We’ve decided to archive our original “What Is A Surrogate Advocate” page content here. Why?
We’ve updated this section to better fit our philosophy on what a surrogate advocate can be.
Here’s the tl;dr that doesn’t change:
A Surrogate Advocate offers educated, safe, and actual choices to surrogates. Not the illusion of choice. Actual choice that’s in the best interest of surrogates.
Striving to offer that choice doesn’t always make you the most popular kids in this surrogacy industry. Sometimes, you find that an agency might not be a good choice for your surrogates. That doesn’t make them a bad agency, by any means… but if we’re making a promise to surrogates to help them find the best journey possible, not every agency can keep that promise with us. And they may not like that, but we’re not agency advocates. We’re surrogate advocates.
There’s another very big reason we’re updating this definition. Because, in some cases, we’ll offer to be a surrogate’s agency. We can manage your journey from beginning to end, while still advocating for you the entire time. We started off as surrogate advocates, and we remain surrogate advocates, whether you choose another safe, vetted agency, or us. Either way, you’ll receive a choice from several agencies that can meet your needs. In the right cases, we’ll be an option. And sometimes surrogates choose us, sometimes they don’t. But you’ll always have a choice.
What other surrogacy agency offers you choices of other, completely separate, extremely competitive agencies, where surrogates choose their agency as many times as ours? Nobody does that.
So, here’s our original content for, “What is a surrogate advocate?”
What is a surrogate advocate?
We take being surrogate advocates very seriously. Being a surrogate advocate isn’t a gimmick. It’s not a side-hustle. It’s everything. Surrogates, in our eyes, are the most important piece of this equation.
A surrogate advocate is a person or group who’s sole purpose is to advocate for brave, amazing moms who decide to become surrogates.
Why do I need a surrogate advocate?
While most agencies say they “advocate” for the surrogate, do they really? In our experience, it’s mostly talk.
But if you think about it, it’s just human nature. Most agencies are intended parent focused, because that’s the ultimate client they’re designed to serve. And that’s okay! The purpose of a surrogacy agency is to help intended parents achieve their dream of having a baby, and we think that’s an absolutely noble purpose.
But far too often, the surrogate’s interests can come second to intended parents, so a true surrogate advocate helps balance that equation.
Are all surrogate advocates the same?
No, we don’t think so. If someone truly advocates for surrogates, the interests and experience of the surrogate will be their singular focus. Their organization should be structured in such a way where their sole motivation is to advocate for the surrogate.
A true surrogate advocacy group should not be owned by a surrogacy agency or umbrella company that owns surrogacy agencies.
Why is it important who owns a surrogate advocacy group?
Most surrogacy agencies have long lists of intended parents waiting to be matched with their perfect surrogate. If an advocacy group is owned by an agency, it would be difficult for them to truly encourage any surrogate who enters their process to consider all of her options when they really want her to work with their agency—regardless of whether that’s the best fit for her.
By remaining independent, we don’t have any motivations to show a surrogate candidate one agency over another. We simply allow every surrogate to have options and make fully informed decisions on what’s best for her!
