Choosing Your Surrogacy Professionals

Forming your family through surrogacy is an intricate process that involves a lot of different people and professionals. It’s incredibly important, then, to build the best surrogacy “team” possible. A reputable surrogacy agency can help you build this team. Here are some of the main professionals you’ll be working with to form your family through surrogacy:

Surrogacy Agency

You probably already know that a surrogacy agency will help match you with your gestational carrier. But surrogacy agencies do much more than this! Your surrogacy agency will help coordinate your entire journey, start to finish. A good surrogacy agency will provide you with a clear point person, your case worker, who you will be in constant contact with over the course of your journey. This person will be there to answer your questions (which you will undoubtedly have plenty of!) and guide you through the complicated surrogacy process.

Your surrogacy agency in most instances can also help you build the rest of your surrogacy team. You agency should already have well established relationships with the rest of the professionals you will need to build your surrogacy team. Oftentimes, surrogacy agencies even have these professionals in house—so you won’t need to look that far for them. Otherwise, your case worker will help introduce you to professionals they rely on for you to choose from. Remember that even if your surrogacy agency has professionals in house, you have the power to choose who you work with to complete your journey. So feel free to meet with several professionals to find those you are most comfortable working with.

Fertility Clinic

One professional that your surrogacy agency will not have in house is your reproductive endocrinologist. This doctor will most likely work at a fertility clinic and will be the professional who will conduct all your medical screenings, help you create your embryos, and ultimately help your surrogate achieve pregnancy. You will want to make sure you are working with a fertility doctor who specializes in surrogacy and has extensive experience with IVF.

Assisted Reproductive Attorney

You will also need to work with a lawyer who has deep experience within the assisted reproductive industry. This is the professional who will help you negotiate legal contracts with your surrogate and egg donor. Some surrogacy agencies have lawyers you can work with in house, who will help you navigate every legal aspect of your journey. Your surrogacy agency should be able to help find you a lawyer if they do not have one for you to work with in house.

Your lawyer will help you navigate several critical issues. The few countries that permit compensated surrogacy each have very different laws. Even the United States, a country with the most robust surrogacy industry, has laws that differ very widely between each state. Whatever country you decide to work in, you will need to find a lawyer who is fully versed in that country’s laws—to make sure you, your surrogate and ultimately your baby are not risking any legal complications.

Your lawyer will also be the professional responsible for helping you establish your parental rights, and to make sure your surrogate has no legal ties to your child. Some states in the United States allow parentage to be established through what’s known as a “pre-birth order”—which establishes you as the legal parent even before the birth of your child. In other places, you will need to establish your parentage after the birth of your child, a process that can take several weeks to months depending on the country you are working in. Your lawyer will need to be very adept at and familiar with this process.

Mental Health Counselors

You should also have the opportunity to work with a mental health counselor. The American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), which offers guidelines for the ethical practice of surrogacy, recommends everyone involved your surrogacy journey—you and your partner; your surrogate and her partner; and your donor—undergo a mental health screening early on in the process to ensure everyone understands the surrogacy process. As an intended parent, you may not think you need counseling—but surrogacy can often be an overwhelming, emotional process for all involved. So it’s a good idea to take up the opportunity for support whenever it’s provided! You surrogacy agency should be able to connect you to mental health professionals at any stage of your journey should you need support.

Fertility Insurance Experts

You will need the support of fertility insurance experts, who will help make sure both your surrogate and egg donor are properly covered—and that your baby, once born, has proper medical insurance. This professional will be particularly important if you undergo surrogacy in the United States, which has a complicated health care system. Once again, your surrogacy agency will help facilitate this process.