The Ultimate Guide to Surrogacy in Rhode Island

Rhode Island is one of the best states for people to pursue surrogacy, a gratifying process during which Circle Surrogacy provides expertise and support for people of all backgrounds who are ready to start and expand their families. The surrogacy journey involves:

• Intended parents (IPs): Couples or individuals who are unable to have a baby on their own can choose surrogacy to grow their families.
• Gestational surrogates: No one knows better the gift of parenthood than mothers who already have children of their own. Gestational surrogates do NOT use their own eggs to create the embryos and have no genetic relationship to the babies they carry.
• Egg donors: Young, selfless, and strong women help others fulfill their dreams of becoming parents by generously donating their eggs.

Many members of Circle's team understand the thoughts and feelings of people embarking on their surrogacy journeys because they have firsthand experience as intended parents, surrogates, or egg donors themselves.

No two surrogacy journeys are the same because the people involved come from varied backgrounds and include a wide range of ages. Individuals of all sexual orientations—both couples and individuals—build their families through surrogacy. Intended parents from Rhode Island often include:

• Heterosexual couples who have struggled with infertility
• Women who are unable to carry a child
• People who don’t want to risk passing on a genetic defect or health condition to their baby
• Same-sex couples who want a genetic connection with their baby

The women who become gestational surrogates and egg donors are amazing people with backgrounds just as diverse, making each surrogacy journey unique.

Once you're both emotionally and financially ready to begin the surrogacy process within the next 12 months, it's time to schedule a consultation with the agency you selected.

We also offer complimentary, in-depth surrogacy consultations with a parent intake consultant and a lawyer. These private meetings typically take 2 to 2 1/2 hours. During this time, we get to know each other, hear your story, review the surrogacy process for you specifically, and discuss your questions or concerns. Additionally, we review our surrogacy programs and costs.

If you're not ready for a full consultation but would like more information, you can schedule a pre-consultation with our intake team by contacting [email protected] and someone will reach out to coordinate a time.

It's truly gratifying when Circle Surrogacy successfully brings together intended parents and surrogates. Finding the right match is an exciting part of the journey to parenthood that is transformative for all involved. Circle works with many surrogated mothers in Rhode Island, in addition to surrounding states, so intended parents may have the opportunity to work with a local surrogate.

How to Start

What's important to you when choosing a gestational carrier? Thinking about that and your surrogacy journey before starting the selection process is time well-spent. Preparing a mental checklist of important qualities makes finding the right surrogate much easier, whether you’re pursuing an independent journey or working with a surrogacy agency's list of candidates. We're proud that the majority of surrogates and intended parents matched by our agency have remained connected well beyond delivery.

How Circle Can Help

Completing our intended parent profile helps your Matching Team at Circle get to know you better and find candidates who we believe will be ideal surrogates for you. The profile asks about you, your relationship (if you have a partner), your family, your hobbies, your plans for parenthood, and what brought you to the surrogacy process. Sharing photos of yourself, close friends or family members, and any other subjects that better acquaints us with you as a person is invaluable.

You also have the opportunity in your profile to specify:

• How much communication you want with your surrogate during the journey
• Where you'd like your surrogate to live
• How many embryos you want to transfer
• Your viewpoint on selective reduction and termination

If you are embarking on the surrogacy journey on your own, these guidelines can help you match with a compatible surrogate.

If your journey includes an egg donor, it's extremely important to find the right one because the donor contributes half of the child's genetics.

Start by asking yourself if there are any qualities that your egg donor absolutely must have. Other important questions to answer include:

• Do you want an egg donor whose personality or appearance is similar to yours or complementary to yours?
• What are your preferences regarding the egg donor's education, appearance, ethnicity, and personality?

Intended parents can use Circle's egg donor database to start their egg donor search. Narrow your choices by searching for specific criteria, including:

• Physical attributes (such as hair and eye color)
• Race/ethnicity
• Education
• Previous fertility
• Geography

If you're not entirely sure about certain qualities you want in an egg donor, our experienced team can help you make a great match.

Circle's experienced social workers and program coordinators provide support and guidance to Rhode Island surrogates throughout the surrogacy process. Many of our team members have been surrogates themselves and understand the physical and emotional experience. Surrogate Advisors or other experienced surrogates are ready to talk with women considering becoming gestational surrogates even if they're not ready to submit an application.

