Intended Parents: 7 facts you need to know about hiring a Surrogate Agency
Hello intended parents, if you are researching a surrogate agency or looking to hire a surrogate mother, then you know the importance of the issues surrounding the subject.
Hiring a surrogate agency and a surrogate mother can be a significant investment in the future of your family.
By now you know there are a lot of surrogate agencies in California and a lot of surrogate agencies in other parts of the US.
Made in the USA Surrogacy has gathered 7 facts that you need to know about hiring a surrogate agency
Fact #1: Hiring a surrogate agency should be an easy and painless process
Whether you choose a large named surrogate agency in California or a boutique surrogate agency like Made in the USA Surrogacy, the process of hiring a surrogate through an agency should be completely painless.
There is a reason why intended parents need the help of a surrogate agency.
The process is emotionally intense, complicated, and the need for professionals in the industry that have gone through the process of surrogacy is invaluable.
When you think about going to the doctor’s office for a serious medical condition, or as parents you are starting the process of IVF to create an embryo- you want an easy and painless process.
You hope that the doctors you trust to help you with your condition or process of making a child know everything about their field of study and can help you get through the process smoothly. In the same way, dealing with a surrogacy agency should be easy. The professionals helping you should be knowledgeable, and the process should be smooth.
At Made in the USA Surrogacy, we have designed a smooth and easy process for each step in the surrogacy process.
Not only will we answer your questions about surrogacy, but we will provide detailed help and support through each of the steps of surrogacy.
We have been there before and we know how to make the process smooth- in fact, the hardest part of our job is helping parents to slow down, trust us to handle the details and not worry about too many of the future “what ifs” to start with.
Fact #2: All surrogate mother prospects have been fully screened
When you as a parent think about hiring a surrogate, the last worry that should be on your mind is the health and wellbeing of the person who you have hired to become a surrogate to complete your family.
Many parents that attempt the process of surrogacy on their own, whether that be to save money, or because they are not sure about what surrogacy agency to hire- end up with surrogate prospects that are not screened and potentially dangerous.
At Made in the USA Surrogacy, we assure you that every surrogate mother prospect goes through an intense screening process.
Most of our surrogate mothers do not finish their screening process for more than 3 months, and they have multiple steps to get through to become eligible for a parent to match with them.
We want to assure you that if you’re looking for a surrogate mother through a competent surrogacy agency in California, all of the surrogate prospects have been fully screened.
Although we can only vouch for our own surrogacy agency process of surrogate screening, we want you to rest easy that it’s our job to find well qualified and fully screened candidates.
Fact #3: The cost of hiring a surrogate could be a costly endeavor
We completely understand that by the time you are reading this article, as an intended parent, you have probably already been shelling out many thousands of dollars from your hard-earned pockets for In vitro fertilization, and in many cases multiple rounds.
This can cause many parents heartache at the fact that the entire process of trying to have a child may still not be over after IVF treatment on their own and still need a surrogate mother to complete the process.
Unfortunately, there is no beating around the bush that surrogacy in California and the process of surrogacy can be a costly endeavor.
At Made in the USA Surrogacy, we ask all parents to make sure they plan to spend at least $100,000.
This is the cost of surrogacy, and in many cases, it can reach higher than this figure (up to $130-150K) depending on whether the surrogate mother that you are matched with needs a health insurance policy (which we discuss further in this article- (Intended Parents 11 myths you need to know about hiring a surrogate), and it will depend on the surrogacy agency you use (because the agency fees and surrogate mother compensation/surrogate mother pay can drastically range depending on which surrogate agency in California you use).
The fact is this- prepare to spend at least $100,000. At Made in the USA Surrogacy because of our lower surrogate agency costs as well as lower surrogate compensation starting figures, we have started parents below this number- but it is a healthy start to expect for your cost of a surrogacy journey.
Fact #4: If you don’t hire a surrogate agency, you may open yourself up to undue legal and emotional stress
We have heard a lot of talk on Facebook groups and other online forums about surrogacy talking about undergoing the process of surrogacy on your own as a parent.
From a professional opinion, taking on the process of surrogacy on your own could be a detrimental decision for your future family. We have even heard about some “potential surrogate mothers” from these Facebook groups claiming they will undertake the surrogacy journey for parents at a “discount cost” without a surrogate agency.
At Made in the USA Surrogacy, we caution against many of these claims by would be surrogate mothers who are not currently working with a surrogate agency.
Some of these women, and perhaps all of them may not be eligible or have already been rejected from surrogate agencies already. Or they have a money driven motive. Does this sound a little scary now?
