Frequently Asked Questions

A typical surrogacy journey costs most intended parents $125,000-$175,000+. This includes the agency fee, legal fees, health insurance for the gestational carrier (if needed), gestational carrier compensation and expenses, and all pregnancy-related expenses.

Because we don’t charge any agency fees until after match, we do not guarantee a match. Matching times vary from 3 weeks to 10 months, depending on the criteria you have for a gestational carrier.

Absolutely! While it is more difficult to match intended parents who already have a child, we work with many gestational carriers who choose intended parents looking to add to their family via surrogacy.

Due to the high demand for gestational carriers, we only match intended parents who have already created embryos.

A gestational carrier will visit your IVF clinic at least twice, once for medical screening and once for the embryo transfer. The number of times your gestational carrier visits your IVF clinic will vary however, depending on clinic requirements. If your surrogate is not local to your clinic, she will also have multiple visits to a local IVF clinic for monitoring during the cycle.

A team of nurses will review your surrogate’s previous pregnancy and delivery records prior to being cleared by our agency. Your reproductive endocrinologist will perform the actual medical screening at your IVF clinic, though, after you are matched with your gestational carrier.

We are happy to rematch you if your surrogate does not pass her initial medical or psychological screening.

Not all embryo transfers are successful on the first try, and that is why the surrogate agrees to go through three embryo transfers within one year.

Absolutely! If you already have a surrogate and would like assistance navigating your journey, we would love for your surrogate to apply with our agency. We will medically screen her like we do our other surrogates, and if she qualifies, we are happy to assist you in your surrogacy journey and offer you a discount to our agency fee.

We only require $30,000 in escrow to begin your surrogacy journey, however once your gestational agreement is complete, an additional $120,000 will need to be deposited into your escrow account.

Many intended parents who do not have liquid assets choose to refinance their home, obtain a gift from family, take out a home equity loan, withdraw retirement funds, or obtain a loan.

For information on loans, please visit Future Family.

For information on scholarships and grants, please visit RESOLVE.

For information on Active Military and First Responder Grants, please visit Roaring Adventures.

Of course! We welcome the opportunity to work with all types of families.

This varies from state to state. In some states couples need to be married in order for both of their names to be listed on the birth certificate.

Most health insurance policies do not cover fertility costs, and your gestational carrier will be under the care of your fertility clinic until she is 8-10 weeks pregnant. At that time, she will transition to the care of her OB and your surrogate can then use her health insurance policy for the remainder of her prenatal care.

The third-party insurance broker we use will review your surrogate’s health insurance policy to determine if it will cover her pregnancy expenses if she is a gestational carrier. If her health insurance will cover the pregnancy, she will start using this policy once she is 8-10 weeks pregnant and under the care of her OB. All fees at the IVF clinic will need to be paid in cash.

Our agency works with couples who have a combined age of 110 or below. For single intended parents, we work with persons 55 and younger.

We do not have an inhouse legal team, but we will be happy to give you some options of surrogacy attorneys we frequently work with to draft the gestational agreement and obtain the parentage order.

We do! SeedTrust is our recommended third-party escrow provider. They are an independent and neutral third-party escrow company that specializes in surrogacy and egg donor escrow services. Escrow companies hold the funds, manage all payments, and help keep account of all the financial aspects of the journey.

Using a third party to manage your escrow account protects the money, makes managing the money and payments easy, and reduces financial stress until the surrogacy journey is complete. Intended Parents and their surrogates benefit from SeedTrust's meticulous record keeping, open communication, and full transparency with their 24/7 online systems and notifications throughout the surrogacy process.

A professional surrogacy escrow company like SeedTrust protects your funds against loss, misuse, or corruption. SeedTrust client funds are fully insured with a $40  million bond, and escrow funds are secured by a $2 million general liability policy, a $1 million Errors & Omissions policy, and a $1 million Cyber Incident Protection policy. In addition, all client funds are held in an attorney-managed trust account to reduce risk further, given the oversite.

To hear from President and CEO of SeedTrust, Adam Winder, listen to this episode of our Me, You, & Who?! Podcast.

Please note: While SeedTrust is our recommended escrow provider, Intended Parents are not required to use their services. However, a third-party escrow company must be utilized for the surrogacy journey, and it must be approved by Egg Donor & Surrogate Solutions before the journey begins.

Our agency has a surrogacy program as well as an egg donor program. For more information on our egg donor program, please visit www.EggDonorSolutions.com.

Women who have had uncomplicated pregnancies in the past are more likely to have uncomplicated pregnancies in the future, however there is always a risk.  Due to unforeseen challenges, potential setbacks, and additional emotional and physical stress, our agency will only work with intended parents who are using one surrogate at a time.

• Completely thawed milk must be stored in the refrigerator and used within 24 hours. 

• If the milk contains ice crystals, it is considered frozen. 

• Breast milk can be stored: 

• • In the refrigerator for up to 4 days (under 40 degrees F). 

• • Freezer (at least 0 degrees F or lower) for up to 6 months.

Estimated Cost per 6 weeks of Pumping: $5,000 – $9,000  

• Equipment (pump parts, hands-free bras, hands-free pumps, storage bags, cooler boxes, etc.): $750 – $2,000  

• Shipping Cost (vary with distance) per 6 weeks: $500 – $700/weekly so $3,000 – $4,200 6-week period 

• 6 Weeks’ Worth of Compensation for GC: $1,200 – $1,800 

In short, we cannot guarantee any specific amount of milk. You cannot base the quantity of milk based on your GC’s last experience pumping. Average: 25-50 oz per day once milk fully comes in. 

You are compensating the GC for her time and effort NOT for the milk itself or per ounce.  

Most GCs will ship weekly or bi-weekly. However, if your GC has a deep freezer (and you have storage space), she may be able to ship every 3–4 weeks to reduce shipping costs. This option isn’t available for all GCs and IPs. 

Most of the time the answer for ONLY producing Colostrum is no. Colostrum is produced from day 2 to day 4, Transitional Milk is approximately from day 4 to 2 weeks, and Mature Milk does not come in until around 2-weeks post-delivery.  

Once your GC’s body triggers the hormones to produce milk, it is not recommended to stop pumping abruptly. Stopping pumping abruptly can cause pain, complications, and can be difficult emotionally. This is why we require a 2-week weaning period once pumping has started.  

• Milk Stork (Premium option) 

• • Specialize and milk shipping for surrogacy situations 

• • Benefits: Offer cooler kits that keep milk frozen for 96 hours without dry ice, send prepaid shipping labels, & handles scheduling/pick up logistics 

• • They have corporate programs that some IPs might benefit financially from  

• • $100-$500 per shipment depending on size and frequency provider 

• • A new guide from Milk Stork: Breast Milk for Surrogacy: The Complete Guide for Intended Parents 

 

• Ship The Milk  

• • Best option for a 1-time shipment and not reoccurring; shipping labels not included  

• Corporate Lactation Services (CLS-Ships) 

• • Full Logistic support; limited financials published and offers more “concierge” level of service pricing; includes consulting support (RN)