If you are interested in becoming a surrogate, you’ve probably done some research to find agencies that specialize in matching surrogates with intended parents. You’ve probably also discovered that there are LOTS of surrogacy agencies, from California to New York and Boston and pretty much everywhere in between!
How do I choose a surrogacy agency?
With surrogacy increasing in popularity, the options for who to partner with are also increasing. Each agency offers a different experience, so it’s important to know what things are most important to you in a surrogacy agency and how to compare agencies.
When comparing surrogacy agencies, one of the first things to consider is what is most important to you as a potential surrogate. What are the top criteria or experiences you’re looking for to get out of your surrogacy journey?
You may not already know those things, so we’ve compiled the top benefits of being a surrogate to consider when researching and comparing surrogacy agencies for you!
Agency Experience and History
When choosing a surrogacy agency, it’s important to research:
- How long has the agency been in business?
- They have done several surrogacy journeys
- How the business was formed.
Many agencies have been set up by surrogacy parents who want to help more families have a chance to grow. While researching, ask agencies about their history, their mission, and how many successful trips they’ve taken.
Circle Surrogacy has been in business for over 25 years and we’ve helped bring over 2,700 babies into this world! Circle Surrogacy stand out from other agencies because of our long and successful history, our staff’s personal experience with surrogacy, and our exclusive Circle Surrogate Promise for surrogates!
Compensation and Compensation Guarantee
Compensation packages at each agency differ slightly depending on several factors, but in general, most agencies provide compensation within a similar range. When researching and comparing agency compensation, be sure to also understand how replacement compensation is paid and how the process works.
Be sure to ask: “How can you ensure that a surrogate receives all of her compensation in the event that the parents run out of funds for their surrogacy?”
With Circle’s Fixed Cost program for intended parents, Circle financially supports every trip that is possible guarantee of compensation for each alternative.
Alternate Medical Bills
Each agency handles billing and medical bills differently or uses a different process or system. It is important to research how each of the agencies you are considering handles when and how medical bills are paid during and after travel.
It’s important to ask “How can you ensure that a surrogate is not stuck with surrogacy-related medical bills?”
Each agency may approach this differently, so make sure you’re comfortable with this process and how it’s handled before signing on.
Circle Surrogacy will be responsible for the medical bills. We listened to our past surrogates and their frustrations with medical bills and made big changes. While we can never prevent you from receiving medical bills (because you are the “patient”), our new Fixed Cost programs for intended parents allow us to protect both surrogates and the intended parents and ensure all medical bills are paid in a timely manner. way.
Matching with intended parents
Each surrogacy agency has a different waiting time for matching surrogates and intended parents. It often involves having the right number of both intended parents and surrogates.
When researching and chatting with agencies about the matching process, be sure to ask questions “How quickly can I be matched with intended parents?”
Before committing to an agency, make sure the timeline provided is accurate and aligns with your timeline of when you want to start your journey.
Circle’s security and longevity as a company resonates with both surrogates and intended parents. For this reason, we have a list of intended parents who are ready and excited for their surrogate match, resulting in minimal wait time for surrogates in our program. We also have Matching Specialists who are experts in finding you the right parents for your trip!
Alternate Support
Every gestational surrogate mother needs different levels of support throughout her journey, and it’s important to know that no matter how much support you need, your agency is there to work with you.
Each agency has different teams or people in place to assist surrogates before, during, and after their trips. Teams or individual employees are there to support a successor throughout surrogacy process.
We strongly recommend thinking about how the agency provides support to its successors and what it looks like.
When asking questions in the research phase, look for answers to questions like “What support do you offer your successors in the program, and who provides the support?”
The answer to this question will help determine if that agency is right for you!
At Circle Surrogacy, our team’s approach always ensures that you have support available throughout your journey. Each team member offers specific support to their successor and always has a backup in place for out-of-office situations.
Agency Success
A number of different criteria can be considered when determining a agency successbut the main focus is how many babies are born through the program.
The longer an agency, the higher the number of babies born through the program in most cases. More travel done by an agency also indicates their ability to manage difficult or challenging situations because they have more experience.
One final question to ask agencies as you evaluate them is “What is your agency’s success rate for babies born through your program?”
Some agencies will have this information available on their website, and others you may need to ask.
The Circle program boasts a 99.3% success rate for intended parents, made possible by the amazing surrogates accepted into our program!
Being a surrogate is a wonderful and rewarding experience. When choosing a surrogacy agency to work with for that experience, be sure to ask all of these questions to make sure you’re making the right decision for you and your family.
Each surrogacy agency offers different benefits, and by asking important questions, you’ll find the right one for you in no time!
If you are interested in learning more about how to become a surrogate at Circle Surrogacy, you can learn more about our program and the benefits at our Alternatives page. If you’ve done your research and feel ready to apply, you can fill out an application now!
