How Long Does a Surrogacy Journey Take?

Every surrogacy journey is unique. So it is difficult to provide an exact timeline for how long it will take intended parents to complete their specific surrogacy journey. The truth is a lot of unforeseen complications can arise between the moment you first sign your paperwork with a surrogacy agency to the day you finally bring your baby home for the first time.

While understanding that some journeys will necessarily take more time than others, it’s fair to say that the average surrogacy process will take between 18 to 24 months, start to finish. There are many factors that might impact just how long your specific journey will take. Here are several of the most common obstacles that might impact your timeline:

• Donor selection: If you require an egg or sperm or donor to complete your surrogacy journey, it may take some time to locate and choose that person. If you use a donor already approved by your IVF clinic, that person will already have been properly screened. However, if you use someone unknown to your clinic, such as a known donor close to you or a donor from a sperm or egg bank, that person will need to be properly screened prior to donation—a process which can take several weeks.
• Unsuccessful Embryo Transfers: IVF technology has become increasingly efficient over the years, but it can still take several attempts before your surrogate will become pregnant. It’s important to approach a surrogacy journey knowing that your couple of attempts might not be successful. Each failed attempt, obviously, will push back your timeline.
• Surrogate match: A good surrogacy agency will thoroughly screen your surrogate prior to matching you with her to try to reduce the likelihood of unsuccessful embryos transfers described above. Most surrogacy agencies will expect your surrogate to conceive within three attempts. If it takes more than this, you may be required to match with a new surrogate. Similarly, in the rare instance that your surrogate suffers a miscarriage or another health complication, your agency may suggest you match with a new surrogate—which will take additional time.
• Egg and Sperm Analysis: If the results of your sperm or egg analysis suggest that you might have challenges creating healthy embryos, your fertility doctor might suggest you adopt certain lifestyle or diet changes prior to embarking on IVF. These changes could include quitting smoking or drinking, reducing your weight, exercising and adopting a healthier diet, and stopping certain medications known to reduce gamete quality. The good news is these changes can often improve the quality of your gametes—but it might take several weeks or months before your IVF doctor believes you are ready to create viable embryos.
• Number of viable eggs and embryos: The number of eggs you or your egg donor is able to produce can vary widely. The number of eggs obtained will then impact the overall number of embryos you are able to create. Each embryo is then aged over the course of several days to determine viability, with some developing better than others. If you produce a low number of healthy embryos, you may need to undergo this process again to create new ones—which will in turn impact your timeline.
• Twin surrogacy journey: If you hope to pursue a twin surrogacy journey by transferring two or more embryos to your surrogate’s uterus at the same time it will likely impact the lengthy of your journey. Fewer surrogates are willing to match with intended parents hoping for twins because of the increased risks associated with carrying more than one fetus at the same time.
• International surrogacy journey: If you are a foreign national hoping to pursue surrogacy in another country, it will be important to know the process for obtaining documents, like citizenship and passports, in order for you to bring your child home. Depending on the country, this can add time to your overall journey. For instance, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, it takes an average of 35 days for intended parents to acquire the necessary paperwork.