Choosing a surrogacy agency is not an easy task but we are here to help you!
Once you have concluded that you wish to become a parent via gestational surrogacy, make sure that you are in good hands. Your surrogacy parenthood journey starts with choosing the best surrogacy agency for you so that you have a hassle-free journey ahead. In this article, we will cover how to choose surrogacy agency?
Irrespective of the fact you are doing surrogacy in your city or cross-border surrogacy arrangement, choosing an experienced and credible surrogacy agency is a critical part of your surrogacy journey.
A lot of research and time is needed to finalize a surrogacy agency that best suits your requirements.
The parenthood journey can be the most enriching and overwhelming experience, only if you do it wisely. For intended parents starting the surrogacy process can be a daunting feeling. However, by keeping in mind a few factors; an Intended parent can make informed decisions.
Having a trusted and professional surrogacy agency will make a massive difference in the life of intended parents. A surrogacy agency is an integral part of your life for many years. It is advised to do thorough research when looking for the best surrogacy agency locally or even if you wish to choose the best surrogacy agency for international surrogacy. Choose the one you feel is the best for your specific need.
Pay attention to the below tips-how to choose a surrogacy agency and time and money:
1. Experience matters for a surrogacy agency
Pay close attention to the past experience of handling successful surrogacy services. When a surrogacy agency has helped more and more Intended Parents in their gestational surrogacy, this shows the team is already aware of each step or complication that may arise during the surrogacy process.
An experienced surrogacy agency or surrogacy facilitator can guide and support you for coming challenges in advance. They can set realistic expectations and not only show you the rosy side but the obstacle you might experience while navigating.
Nowadays, many new surrogacy agencies are sprouting up but they lack experience and struggle with the insight needed for this long and complicated journey. If you need egg donations, read here.
2. Trust and credibility of the surrogacy agency
When choosing a surrogacy agency, its reliability is essential to consider. It takes many years to gain credibility and just a few days to lose it. Never judge the work of a surrogacy agency by the fake negative reviews as many of them are distributed by competitors.
The best way is review a surrgoacy agency is to interact personally in person or virtually.
It is good to get in touch with a few of the previous successful intended parents. A couple who has already traveled the road which you are planning to take will be a great help. He or she shares genuine feedback about the services, which might make it easy for you to gain confidence in your surrogacy agency. A professional and compassionate team has nothing to hide.
Having open and transparent communication can help select the right people.
3. Communication is critical when choosing a surrogacy agency
For international intended parents and for those who choose cross-border surrogacy agencies, then clear and timely communication is a must or even if you are using a local surrogacy agency. Excellent communication opens the doors of trust and comfort for parents.
A surrogacy pregnancy is an emotional journey for both intended parents and surrogate mothers. It is reassuring to know how things are going or have timely updates, especially if you are doing a cross-border surrogacy, the long-distance and time zone variation can make you worry.
Just think how scary it will be if you do not hear updates about your surrogate mother who is based far away from the city or country.
Having transparent, quick, and timely communication will give you much-needed peace of mind. A team that relies on time and keeps you updated with any delay due to a business trip or holiday is responsible and will handle your case with the same dedication and compassion.
4. Being flexible makes a surrogacy agency much more likable
With my 10+ years in this domain, it is clear to me that each surrogacy process is unique and many times things will not go as per the expectation of the parents.
There are quite a few factors that are out of the control of parents, surrogate mothers, and even fertility doctors. A situation like optimum success rate of IVF cycle, egg donor and surrogate mother health and complication issues, and legal issues cannot be controlled but a professional team guide and support you in times of need.
A reputed surrogacy agency, provide a more customized approach to each case and will do their best to accommodate your needs.
They can do the IVF cycle in your choice of IVF clinic or can consider your request while matching a surrogate mother or choosing an egg donor. Sometimes providing some financial benefits to the Intended Parents can be done.
If you have some specific surrogacy requirements, it is good to communicate well in advance. Most of the agencies will be happy to assist you with moderate changes in their policies to help you.
5. A one-to-one relationship is a vital
A typical gestational surrogacy process takes 1-2 years- from the start to the end. Your surrogacy coordinator or case manager will be more like a friend whom you speak/write almost daily.
