Are you thinking about surrogacy? As an intended parent or a surrogate, one of your first decisions will be whether or not to work with an agency.
What is a surrogacy agency?
And what exactly does a surrogacy agency do? Simply put, surrogacy agencies coordinate the process of a surrogacy journey from beginning to end.
Many people believe that the work of the agency ends after they find you the right match. But actually, there are many moving parts throughout, and after, a journey. There is a typical process in surrogacy, but agencies also navigate the details of each specific situation.
Behind the scenes, surrogacy agencies screen surrogates, monitor appointment schedules and escrow, coordinate with the legal team, support everyone in case of unforeseen circumstances, and stay current on surrogacy practices.
An Agency Makes Your Surrogacy Journey Easier
Have you started searching for surrogacy information? Knowing where to start and who to trust can be overwhelming. You can make your surrogacy easier by relying on knowledgeable experts instead of searching on your own.
There will be plenty of work for you to do in your journey without needing to pile on the services that an agency provides. These are some of the details that can be easier in your journey when you work with a surrogacy agency:
- Becoming informed about the process
- Following steps in the correct order
- Finding trusted providers
- Knowing legal requirements
- Obtaining surrogacy-friendly insurance
- Navigating financial matters with your match
- Managing bills, reimbursements, and expenses
- Maintaining open lines ofcommunication with your match and all providers
The Best Surrogacy Information
There is a lot of misinformation out there, even in online forums among people currently on surrogacy journeys. The surrogacy myths and unfortunate events you hear can keep you from learning what surrogacy is truly about and how beautiful it is.
As agencies, we are responsible for explaining the process thoroughly before you begin. Surrogacy is a big undertaking and you need to know what to expect. This is especially important when it comes to the costs of a journey and what the surrogate will experience medically and emotionally. Once you get started, your surrogacy agency will keep you informed every step of the way.
Your agency will also have up-to-date information on the medical, legal, and social factors involved in surrogacy. Medical details include general guidelines for accepting surrogates and the specific requirements of intended parents’ clinics. Insurance options for surrogacy change over time, so the agency will have strong connections to providers in this field.
Legally, every state has its own laws on surrogacy and parentage after surrogacy. Your agency will have a general idea of the legal standing, obligations, and possible obstacles in the states from which they accept surrogates. They will also be familiar with any recent changes to legislation affecting assisted reproductive technology.
What social factors would an agency need to know about? With more open discourse about infertility and the diverse ways to build a family, the number of surrogacy journeys is increasing. As more intended parents seek surrogates, the increase in demand can cause rising expenses. Agencies should be able to provide parents with current expense estimates.
The relationship between surrogates and intended parents has also changed drastically over time. Heartland matches are encouraged to communicate, building a relationship of mutual respect and trust. It is the job of the agency to keep an ear to ground in regard to changing social norms. They are responsible for preparing you and guiding you in what is appropriate in your match relationship.
A Safer Surrogacy Journey
The intricacies of surrogacy can affect you legally, medically, and emotionally. To help reduce your stress and potential risk, your surrogacy agency should know how to protect you as much as possible.
These are some of the ways your journey will be safer with the right agency:
- You will be matched with someone who has been prescreened. Heartland performs criminal background checks on all our clients and provides multi-step screening on surrogates.
- The agency knows in which states surrogacy can be practiced with protection for parents and surrogates. Heartland only guides journeys in states where contracts are enforceable and parentage can be obtained.
- A reputable agency will avoid the conflict of interest that comes with having escrow and/or legal services in-house. Heartland provides referrals for expert attorneys and escrow companies.
- Most importantly, an agency will help you navigate any complications that can arise in your journey. Heartland is with you every step of the way!
Hiring a professional team to manage your journey is similar to hiring an accountant to do your taxes: you could do many of the steps successfully on your own if you’re organized, but without expertise, you don’t know what you don’t know. You may not know about possible complications or what to do if you encounter one. You could even end up accidentally skipping important details. We certainly don’t want to fearmonger, but missed steps are at the center of many surrogacy journeys gone wrong.
Connection to the Surrogacy Community
Moral support is crucial in many of life’s undertakings, and surrogacy is no different. There’s nothing like being able to talk to someone who has been through what you’ve been through and/or has seen similar situations. Your agency staff is the main source of this support, and they can also connect you to other surrogacy communities.
Do You Need A Surrogacy Agency If It's Not Your First Journey?
Think about the paperwork, compliance, legalities, and deadlines that were involved in your previous journey(s). If you were working with a good agency, they would have handled these and made it easier for you to meet your responsibilities. It is also likely that they did a lot of behind-the-scenes work that you’re not aware of. It’s not until you have to do it yourself that you may find out all the things your agency did for you.
An agency also plays the role of an intermediary between surrogates and intended parents. As you already know, working with your match to build a beautiful family requires a strong and unique connection. Talking about money and trying to coordinate additional tasks can complicate this relationship. Further, if one party is more experienced in surrogacy than the other, much of the work may fall on them. This can easily lead to resentment.
Our concern for experienced surrogates working independently is that they are already making a great sacrifice in carrying the pregnancy. We don’t believe that surrogates should add the labor of coordinating this intricate process to the load they already carry.
Intended parents are also balancing multiple responsibilities in their journey, and many have been through a lot of work and pain before arriving at surrogacy. We think intended parents deserve to build their family with guidance that can minimize, or prevent, any additional obstacles.
Even if you weren’t satisfied with your previous agency, don’t put more on your shoulders by taking it on yourself this time. Not all agencies are created equal, and every journey is different.
Heartland surrogate Samantha came to us for her third journey. She worked with another agency for her first journey, and decided to match independently for a second. Unfortunately, the second journey did not go well and the match ended up going to mediation. She said she was not interested in “going indy” again, and she was able to have a gratifying experience with us managing her third journey!
What Is Special About Heartland Surrogacy?
Unfortunately, not all surrogacy agencies provide adequate services or the exceptional support needed in a surrogacy journey. Heartland Surrogacy was co-founded by a three-time gestational surrogate who worked with two different agencies for her first two journeys. One agency took good care of her, and the other was not fully supportive. She used this experience to develop an effective program that also meets the individual needs of our surrogates and intended parents.
Heartland Surrogacy is also committed to transparency. We provide intended parents cost estimates and timelines with the greatest accuracy as possible. We are also honest about the potential complications of surrogacy. Our agency president Brie is not shy about being straightforward with surrogate applicants: “I don’t sugarcoat anything. Surrogates put their life on the line to do something amazing, and they need to know what they’re getting into.”
As a surrogacy agency, we impact not only in the lives of our clients, but also the climate of reproductive rights. We aspire to have a deep understanding of the impacts of racism on reproductive justice and create programs to bring equity to those seeking surrogacy. We hope to influence the industry to make equitable improvements.
Are you ready for us to guide you on an incredible journey? Contact us today to set up a free consultation: