do you hope be a surrogate in California? If so, you’ll have access to excellent fertility clinics, maternity hospitals, and surrogacy agencies—making California a fantastic home base for surrogates.
As you begin your journey, we want to make sure you have the information you need to make your experience as safe, smooth, and rewarding as possible. Learn more below!
1. Decide if surrogacy is right for you
While surrogacy can be an incredible, life-changing journey, it’s not the perfect fit for everyone.
Surrogacy requires at least a one-year commitment and will have an impact on your body, emotions, time, family, and career. Before you embark on this journey, it is important to determine if you are physically and emotionally ready, and motivated for the right reasons.
In order to have a successful surrogacy journey, it is also important that you have a surrogate support system. Pregnancy is taxing in any situation, but as an alternative, you’ll also navigate fertility treatments, extra doctor appointments, and a natural range of emotions. Your support system helps ease the burden and provides the emotional and practical support you will need.
Read on “Are You Ready to Be a Surrogate Mother? 9 Questions to Ask Yourself”
2. Make sure you meet the surrogacy agency’s requirements
Surrogacy agencies can vary greatly in their requirements for prospective surrogate mothers. Be careful with choosing a reputable surrogacy agency because it will have a huge impact on your experience and success as a surrogate mother.
To become a Surrogate Parenting Services (SPS) surrogate, you must:
- Had one or more easy pregnancies and deliveries.
- Between the ages of 21 and 40.
- Have at least one child of your own living with you.
- Be a non-smoker.
- Have reliable transportation.
- Be financially stable.
- Have a desire to help others in a special way.
- …And being pregnant is expensive!
3. Find the best surrogacy agency in California for your needs
Once you’ve decided to move forward, it’s time to choose a trustworthy surrogacy agency to guide you on your journey.
As you begin conducting your research and interviewing agencies, you have two main goals: to find reputable agencies working in your area, and to determine which surrogacy agency is the best fit for your unique needs. need.
When choosing an agency, consider:
- Agency history and/or experience level: Ask questions like: how long has the company been in business, how many families have they helped create, and how has their reputation evolved (or stayed the same) over the years.
- Their screening process for both surrogates and intended parents (IPs): Both parties must be physically, mentally, and emotionally prepared for the process and educated on the responsibilities and risks. Learn more about the screening process for both intended parents and alternatives.
- How proxies and IPs match: The best agencies take into account factors such as personality, expectations for travel, and the desired level of communication.
- Which services do they offer: Services vary from agency to agency. Larger, more established agencies can offer more services—everything from matching to case management to legal services.
Read on “7 Tips for Choosing the Right Surrogacy Agency”
4. Go through the application and interview process
Each agency has a barely different processes. In SPS, there are several steps involved in selection process.
First, we conduct a telephone interview to determine if there is anything to do immediately disqualify the surrogate, such as his age, the number of deliveries to him, or where he is located.
If there are no issues, we invite her to complete her profile and sign medical releases, so we can review her pregnancy and birth records.
Then, there is a video interview, a psychological screening, and finally, the potential successor meets with Cristie Montgomery, our founder and president.
5. Match with intended parents
At SPS, we do not offer an online database of surrogates for IPs to review. We feel that the matching process should be more personal.
Both surrogates and IPs create a profile early in the process, and Cristie also meets with both parties. Information gathered from profiles and meetings allows Cristie to learn more about what kind of experience they expect, and other values, beliefs, and expectations that may be important in the matching process.
Once the IPs and surrogates have spoken with Cristie, completed the personality profile, and entered the program, Cristie will use the information she has learned about each party to suggest a match.
IPs will have the opportunity to review the profile of the surrogate that Cristie believes is the best fit for their journey, and vice versa.
After the IPs and surrogates review each other’s profiles and decide to meet with each other, Cristie facilitates a meeting that includes the IPs, the surrogate, her partner (if applicable) and the case manager which will support both parties on their journey.
The meeting provides an opportunity for everyone to learn more about each other, discuss expectations for the relationship and re-examine sensitive issues, such as termination and pluralism.
After the meeting, everyone will have a chance to think about the potential match before moving forward. In our experience, almost everyone agrees to the fight!
6. Finalize the surrogacy agreement
Once the surrogate and intended parents have decided to work together and the surrogate has received medical clearance from doctors, it is time to draft a legal contract. Each party will have their own attorney to protect their legal interests throughout the process.
Your a lawyer will guide you through the legal aspects of surrogacy, covering everything from compensation to potential risks. They will also review the contract drafted by the IPs lawyer to make sure it is in line with your wishes.
With SPS, once both parties agree and contracts are signed and legal clearance is given, you will receive a signing bonus. Then, you’ll start receiving a monthly non-countable allowance to cover expenses. Base compensation starts after the second heartbeat confirmation.
7. Get pregnant and navigate your pregnancy journey
After the contracts are signed, you will prepare for the embryo transfer!
To increase the likelihood of a successful embryo transfer, you will likely be prescribed medications before the procedure. When the time is right, the IP embryo will be placed in your uterus for implantation. The procedure does not require anesthesia and is relatively quick and painless.
A few weeks later, you will return to the fertility clinic for a pregnancy test to officially confirm the pregnancy. After the pregnancy is confirmed, you will visit the fertility clinic for a heartbeat ultrasound and then be cleared for routine prenatal care with your board certified OB.
Your pregnancy is much like any normal pregnancy. On the medical side, you may have one to two screenings with a Maternal Fetal Specialist if you have an uncomplicated pregnancy. But other than that, the process will be the same as you’ve experienced before.
Of course, one big (and awesome) difference is that you get to share this awesome journey with IPs.
And finally, the happiest step of all: the intended parents will meet the newest member of their family!
We hope this article sheds some light on how to become a surrogate in California. If you decide to pursue surrogacy, have a great journey!
Learn More About Surrogacy with Surrogacy Services
Surrogate Parenting Services is proud to celebrate more than 30 years of helping make dreams come true! Founded in 1990, Surrogacy Services (SPS) is a full service surrogacy agency which offers both parties an exceptionally supportive environment throughout the surrogacy relationship. We are passionate about creating ideal matches between surrogates and intended parents, so the journey is fulfilling for both parties and the future child is brought into this world in the best possible circumstances.
Learn more about our Surrogacy Program online or by calling (949) 363-9525.
