The Ultimate Guide to Surrogacy in Washington, D.C.

Surrogacy is one of the most intimate and monumental experiences you can have with another person. Couples and individuals from various backgrounds, ages, and sexual orientations who need help having a baby turn to surrogacy to grow their families. These intended parents include:

• Heterosexual couples who cannot have a baby on their own
• Women who are unable to carry a child
• Men and women who want to avoid passing a genetic defect or health condition on to their child
• LGBTQ+ intended parents who want to have a genetic link to their baby

Every surrogacy journey to parenthood is as unique as the intended parents themselves.

As a leading surrogacy agency in the Washington, D.C., area, Circle has helped parents from the District of Columbia grow their families through surrogacy and egg donation for 25 years.

Washington, D.C., has favorable surrogacy laws for intended parents and surrogate mothers.

Circle has staff across the country, including in the Washington, D.C., metro area. Plus, Circle plans to open the doors of a physical office as soon as it's safe for our team, but for now, we are setting up regional intended parent meetup groups, local virtual events, and financing for qualified parents.

If you live in the Washington, D.C., area and are interested in growing your family through surrogacy, you can connect with a local team and clinics.

Circle Surrogacy has an office in Washington, DC, and offers a variety of surrogacy and egg donation programs to help you grow your family.

The surrogacy process involves many steps and professionals, so it’s important to understand the entire process, whether you are an intended parent or a surrogate mother. You may choose to undergo your surrogacy journey independently or with the help of a surrogacy agency. An agency like Circle Surrogacy with 25 years of experience can help you navigate the milestones and events throughout your journey so that you can focus on preparing for the arrival of your baby.

Here is an overview of the process for intended parents and surrogate mothers in Washington, D.C.

Choosing an Agency

One of the first full-service surrogacy agencies in the U.S., Circle Surrogacy has been helping straight and LGBTQ+ singles and couples grow their families through surrogacy and egg donation since opening our Boston office in 1995. We have opened a Washington, DC surrogacy agency office to support intended parents, surrogates and egg donors in the metro DC area.

Not every surrogacy agency is a good fit; it’s essential to find one that you have a good rapport with and shares your views about the surrogacy process. Beginning your surrogacy journey is a big step, so it’s important to do your research!

Surrogacy laws vary by state, so choosing an agency with lawyers knowledgeable in assisted reproductive technology (ART) and surrogacy law is vital. They will help you understand the surrogacy laws in Washington, D.C. Circle has a full legal team on staff that works exclusively with third-party reproduction and surrogacy law.

Choosing an Egg Donor (if needed)

Intended parents will need to use donor eggs when they cannot or do not wish to use their own eggs. We specialize in matching intended parents with carefully screened egg donors who truly align with the family’s values and desires.

Learn more about finding an egg donor.

Finding a Surrogate Mother

After matching with an egg donor (if needed), our Matching Team will help you find the perfect surrogate match. We encourage you to form a strong bond with the woman who will carry your baby(ies). If you’d like to find a surrogate with specific criteria, you can share your preference with your Matching Team.

Pregnancy and Parenthood

Pregnancy is the time to continue building your relationship with your gestational surrogate. Many intended parents join their surrogates for medical appointments if they live close enough to do so. Your agency will be supporting you through each milestone, helping you prepare for traveling for the birth and ensuring you have everything you need to return home safely and securely with your new baby.

Once you’ve decided you’d like to move forward with the surrogacy process and you’ve selected an agency with which you’d like to meet, it’s time to schedule a consultation.

• If you’re emotionally and financially ready to begin a surrogacy journey within the next 12 months, you can schedule a complimentary surrogacy consultation. This private, in-depth meeting is a time to share your story and learn about the surrogacy process as it relates to your own personal situation. It is your time to ask questions, learn about matching with a surrogate mother and egg donor, and review surrogacy costs. It’s also important to find out if the agency team is a good fit for your journey.
• 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.

When you choose the right agency, you will feel comfortable asking questions and bringing up concerns, and you’ll feel supported through the entire surrogacy process.

In Washington, D.C., surrogacy costs typically fall into the following categories:

• Professional fees
• Gestational carrier and egg donor fees
• Medical and insurance expenses
• IVF expenses

Most agencies do not offer fixed costs for any of these cost categories, which can result in surprise fees and financial uncertainty throughout the surrogacy journey. Circle Surrogacy fixes the costs for professional fees, gestational carrier and egg donor fees, and medical and insurance expenses.

Circle is proud to offer the all-inclusive Journey Protection Guarantee Program, which is designed to help as many Intended Parents in Washington, D.C. as possible bring home a baby while reducing variable costs.