The surrogate process involves:

• Pre-screening
• Consultation
• Matching with intended parents
• Medical screening and legal contracts
• Monitoring appointments and embryo transfer
• Pregnancy
• Delivery

Learn more about the surrogacy process at Circle and how we support our surrogates every step of the way.

Gestational surrogates are very special women who are passionate about motherhood and family. All kinds of women become surrogates, including teachers, medical professionals, and stay-at-home moms. They are spirited, caring, and selfless.

To qualify as a surrogate mother in Rhode Island, you must meet the following requirements:

• Have delivered a child of your own and are currently parenting at least one child.
• Have had uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries, as documented by medical records.
• Are from 21 to 41 years of age.
• Have a Body Mass Index (BMI) no higher than 32. Calculate my BMI.
• Are a United States citizen, legal resident, or legal immigrant. If you are a legal resident or legal immigrant of the United States, you must provide valid documentation for at least 2 years.
• Do not participate in the following government aid programs: cash assistance, welfare, public housing, and Section 8. All other forms of government assistance will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Review all surrogate requirements

We understand and appreciate the physical, emotional, and mental commitment required to be a surrogate—not to mention the dedication of their families. Circle Surrogacy's compensation and benefits program was created for surrogates by surrogates and provides security, benefits, and protection that are virtually unsurpassed.

We created our new Surrogate Pay & Family Protection Program with surrogates and their families in mind. It provides the following benefits:

• Competitive pay (your base fee plus additional benefits)
• Protection for the surrogate and her family throughout the journey
• All expenses paid, from travel to meals to gas and more
• Full transparency on what's included
• Benefits you won't find at any other agency

If you'd like to apply with Circle but are considering other agencies based on their compensation, we'd appreciate having the opportunity to talk with you about those offers—we can match them. We promise you'll have the best surrogacy experience with us.

How Does Surrogate Pay Work?

Surrogates receive their first payments before they are pregnant, and they continue throughout their pregnancies. We break down surrogate pay into the following categories:

Base Compensation

Calculate your base compensation with our payment calculator to see how much you could earn as a surrogate in your state.

Payments Before You Are Pregnant

Circle compensates you early in your journey for completing tasks and milestones, such as a signing payment and for your medical screening. These payments are in addition to your base compensation.

Payments During and After Surrogacy

Surrogate mothers also receive financial support for necessities during the pregnancy, such as maternity clothing, housekeeping, pumping and shipping breast milk, and more. These payments are in addition to your base compensation.

Additional Benefits

Surrogates will receive additional non-monetary benefits that are priceless in ensuring they’re protected and have a smooth journey. These benefits include social work support, legal counsel, life insurance, and more.

We created the Circle Surrogate Promise based on feedback from previous gestational carriers to improve our offerings. This program guarantees pay, security, and support exclusively for Circle Surrogates; no other agency can offer the same level of security and support. We truly care about our carriers and want surrogacy to be as successful and rewarding as possible for each of them.

Through this program, Circle Surrogacy promises:

1. Guaranteed compensation. Circle ensures that each surrogate is always paid in full and on time because we financially back our intended parents.

2. Zero medical bill liability. Circle Surrogacy takes on the liability of medical bills. We listened to our past surrogates and their frustrations with medical bills, and we've made big changes. While a surrogate is the patient and will always receive medical bills, our new fixed-cost Journey Protection Guarantee Program for intended parents allows us to protect both the surrogates and intended parents and ensure all medical bills will be paid in a timely manner.

3. Up to $5,000 compensation, even if you leave the program. If you are accepted into our surrogate program and you are medically cleared and matched with intended parents—but you don't achieve a pregnancy—we will compensate you for your time, energy, and dedication thus far in your journey (up to $5,000 total).

4. Empowerment in birth choices. Not every gestational carrier has the same desires when it comes to the birth of their surrogate baby. At Circle, our surrogates have choices for their preferred birth options, such as doula care, a hospital birth, or using a birth center with a midwife.

5. Personalized, small agency feel; large agency resources. An experienced carrier likely will be the first person you speak with at Circle. She'll guide you through the process until you are matched with your intended parents. They'll also personally introduce you to your dedicated social worker and journey support team, all of whom are in-house at Circle. You'll always be supported by a Circle employee who knows all the details about you and your journey. (You'll never have to worry about working with a third party who doesn't even know your name!) Plus, with our expanded team, we are able to offer support groups, virtual events, one-on-one surrogate mentorship, and more.