United Kingdom Parents Partner with the Only Full-Service United States Surrogacy Agency
Offering a comprehensive, all-inclusive fixed fee, guaranteed programme, and a London office and local team!
Circle has over 30 years of trust and expertise, with a 99.1% success rate, to rely on for your personal journey.
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Brett Griffin-Young, Head of International Client Services
Our Team's Connection to the UK
Not only do we have an office in London, but our Head of International Client Services, Brett, is based in London with his family! Brett and his husband of 19 years have grown their family of five through adoption and United States surrogacy. He has worked with Circle Surrogacy for nearly 15 years and holds regular information sessions and consultations for Intended Parents at our London office. He works with Intended Parents from all over the globe and has helped create families in more than 30 countries.
When asked about his connection to family building, Brett said “This is not a job, it’s a vocation, a celebration, an honor and I am so very passionate about it! My children are my life, and I am forever thankful to the amazing woman who made me being called 'Daddy' a reality.”
Why UK Parents Choose Circle
As a full-service agency, Circle offers parents and surrogates the expertise and experience from over 30 years of helping all families grow. With a 99.1% success rate, you can rely on Circle for your personal journey.
United Kingdom Expertise
By partnering with UK based legal experts and top clinics, such as the Lister Clinic, Circle ensures our clients are provided a trusted solution to returning to the UK successfully with their child.
Only Full-Service Agency in the United States
Circle is the only Full-Service agency in the United States whose in-house professional resources guide every aspect of your journey. This includes solicitors with expertise in UK specific legislation, audited escrow and insurance professionals, and medical professionals who thoroughly screen our surrogates.
25% of Circle Parents are
International Clients
Since 1995, over 25% of Circle Surrogacy’s intended parents have been from countries outside the United States, with over 200 parents from the United Kingdom as happy clients.
To learn more from our parent consultants, fill out the form below and our team will reach out to you shortly to set-up our first conversation.
The Surrogacy Process for Intended Parents
Consultation and Sign On
1-3 Months
Consult with agency
Sign agreement for services
Intro video call with team
Match with egg donor (if needed)
Create embryos
Matching With Your Surrogate
Time Varies
Matching process & approval
Intro video call with surrogate
Start journey to pregnancy
Medical and Legal
3-4 Months
Surrogate medical screening
Embryo transfer
Beta tests
Surrogate Pregnancy
9 Months
Ultrasound check-ins
Create birth plan
Establish parental rights
Hospital and delivery prep
Your baby's birth!
Parenthood
Birth & Beyond
Soak up the "new parent" wonderfulness
Obtain baby's passport (if needed)
Say goodbye to your surrogate & her family
Travel home
Three Benefits of Choosing a United States Surrogacy Agency
1. Your Child is a U.S. Citizen
As the law stands now, any child born in the United States is a United States citizen. At the moment there is a case before the United States Supreme Court that could potentially change this that Circle is monitoring. We are also working with experts around the world on how to assist parents in getting their home citizenship should the Supreme Court change the existing legal precedent.
Your baby will receive a U.S. birth certificate and is entitled to a U.S. passport for travel purposes (you will obtain your baby’s passport after birth in order to return to your home country). Your surrogacy lawyers will do the legal work to establish your parentage (either via a Pre-Birth Order, post-birth order or possibly through a second parent adoption). You will be the sole legal and physical parents under American law. By establishing the rights of parentage in the United States, you can travel home safely and securely. Attorneys and Parents have been successful gaining acceptance if U.S. court orders establishing parentage in their home countries.
Conversely, a child born with an agency in a country other than your home country or the U.S., is not considered a citizen. This can be challenging because you will need to establish citizenship and/or parentage under your home country prior to leaving the country in which your baby was born, making it difficult to get travel papers or a passport to return to your home country.
Any child born in the United States is a U.S. citizen. Your baby will receive a U.S. birth certificate and is entitled to a U.S. passport for travel purposes (you will obtain your baby’s passport after birth in order to return to your home country). Your surrogacy lawyers will do the legal work to establish your parentage (either via a Pre-Birth Order, post-birth order or possibly through a second parent adoption). You will be the sole legal and physical parents under American law. By establishing the rights of parentage in the United States, you can travel home safely and securely. Some countries – such as Spain, Sweden and Germany (amongst others) – accept the U.S Declaration of Parentage. Conversely, a child born with an agency in a country other than your home country or the U.S., is not considered a citizen. This can be challenging because you will need to establish citizenship and/or parentage under your home country prior to leaving the country in which your baby was born, making it difficult to get travel papers or a passport to return to your home country. Your child cannot fly home without a passport.
2. Surrogates are Fully Screened and Get the Best Medical Care
Circle follows strict guidelines and screening protocols for women who are interested in becoming surrogates. Surrogate applicants are fully vetted in our 3-step screening process, which includes an in-depth application, medical screening and psychological testing. All of Circle’s surrogates live in the United States, have strong support systems and are financially stable. They have access to the most-advanced medical care and the world’s top hospitals. Read more about our extensive surrogate screening.
While we understand you cannot legally compensate surrogates in the U.K., many U.K. parents offer compensation in the form of gifts, covered living expenses, maternity expenses, etc. In many cases, these expenses total more than the surrogate compensation we offer in the U.S., and without the legal risks U.K. Intended Parents potentially face. Many U.K. parents have told us of their efforts to compete against other parents for U.K. surrogates, how they make financial disbursements, only to be left without any measure of legal protection when their surrogate moves on for a “better offer”.
Circle ensures parents are protected at every step leading to our 99.1% success rate with journey guarantees by making sure the surrogate you are matched with meets your personal and legal requirements.
Circle follows strict guidelines and screening protocols for women who are interested in becoming surrogates. Surrogate applicants are fully vetted in our 3-step screening process, which includes an in-depth application, medical screening and psychological testing. All of Circle’s surrogates live in the United States, have strong support systems and are financially stable. They have access to the most-advanced medical care and the world’s top hospitals. Read more about our extensive surrogate screening. While we understand you cannot legally compensate surrogates in the UK, many UK parents offer compensation in the form of gifts, covered living expenses, maternity expenses, etc. In many cases, these expenses total more than the surrogate compensation we offer in the U.S., and without the legal risks UK Intended Parents potentially face. Many UK parents have told us of their efforts to compete against other parents for UK surrogates, how they make financial disbursements, only to be left without any measure of legal protection when their surrogate moves on for a “better offer”. Circle ensures parents are protected at every step leading to our 99.4% success rate with journey guarantees by making sure the surrogate you are matched with meets your personal and legal requirements.
3. Financial Security
When you embark on a surrogacy journey in the United States with Circle Surrogacy, your money is safe. Circle is a well-established, secure company. The money you send to our agency is secure, held in a Bonded Escrow Account. These types of accounts are kept only at regulated and approved financial institutions.
Your First Steps as Intended Parents
A surrogacy journey can seem quite daunting at first, and you may not know where to start. Through both our professional and personal experience with surrogacy as intended parents, we understand that taking that first step can be intimidating.
As you begin exploring surrogacy, we can simplify the early stages of the process for intended parents into three easy steps:
Select a Surrogacy Agency
Select a Clinic Partner
Select an Egg Donor (If Needed)
Select a Clinic Partner
If you are coming to this journey having already selected a clinic, our team will be happy to coordinate with their care team. Circle has decades-long relationships with many clinics in the United States – both large and small – to support our intended parents.
If you have not yet selected a clinic – or if you are looking to find a new clinic – our team can help facilitate that process with you. Once a clinic is selected, your Circle team will manage the relationship and liaise with the clinic for your journey.
Select a Surrogacy Agency
We recommend selecting an agency as the first step you take for a few reasons. First, the wait time to match with a surrogate may take time, and the minute you officially sign on with an agency, you will be added to the surrogate matching list. Once your spot is secured, you can continue working on the other steps in the process while you are waiting. With so many surrogacy agencies to choose from, it helps to have criteria by which you can measure if the agency will be the right fit for you. We’ve put together this article to guide you in what to look for in a surrogacy agency.
The second reason for selecting an agency as the first step is that having the support of an agency can help guide you from the beginning of your journey. A full-service agency like Circle will provide support and guidance in choosing a clinic (should you need our expertise) and an egg donor (if one is required).
Select an Egg Donor (If Needed)
If you require an egg donor to build your family, you can begin the donor selection process. We recommend reviewing the bright, young egg donors from Everie, an egg donor program and partner of ours. Everie is a fresh and frozen egg donor program that supports thoughtful decision-making around disclosed donations and mutual matching. The experienced team understands the importance of selecting the right donor, and the impact that choice has on your future child(ren).
Our team is invested in your success on this family-building path, and we’re here to share our expertise and personal experience to assist you in this decision-making process.
Why Parents Choose Circle Surrogacy
Your surrogacy agency is an essential partner on your journey to parenthood. Choosing Circle gives you access to a full-service program with highly-screened surrogates, dedicated interdisciplinary experts and a long history of success.
We offer a small agency feel with the resources of a large agency, and the ability to work across medical, legal, financial and program management teams to offer you the most comprehensive support for a well-tended journey towards parenthood.
Full-service Agency
Our team of experts have accumulated the most experience in the surrogacy space, leading to a 99.1% success rate for those who had a baby in their first two transfers, or completed at least three transfers.
Most Experience, Highest Success
44% of Circle's staff has personal experience as a gestational surrogate or egg donor, or as intended parents through surrogacy, IVF or adoption. Because of this, we bring deep dedication and knowledge to serving you on your journey.
A Team That’s Been There, and is Ready to Help
Every surrogate that is ready to match has been fully vetted in our 3-step screening process. We’ve helped hundreds of parents build relationships with their surrogates who truly feel like family by the end of the process, and we genuinely believe fostering this relationship is the best way to bring a baby into the world.
Healthy Relationships
With Surrogates
How Do I Apply to Become a Parent Through Surrogacy?
We understand the idea of coming to another country for surrogacy to grow your family can seem intimidating, and feel as if there are quite a few “unknowns” about what the process is like. Our experienced team would be happy to guide you on your surrogacy journey. Circle also has international parents through surrogacy on staff who are happy to answer your questions and share their experiences about bonding with a surrogate, traveling with a newborn and finding confidence in the process.
Ideally, international intended parents come to the United States 2-3 times (for embryo creation at the fertility center and the eventual delivery of their child). We encourage our international intended parents to try and visit at least one additional time if possible; most parents will choose to come for the embryo transfer and/or the anatomy scan (usually around 16-20 weeks).
This varies based on the legal work required and the procedures in the state in which your child was delivered. As a general rule, we advise international intended parents to plan on returning home after approximately 4 weeks to allow ample time for any DNA testing, court proceedings, the issuance of any birth certificates and the application for any visas and/or passports. We will guide you through this process. Depending on legal work, you may be able to go home sooner. Read more about traveling with a newborn in our blog post.
Because of a legal principle known as jus soli, babies born in the United States are automatically entitled to U.S. citizenship and U.S. passports, regardless of whether the intended parents are themselves U.S. citizens. As a result, most intended parents who pursue American surrogacy are able to return home with their children without first obtaining a passport from their native country. Nevertheless, some international intended parents may choose to – or be required to – obtain either passports or temporary visas for their children at a local consulate in the United States in order to return home after the birth. Intended parents should consult with immigration attorneys in their native countries for information about the best procedures for returning home with their children. Circle will assist you in getting the U.S. passport through one of our partners, an expert in navigating the passport system.
No. All of Circle’s costs in our all inclusive, fixed cost program are for all intended parents, living in the U.S. or abroad. The only additional funds that international parents should factor in are any travel costs to the United States during their journey.
FAQs About Surrogacy in the U.S.
Below you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions about surrogacy in the United States if you live internationally. You can read our full list of FAQs about the general surrogacy process from intended parents here.