Journey Protection Guarantee Program

Surrogacy only cost: $148,750
Surrogacy plus egg donation cost: $172,750
(both prices exclude IVF)

Our Journey Protection Guarantee offers Intended Parents:

• An all-inclusive cost that covers unlimited retrievals and transfers and any complications that may arise during your journey
• 100% refund of our agency fee if you have no embryos remaining and do not bring home a baby
• No surprise costs or invoices

The costs outlined above are for our Surrogacy Only and Surrogacy Plus Egg Donation Programs. For more information about the costs of our other programs, please email us or call us at 617.439.9900.

Financing Surrogacy Costs

Some intended parents may have the opportunity to qualify for financing for their journey. Please speak with our Parent Intake Team or Consultation Team or by filling out this form.

Matching with your surrogate mother is an exciting time in your surrogacy journey! Circle works with many surrogate mothers from Washington, D.C., as well as surrounding surrogacy-friendly states. With headquarters in Boston, an office in New York, and local team members in the Washington, D.C., area, we make it even easier for surrogates and intended parents to connect.

Your Intended Parent Profile

The first step in matching with a surrogate is to fill out an intended parent profile. Our Matching Team will use this information to get to know you better and help our matching team find you a compatible surrogate.

This profile is filled with information about you, your relationship (if you are coupled), your family, your hobbies, your plans for parenthood, and what brought you to surrogacy. We ask that you also share photos of yourself, your loved ones, and anything else that gives a good sense of who you are as people.

Other Matching Criteria

In addition to your profile, there are specific criteria we use to match you with your gestational carrier, including your preferences on:

• Level of communication with your surrogate during the journey
• Location of the surrogate mother
• Number of embryos to transfer
• Selective reduction and termination

If you are making an independent surrogacy journey, you can use the above as guidelines when looking for a good match.

When searching for a surrogate mother in Washington, D.C., intended parents should be able to answer “yes” to the following questions:

1. Is it legal for her to be a surrogate? In the United States, each state has its own laws regarding surrogacy. In addition, each country we assist in has different requirements and laws regarding surrogacy. At Circle, your Matching Team (which includes a lawyer) ensures that the laws of the surrogate’s home state (where the delivery will take place) complement the laws of the intended parents’ home state/country (including laws around same-sex parenting). Our legal department will always approve a match from a legal standpoint before a surrogate profile is presented to the intended parents.

2. Do her personality and surrogacy expectations match yours? Both surrogates and intended parents undergo phone calls or in-person meetings with the Circle team early in the process. These meetings help determine your personality as it relates to surrogacy. We also look at IPs’ and surrogates’ expectations and hopes for the journey, including the number of embryos to transfer and communication styles.

3. Do you agree on expectations surrounding termination and selective reduction? We ask IPs and surrogates their views on termination of a pregnancy as we want to match IPs and surrogates who share similar views. We want to ensure that the views of the surrogate and the views of the intended parents align in the event a situation arises where a reduction or termination is considered. In our experience, many intended parents prefer the option to make the choice of termination.

Some intended parents require an egg donor in order to grow their family. Matching with an egg donor is an important part of your journey to parenthood – you are selecting the young woman who will provide half of your child’s biology.

The first step to finding your perfect egg donor match is to think about the qualities you are looking for in her, such as physical attributes, race/ethnicity, and education.

A great place to start your egg donor search is in an egg donor database. Circle’s easy-to-use egg donor database allows you to search for an egg donor based on your specific criteria.

The District of Columbia is surrogacy friendly! Gestational and traditional surrogacy are allowed by statute for all intended parents, including those who are:

• Single
• An unmarried couple
• Heterosexual
• LGBTQ
• Intended parents using their own gametes or donor egg, sperm, or embryos.

Determining Parentage in Washington, D.C.

The D.C. courts allow pre-birth orders (PBO) for gestational surrogacy, whether the intended parents are using their own biology or donor eggs and/or sperm.

Both intended parents can be declared the legal parents in a PBO in the following situations:

• Neither parent is genetically related to the child
• The intended parents are a same-sex couple
• The intended parent is a single parent

At Circle, our Washington, D.C. surrogates receive the support and guidance of our experienced social workers and program coordinators, many who have been surrogates themselves. We support women wherever they are in the process whether they are ready to apply now or are interested but want to talk with experienced surrogates or Surrogate Advisors. Here is an overview of the process:

• 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.

Wherever you are in your journey, we suggest completing our online surrogacy application. It takes only about 10 minutes to complete and there is no obligation to proceed if you aren’t ready.

Women from Washington, D.C., will have the opportunity to work with local staff who can connect them with intended parents, virtual events, and support groups. We will be adding an office in D.C. as soon as it is safe to do so. Many of the intended parents we work with are from the East Coast. We make a special effort to match surrogates from Washington, D.C., with intended parents who are local to them whenever possible. Plus, Circle works with many IVF clinics close to Washington, D.C., reducing the amount of travel for surrogates and travel costs for intended parents. Other benefits of surrogacy include:

• Gaining an incredible sense of self-fulfillment from giving the greatest gift humanly possible to another family.
• Working with intended parents and clinics local to your area.
• Receiving exceptional compensation!
• Forming an enduring connection with intended parents.
• Working with a personal journey coordination team and licensed social worker.
• Having experienced legal representation to support you through the legal process.

The Circle Surrogate Promise was created for surrogates because we truly care about our carriers, and we want each of them to have the most successful and rewarding journey possible.

In the past, our carriers shared thoughts and improvements with their social workers, or during their exit interviews, and we took all of those conversations and suggestions to heart and improved on our offerings to our gestational carriers.

Guaranteed Pay, Security and Support

The Circle Surrogate Promise is a program exclusive to Circle Surrogates; no other agency can offer the same level of security and support.

Circle Surrogacy promises:

1. Guaranteed Compensation. Circle Surrogacy financially backs their Intended Parents, so a surrogate’s escrow account is always funded to ensure she is always paid in full and on time.
2. No 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 we can never stop having you receive medical bills (since you are the “patient”), our new Fixed Cost programs for Intended Parents allow us to protect both the surrogates and the intended parents, and ensure all medical bills will be paid in a timely manner.
3. $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 surro baby. At Circle, our surrogates have choices for her preferred birth options, such as doula care, a hospital birth, or using a birth center with a midwife.
5. Personalized, small agency feel, with the resources of a large agency. The first person you speak with at Circle will likely be an experienced carrier who guides you through the process until you are matched with intended parents, personally introducing 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.

When women apply to become surrogate mothers in Washington, D.C., they usually do so to share the joys of parenthood with people in need. While being a surrogate has a monetary incentive, the indescribable sense of fulfillment our surrogates gain from helping intended families bring a child into the world cannot be found doing anything else.

As a surrogate in Washington, D.C., you have the opportunity to earn between $50,000 and $60,000 in total payments and benefits. Surrogate mothers are paid a base fee of between $30,000 to $40,000, plus additional compensation and benefits for milestones along their journey.

How much you will make as a surrogate will depend on a few criteria:

• The state you live in
• If you have insurance
• If you’re an experienced gestational carrier

Calculate your surrogate pay with our surrogate compensation calculator.

Surrogate payments are made monthly, and surrogate mothers start earning compensation and benefits even before they are pregnant.

Circle provides best-in-class surrogate support because so many of our staff are experienced surrogates – and they have shared with us the type of support surrogates need on their journey. Our surrogates receive top-notch prescreening, social work, and legal and journey support from the moment they fill out their application until months after they deliver. Our team is ready to answer any question you can dream of (and then some).

You’ll also be connected with other surrogate mothers through private social groups, and you’ll experience exclusive events with the Circle team.

We can also connect you with skilled, trustworthy experts. For example, when it’s time for you to review legal contracts, we’ll recommend an attorney local to you who we’ve previously worked with and who has a strong working knowledge of assisted reproductive technology (ART) law. It’s just one more way we can clear the path for you and make the entire surrogacy program as seamless as possible.

Read our blog post about the 10 steps to becoming a surrogate.

After deciding to become a gestational surrogate in Washington, D.C., it’s important to feel confident about the intended parent(s) you are matched with before you embark on this monumental journey together. You want to be sure that you connect with and trust them fully. That’s why Circle Surrogacy created an extensive and thorough matching process.

As a first step, your Surrogate Support Team will try to find the perfect intended parent(s) for you based on personality fit and legal circumstances. You’ll get to review each other’s profiles, ask questions, and generally feel each other out. There will also be an initial Skype call, and possibly an in-person meeting. It’s all about making sure both you and the intended parent(s) feel completely comfortable with the match. And of course, the surrogacy agreement only moves forward if you agree.

Circle works with single parents, LGBTQ+ and heterosexual couples, domestic and international couples, and more. We’re confident you’ll be able to find a great match.

Whether you are intended parents or interested in becoming a surrogate or egg donor, the surrogacy process can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. Learning more about surrogacy is the first step of your journey.