Step-By-Step Surrogacy Process for Surrogates

Personal Information (such as your name, email and phone number)

Health and pregnancy information (you will be required to obtain medical records at a later date)

Financial Information

Your support network

After completing the surrogate application, you'll be given access to our Surrogate Portal. After your application is received and reviewed, if approved, a Surrogate Advisor will reach out to you to meet you and answer your questions. Your medical records will be requested and reviewed. You'll work closely with your Surrogate Advisor until you are matched with intended parents.

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These first steps in the application process will help you understand what goes into being a surrogate, how the surrogate process works, and if you qualify to become a surrogate.

Your motivation to become a surrogate

What your support system looks like

Your pregnancy history

About your family

Your interpersonal relationships

Your interests

Your life experiences 

Every surrogate is required to have a Primary Support Person (PSP) with them on their journey. Responsibilities for the PSP can be anything from driving her to and from appointments, accompanying her on her medical screening or embryo transfer, watching her children and just being there when she needs emotional support.

As you complete your surrogacy consultation and appear to be a strong surrogate candidate, you will complete psychological testing through the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) which is interpreted by a licensed psychologist. 

All surrogates will complete a 3-step screening process to ensure they are a good fit for the surrogacy process.

Your Surrogate Advisor will support you in finding the right intended parent match. Surrogate matching criteria includes your preferences on the types of intended parents you’d like to work with, the number of embryos to transfer and your views on selective reduction and termination. Circle follows a thorough proprietary surrogate/parent MatchMade™ matching process.

If you are interested in meeting intended parents after reading their profile (and they are interested after reading yours), the Circle team will set up a video call so you can officially meet to see if you’d be a good match. On this call surrogates and intended parents will get to know each other a little bit more, talk about their families and friends and their hopes for their surrogacy journey. There is no script for this video call, and the Circle team does not attend. After the call, if both parties feel a connection and would like to move forward, you can share with the Circle team that you’d like to move forward with a match.

 Here’s what you can expect at the medical screening: 

Physical exam

Sonogram

Blood tests

 You’ll also be working closely with your legal counsel finalizing your Carrier Agreement (contract). This will be completed with your intended parents’ lawyer. Your contract will outline all aspects of the surrogacy journey, including number of transfers, compensation, parental rights and more. 

During this phase you'll begin your surrogate medications and start attending your local monitoring appointments. These appointments will be at a clinic near where you live (not at your IPs' IVF clinic). Monitoring appointments consist of bloodwork and ultrasounds to ensure your body is responding properly to the fertility medications.

When the doctor has determined that your body is ready, you will travel for the embryo transfer. This is usually a 3-7 day trip with a travel companion to your intended parents’ IVF clinic. The embryo transfer itself is relatively quick, and the doctor will give you protocols following the transfer. Many intended parents will attend the embryo transfer if they can, and spend time in person with their surrogate.

After you return home from the embryo transfer, you’ll continue with appointments at your local monitoring clinic for beta tests (blood tests). These visits are to ensure that the pregnancy is progressing as it should. The first test is usually 10 days after the embryo transfer. Provided you have positive beta tests, you'll have an ultrasound at the monitoring clinic around 6 weeks for a confirmation of heartbeat(s). This is when Circle considers you officially pregnant!

Around week 10 of pregnancy you'll be released to your OB/GYN to continue your care until delivery. During this time, you can deepen your relationship with your intended parents; we recommend you maintain at least weekly contact with them to give them updates, share photos and get to know them even better. You’ll attend your routine appointments and before you know it, delivery day will be here and you'll witness your intended parents meeting their baby for the first time!

 The fourth trimester can be filled with many emotions – excitement, sadness, pride and emptiness, to name a few. All of these emotions are normal as you adjust to life after surrogacy. We encourage you to spend time with your intended parents and the baby if you wish to do so, while they are still local to you. Saying goodbye can be difficult, but remember, it does not have to be a forever goodbye. Many of our surrogates and parents continue their friendship beyond the birth of the baby; you’ll find the right level of relationship that works for you.