That’s because without the help of a surrogate agency- it really is a scary process. You may not know what you’re getting yourself into.
The truth about surrogacy and the surrogacy journey is that it is an intricate process, designed to take the utmost care so that we have the best results possible in order to give families the child they have been praying and wishing for years to have.
The fact is, without a surrogacy agency, intended parents open themselves to harm trying to do it on their own. Legal contracts between the surrogacy agency as well as between the surrogate mother and the intended parents must be signed and handled by a competent surrogacy attorney.
At Made in the USA Surrogacy, we have all of the necessary partners to help us get the job done right for parents, relieving them of the emotional stress of a journey that could be potentially disastrous if done on their own.
Most people wouldn’t attempt to do surgery on their own, so why would they attempt to have a child through surrogacy on our own?
The surrogacy journey will come with its own stresses already, so that’s why parents should hire Made in the USA Surrogacy- to help manage the entire surrogacy process from start to finish to ensure a healthy child is born!
Fact #5: You may not find your surrogate right away, but don’t let that worry you!
The truth about the surrogacy journey is that there are many moving parts, and there are more parents who need surrogate mother matches than surrogate mothers who are looking for a family match.
What this creates is a large wait for most intended parents just by virtue of supply and demand. This doesn’t mean that every parent looking for a surrogate mother will wait or will wait long- but we want the expectation to be that you may not be matched with a surrogate mother right away.
The key is to start the process of looking for a surrogate mother as soon as you are able to start the process. The sooner that we have parent profiles looking for surrogate mothers, the sooner they have the chance of matching with surrogate profiles that get completed.
One key to making sure that your wait as an intended parent is not as long as some parents is to be open and willing to accept matches that may not fit all of your exact criteria.
We always encourage intended parents to not have too many factors affecting their search parameters, and this always helps the process go faster. Take a look at this blog post as to how long it may take to find a surrogate mother.
Fact #6: Your surrogate agency should handle everything with regards to medical insurance for the surrogate
One of the biggest fears we hear from intended parents is on the concern of medical insurance for the surrogate mother. We are constantly trying to remind parents that there is a reason they hired us to find a surrogate mother- they hired us not only to find a surrogate mother, but also to handle everything with regards to medical insurance.
It’s hard as intended parents to “get ahead of yourselves” in worry about what may happen with regards to the surrogate mother pregnancy or what needs to happen with regards to their surrogate mother’s medical policy.
The fact about this issue is that your surrogate agency should be handling everything in regard to finding the surrogate mother a policy and explaining the details to you and how it may relate to your budget or your concerns of coverage.
There’s a reason you hire a surrogate agency- they should be doing most of the stressful thinking for you, and as intended parents already going through the stressful process of IVF or process of egg/sperm donation- we want you to know that your surrogate agency should be handling all of the details of medical insurance for you.
Let us worry about the big things, and you will begin to see the wonderful picture of a birth that is coming together from many pieces to form a beautiful family. If your surrogate agency is not handling this process well, or you have not found a surrogate agency in California yet- feel free to contact us by filling out this form and we will help you.
Fact #7: Your surrogate agency should provide a detailed budget analysis of each surrogate mother prospect
At Made in the USA Surrogacy, we make the intended parents budget a priority. We know the process and cost of surrogacy can be overwhelming.
That’s why one of the first questions we ask prospective parents and parents who have hired us to find them a surrogate mother the following question: “what is your budget?” It’s a major concern for intended parents, and it is a major concern for us as well.
If the surrogate agency you are considering to hire for your surrogacy journey does not seem to value your budget or provide you a detailed budget analysis of each surrogate mother prospect- that is a problem.
Every individual surrogate mother will affect the surrogacy budget in different ways.
Even though the base surrogate pay or surrogate compensation may be one figure, the cost to hire a specific surrogate mother can be different in multiple ways.
Some surrogate mothers may have higher paying jobs than others and in turn will need more work compensation reimbursement than a surrogate mother who does not work for a living. Some surrogate mothers may be covered by health insurance for a surrogate pregnancy and birth, but others may need a fully covered surrogate medical insurance policy.
We have you covered
Intended parent do not need to worry about these details by themselves or even after hiring a surrogacy agency.
At Made in the USA Surrogacy we want all potential parents to know that we will handle your surrogacy process with the utmost care and we will treat your surrogacy budget with sincerity and honesty from day one.
When we present a surrogate profile, we will also present a “proposed surrogacy budget” tailored to that individual surrogate profile.