides from caring mental health professionals.
Delivery
OH-MY-GOSH…the big day is here! Before your due date even approaches we work behind the scenes to ensure your hospital is aware of the surrogacy arrangement and they’re prepared for this unique scenario, including having the legal paperwork ready for the birth order. We can also help you with finding a place to stay in your surrogate’s city.
Parenthood
Your new baby is here! As you settle into life as parents, we’ll continue to be that friend who is here and willing to help with anything and everything you might need. Do you need help organizing a plan to get back home with your new baby? Or do you need to figure out how to ship breastmilk? Maybe you even need some tips on doing something special for your surrogate. Whatever it is, we want you to ask us so we can take whatever off your plate so you focus more time on snuggling and loving on your new baby.
Transparent Surrogacy Pricing
We know becoming a parent is priceless, but we also recognize and sympathize with the financial burden surrogacy can put on families. That’s why we’ve worked hard to offer comprehensive benefits for a fair price.
Overall Costs for Intended Parents:
Your costs will be broken down into five parts, your surrogate’s base compensation, our agency fee, service fees, allowances/bonus for your surrogate, and preparation for just-in-case instances.
Required
Possible
Required
Possible
Surrogate Compensation
Between $45,000 – $65,000 (For first time surrogates)
Paid as $ per month as long as the Surrogate is pregnant, with the first payment due on the 1st day of the month following confirmation of pregnancy by fetal heartbeat and the balance paid within two weeks (14 days) after birth. (subject to various conditions)
Agency Fee
$45,000
Paid in two (2) installments:
Initial Payment: $10,000 due within five (5) business days of an official match.
Second Payment: $35,000 due within five (5) business days upon issuance of medical clearance from the Intended Parents’ (IPs) IVF clinic.
Our agency fee Includes:
🗸 Criminal Background Checks for All
🗸 Ongoing Psych Support for IPs
🗸 IVF Concierge/Injection Support
Multiples Fee
$10,000
Paid as $1,000 per additional fetus per month as long as the Surrogate is pregnant, with the first payment due on the 1st day of the month following the 16th week after the embryo transfer and the balance paid within two weeks (14 days) after birth subject to the terms above.
Insurance Review
$300 Average
If the Surrogate has an existing insurance policy, then an insurance professional will review it to make sure it is surrogacy-friendly.
Life Insurance Policy
$300 Average
If the Surrogate has an existing insurance policy, then an insurance professional will review it to make sure it is surrogacy-friendly.
Surrogate Psych Evaluation
$1,000 Average
Psychological Assessment includes session with Surrogate and their partner/spouse and Personality Assessment Inventory or Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory psychological testing.
Additional Service Fees
Amount may vary and will be discussed
🗸 Ongoing Psych Support for Surrogate
🗸 Legal Fees
🗸 Medical Billing Management
🗸 Travel Coordination
Allowances/Bonus to Your Surrogate
Amount may vary and will be discussed
🗸 Legal Clearance Bonus to Surrogate
🗸 Med Start Bonus to Surrogate
🗸 Embryo Transfer Allowance
🗸 Housekeeping Allowance
🗸 Monthly Allowance
🗸 Relaxation Sessions
🗸 Maternity Clothing Allowance
Plan for Just In-Case
Amount may vary and will be discussed
🗸 Dropped Cyle Fee
🗸 Mock Cycle/ERA
🗸 Hysteroscopy
🗸 Lost Wages
🗸 Loss of Reproductive Organs
🗸 Bedrest Childcare + Housekeeping
🗸 Invasive Procedures
🗸 Late-Term Termination
🗸 C-Section
🗸 Hold Fee
🗸 Breastmilk Pumping
Intended parents should expect to pay between $135,000-$195,000 for their surrogacy journey if using a first-time surrogate. Some journeys may be more based on a surrogate’s experience, location, or other factors.
What Kind of Parents Do We Work With? All of Them!
To us, love is love—and having love in your heart for a new baby is the most important factor for a great parent. As an agency, we uphold the values of inclusivity and celebrate the stories and conversations from everyone in the surrogacy community. We believe that families aren’t aren’t a one-size-fits-all picture. From beginning to end, we’ll be there to help make your unique path to parenthood as memorable and special as possible.
We're Here To Support:
Heterosexual Intended Parents
We know there are many different reasons why you may have landed on surrogacy to help build your family—and we know the decision wasn’t taken lightly. Our team will be there to help you navigate each part of your journey and to offer you personalized IM (intended mother) and IF (intended father) support that is so uniquely needed in the surrogacy community.
LGBTQIA+ Intended Parents
We warmly welcome all parents in the LGBTQIA+ community, including gay parents, transgender parents, and non-binary parents, because we firmly believe parenthood should be inclusive, not exclusive.
We also realize this path to parenthood may require some additional help from egg and/or sperm donors, and our team is more than happy to help you connect with the best fertility specialists who can assist you with everything you need to create your beautiful embryos.
(Note: Surrogacy Is only works with gestational surrogacy journeys. This is where a surrogate has no genetic relationship to her surro-baby).
Our team will also help you connect with the best legal representation to ensure you understand how obtaining parentage rights works for your family. This includes non-binary or transgender parents who may want to rightfully list their gender or preferred title on their child’s birth certificate.
Throughout the journey, we’ll also offer support and guidance to help you prepare for parenthood.
