The surrogacy process can seem daunting from the beginning, given all the legal, medical, financial, logistical, and emotional components. At Circle Surrogacy, you will have a team to guide you through these details and orchestrate the various elements of becoming a parent through surrogacy.
Understanding the average cost of surrogacy
Our consultation team is ready to talk with you about the costs and the expectations for your journey. The cost of surrogacy is a main concern for many people seeking to become a parent through surrogacy, and Circle offers an all inclusive program to help you plan financially from the start of your journey. With our Journey Protection Guarantee Program, you are guaranteed a 100% refund of our agency fee if you have no embryos remaining and do not bring home a baby.
Step by Step Surrogacy Process
Once you have officially signed on as a Circle client, you’ll be introduced to your Program Coordination (PC) team. Your PC team will then be the hub of all of the details for your journey:
- Helping you choose an IVF clinic (if you do not already have one)
- Organizing your match with an egg donor if necessary
- Preparing you for matching with a surrogate
- Helping you navigate the day to day details of the IVF cycle(s), including travel for your surrogate and donor and coordinating with your IVF clinic
- Guiding you through the countless other moving pieces of the surrogacy puzzle
Surrogacy Legal Support
You will also be connected with an in-house Circle Surrogacy attorney who is knowledgeable in third-party reproduction. The attorney will handle all of the legal details of your journey, from coordinating your contract with your surrogate (and egg donor) to liaising with the delivery hospital to be sure they have all required legal documentation before your baby is born. For international intended parents, your attorney will also assist you in the process of obtaining your baby’s passport for your travel home.
Finding a Surrogate
Many parents are curious about the process of finding a surrogate, and on this point as well, your Circle team has you covered. Every potential surrogate who fills out an application with Circle goes through a stringent surrogate screening process. By the time her profile is presented to you, you can be assured that she has met our very high standards in several areas:
- Physically
- Psychologically
- Medically
- Socially
The time it takes to find you the perfect surrogate match varies, depending on your own preferences, requirements, and legal needs. The exact match time is something to speak with our parent intake team about, as it’s different for everyone. Here is some great information about The Surrogacy Matching Process.
Contracts and Medical Screenings
Once you are matched with that perfect surrogate, you will begin right away building a wonderful relationship with her, while your PC team guides you through a flurry of exciting activity! Your surrogate will travel for her medical screening while, at the same time, you’ll be working with your attorney on the surrogacy contract agreement.
Within 4 to 6 weeks, we expect that you will have completed the contract, submitted your wills, and made your second half payment, at which time your attorney will release “Legal Clearance.” About this same time, your surrogate will have passed the elements of her medical screening (including blood work, which can take up to 2 weeks for results) such that the clinic can release “Medical Clearance.”
IVF Process Support
The magic combination of Legal Clearance and Medical Clearance means that you are ready to begin your first IVF cycle … and another flurry of activity ensues! Again, your PC team will be right in the center, directing the details like a symphony, working with the clinic, the surrogate, and Circle’s Local Monitoring team to help the cycle go as smoothly as possible until the surrogate travels to the clinic for the embryo transfer.
Ten days after the transfer, your surrogate will have her first beta test, to detect the level of HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin) determining her pregnancy. If that test is positive, we do a happy dance … but quietly. The big party happens at the six-week ultrasound when we can see the tiny heartbeat. On that day, we throw the virtual confetti, and consider you to be officially pregnant!
Support During Your Surrogate’s Pregnancy
Your IVF clinic will continue to remotely monitor the progress of the pregnancy until about 10 weeks, and then your surrogate will be released to her own obstetrician. At this point, the flurry of activity quiets down while you focus on painting the nursery, choosing names, and preparing to travel for the birth.
In the background, your PC team will continue managing things like your surrogate’s medical bills and gathering information and protocols from the delivery hospital. Your attorney will be busily working with local counsel on the pre-birth legal details and connecting that information to the hospital so that everything is in place at the time of delivery.
Handling the Details After Your Baby Is Here
When the big day comes, our goal is that you don’t need to worry about anything beyond “When can we meet our baby?”
Once your baby is in your arms, your team at Circle will continue to help things go smoothly, walking you through the birth certificate process, and guiding you toward obtaining the baby’s passport if your home is outside the United States. We will also continue taking care of the surrogate’s medical bills and well-being as she recovers.
There are, as you can see, many and varied details involved in the surrogacy journey, and also many different elements and people: the consult team, the PC team, the legal team, the accounting team, the social work team … it can feel overwhelming. But with Circle Surrogacy, you will not be overwhelmed, because we will guide you smoothly through the process at every step along the way.
At no point will you be on your own to figure something out. We will always be just one call or email away.
If you have more questions, we will be excited to answer them. If you are ready to begin the process, we are ready to meet you! If you’re interested in becoming a parent through surrogacy, you can fill out our parent form or contact us!