There are bound to be many questions that come with the surrogacy process, for both intended parents and surrogates alike. One of the questions we get asked a lot is how long the surrogacy process will take. People want to know “what is the surrogacy timeline for intended parents?” Unfortunately, this question can be difficult to answer exactly. There are lots of different factors that affect it. To make things a little easier though, we’ve put together the steps of the surrogacy process and a rough estimate of how long each step takes. This should give you an idea of the overall process.
Step 1: Research
The research process takes as long as you need it to. It’s important that you understand everything involved with surrogacy and what you expect from a surrogate.
Step 2: Matching
This process takes around two weeks, but it can be over pretty quickly. This is one of the most flexible parts of the journey because of all the different factors involved, including your own personal preferences and the type of surrogate you want to match with. We will provide you with surrogate profiles that you can look through and approve based on your own goals and criteria. It is important to us that both sides feel the other is just right for them.After having a satisfactory interview with a potential surrogate, we can start with the next steps.
Step 3: Agency Agreement
After you sign the agency agreement, we have permission to start helping you build the family of your dreams. We also facilitate the opening of the escrow account and funding for your journey.
Step 4: Psychological Evaluation
Your surrogate will have a psychological evaluation which can take between 1 and 2 weeks. It generally involves meeting a Licensed Therapist to discuss the ins and outs of surrogacy and perform a psychological evaluation. We require that psychological examinations be submitted to our agency before the medical screening is completed.
Step 5: Medical Clearance
This can take between 2 and 4 weeks. Once you get matched with a surrogate, the carrier needs to get medical clearance from a fertility clinic. This includes a review of medical records and physical examinations.
Step 6: Legal Contracts
The legal contract phase can take about 4 weeks. These contracts are a vital part of the journey to ensure everyone involved has the protection they need. Each party has their own counsel to help with writing and negotiating explaining contracts.
Step 7: Medication Preparation
The medical preparation takes between 1 and 2 months. After the contracts are finalized, the carrier begins the medication protocol to prepare their body for the embryo transfer. While different clinics have different medication regimens, it takes roughly 30 days for the body to be ready, with this including regular appointments to monitor progress.
Step 8: Embryo Transfer
The embryo transfer is the day all intended parents wait for. Carriers are given a blood test around 14 days after the transfer to test if it was successful.
Step 9: Establishment of Parentage
The establishment of parentage happens around 16-18 weeks into the pregnancy. Should this transfer be successful and pregnancy is achieved, it’s important that intended parents properly establish their legal parentage over the child for the state the child is born.
The timeline above assumes that the embryo is created and cryopreserved. If you have to create embryos, then the timeline can change based on the medical protocol of the fertility clinic, as well as other factors. It’s impossible to list everything that can happen to affect your surrogacy process. Generally, surrogacy takes anywhere between 15 and 18 months once you first touch base with an agency. We understand that you want to get through the process and start your family as soon as possible, but we want to make sure everything goes smoothly for the sake of you and your baby.