Most surrogacy agencies do provide an individual case manager to each Intended Parents, who are well aware of the case from the beginning.
For a new team member, it is not easy to understand your journey. That is why most surrogacy agencies do give a personal case manager for each couple.
If not, ask for it as it will save your time and make communication easy for you. Many time, a case manager develop a warm and loving relationship with the intended parent and go out of the way to assist them.
It is good to create a robust, transparent and truthful relationship with your surrogacy agency team.
6. Look out for Recommendations from existing or past intended parents.
It is good to learn from your friends or relatives who already traveled the surrogacy paths before you.
Ask for a firsthand experience of the couples who had gone through the surrogacy process themselves with your surrogacy agency. No, one can be a better source of accurate information than one who already completed a surrogacy process.
7. Connect with Surrogacy Support Groups.
With so much access and web connectivity, you surely find a lot of surrogacy support groups and surrogacy forums, and surrogacy blogs to dig out information.
You can sign up with such groups to share your story and to have access to other experiences too. Over time, we have seen that most of the surrogacy professionals, past intended parents, and surrogate mothers are happy to share their experiences and guide and bring out red flags to consider.
8. Assisting in the legal matter of surrogacy
Each surrogacy country has its specific legislation for surrogacy, some have favorable laws, and some straight away ban surrogacy. It is advised to confirm beforehand the legal standing in your case.
Your surrogacy professionals will be happy to put you in touch with a trusted family lawyer in your country or in-country of surrogacy so that you can make legally viable decisions. Surrogacy laws are different in each country or even within a country, so be aware of your country’s reproductive laws.
Parents are recommended to consult a local family lawyer in your country to understand your actual situation.
It might be possible that surrogacy is allowed in the country you are choosing, but what if your own country do not recognize surrogacy and might not give you citizenship and travel document for your baby?
Nevertheless, always ask what kind of support they can give to assist you legally. The right surrogacy agency can help you in doing documentation work and sometimes they put you in touch with the right surrogacy lawyer who can navigate you through full child custody.
9. Transparency in terms of surrogacy cost
9. Transparency in terms of surrogacy costMost surrogacy agencies come with a substantial financial burden. It is good to ask what would be estimated surrogacy cost for your case and the breakdown of the surrogacy cost list.
A reputed surrogacy agency is one that does not shy away from giving full surrogacy costs but also lets you know any hidden costs which might occur later. Transparency is the key as finance is one o the vital factor for most intended parents.
More resources on surrogacy cost:
Top 4 cheapest surrogacy countries in the world
How to reduce surrogacy costs?
10. Trust your judgment when choosing a surrogacy agency
Besides these tips for how to choose a surrogacy agency, follow your intuition. Each of us has our justice system based on our personal experiences and interactions with the outside world, take a final decision based on your gut feeling.
Try to ask as many questions as possible and move ahead with someone whom you trust and feel comfortable with. Take an informed decision!!!
Conclusion on how to choose a surrogacy agency?
I hope the above tips to choose a surrogacy agency will help you make the right choices as choosing the surrogacy agency is the next big decision. Taking the help of a surrogacy consultant helps you save lots of time and money. With his or her knowledge of this sector and network of people, save you time and can get information about different countries under one roof.
We have been offering surrogacy with our partner surrogacy agency in Ukraine and a surrogacy agency in Georiga for the last 10 years. These services are recommended for couples who wish to do a legally secure yet affordable surrogacy and they are open to international surrogacy countries.
If intended parents wish to do surrogacy in the USA, we can recommend surrogacy agencies in California as this state is considered to be one of the most sought destinations for single or LGBT surrogacy.
Recently, Colombia is gaining lots of attention as a secure and affordable gay surrogacy destination. Colombia is the cheapest country for surrogacy for gay couples, we do offer affordable gay surrogacy for as low as $64,000 to guarantee surrogacy babies for gay men.
Are you still looking for the best international surrogacy agency to start your surrogacy process? So how to pick a surrogacy agency? We have been helping intended parents all over the world to achieve surrogacy parenthood. Contact us to start your parenthood journey now!