Single Intended Parents
Long gone are the days of needing a two-parent household to be considered a family. We admire and support the parents who know in their hearts that they’re meant to be a parent and are willing to navigate their own dream. If you need it, our team can help support you by connecting you with the best fertility specialists in the industry so you can explore your egg and/or sperm donor options. We’ll also be a friendly companion alongside you on your journey so you always have someone in your corner to offer advice and encouragement. With us, you can take comfort in knowing you don’t have to juggle everything alone.
International Intended Parents
Our country makes pursuing surrogacy for international families a well-regulated and safe option for many families and we’re proud to work with couples or individuals from all over the world looking for a way to build their family.
Our team ensures we’re supporting you throughout your journey in every way possible. This includes finding reliable and friendly ways to communicate with one another despite language barriers and consulting you on the best legal representation to confirm your family can safely return home after the birth with no issues.
Cancer or Trauma Survivors
We know how hard it is when you have to accept the fact that carrying a child of your own is not the safest option for you—whether physically or mentally. Our team is here to offer you a beacon of support through compassionate understanding, mental health resources, and a caring surrogacy process that can fulfill your biggest hope: holding your precious child in your arms.
We Create an Inclusive Environment for All
We applaud what family means to you and we’ll help connect you with the perfect surrogate team that’ll be just as accepting. Whether it’s an open-minded surrogate or experienced legal professionals who can help you legally obtain parental rights in your state. Our preferred list of lawyers all have over 5 years of experience in surrogacy law. They are passionate about family-building and stay up-to-date on the latest happenings in surrogacy laws.
Surrogacy stories from
Real-Life Intended Parents
Common Questions—Answered
We know 90 days sounds unbelievable, especially since some agencies are putting intended parents on a 2-year waitlist, but we don’t make promises we can’t keep… and finding you a surrogate in 90 days or less is our promise to you.
The surrogacy support platform we’ve created means hundreds new women reach out to us every month to learn about surrogacy. Our education and support are unmatched so surrogates are eager to work with us. That means we’re confident we have the perfect surrogate waiting to meet you!
OH, we put so much time and effort into matching. We aren’t one of those agencies who will present you with a profile just so we can cross you off our list. We look at personalities and preferences to find profiles that align with one another on both sides. The match is what makes or breaks a whole journey, so you can trust that we’ll take this process very seriously.
We believe that surrogates should be compensated and treated fairly—it’s why we based our whole surrogacy advocacy group on this. We worked hard to develop our packages with both the surrogate and the intended parents in mind. We believe our packages not only attract potential surrogates but also helps your surrogate feel more cared for and more appreciated throughout her journey. This enhances the relationship between both of you and makes the whole process easier and more relaxed. Helping you take care of your surrogate is an extension of how we’re taking care of you and your future baby.
It’s true, compared to a lot of agencies ours is still in our beginning years (Our first agency baby was born in 2024 🎉) But when it comes to surrogacy, our team is anything but new to the game. Our founders, Casey and Sunshine, have been in the surrogacy industry for a combined 24 years, and together they have carried 6 surrogate babies. Through their work and experience, they’ve learned the ins and outs of several agencies in the industry and built a Surrogacy Is team of passionate surrogates and industry professionals wanting to make a difference.
Backed by this expertise and drive, our team has truly created an agency different from anything out there. We put our heart and soul into going above and beyond with our support for our intended parents and surrogates. This is not the norm in the industry, but we believe it should be!
If you want to chat with someone who’s been in your shoes before, we have multiple sets of intended parents who have been so happy with their experience working with us that they’ve agreed to chat with any new IPs considering our agency. If you’d like to connect with them, let our IP Relations Manager know when you connect with her!
Choosing to become a parent through surrogacy can be a bit of a rollercoaster, with lots of moving parts like finding the right surrogate, dealing with legal stuff, figuring out costs, building relationships, and ironing out any kinks that pop up. The right agency, like Surrogacy Is, can be your guide, making the whole ride smoother and less stressful.
Are we the real deal?
Check out more stories on Insta!
It’s simple… we’re different than any other agency.
And it’s because of that difference, that we have some of the highest surrogate-to-intended parent ratios in the industry.
So, to start… your match times are significantly shorter working with us.
Maybe matching in 90-days instead of sitting on a waitlist for a year or more might be enough of a reason to choose us, but there’s more than that.
We’ve created a system where our surrogate candidates are more informed, more supported and more excited about their journey. And that creates a smoother journey overall for everyone.
It’s important to know that, while the primary focus in a surrogacy journey is typically you and your goal to complete your family, it’s important to know that this is your surrogate’s journey as well. Knowing that, we can help your journey become the best journey it can possibly be, again, for everyone.
Surrogacy is generally categorized into two types: gestational surrogacy and traditional surrogacy. In gestational surrogacy, embryos are created by the intended parents via in vitro fertilization and then implanted in a surrogate, who is often referred to as a gestational carrier. This surrogate carries the child or children to term, yet shares no genetic ties with them. This form of surrogacy constitutes the majority of surrogacy agreements today.
On the other hand, traditional surrogacy involves the surrogate becoming pregnant through artificial insemination, thus establishing a genetic link with the child or children she carries for the intended parents. Please note, at Surrogacy Is, we exclusively offer gestational surrogacy services.