What are the steps of the surrogacy process? A step-by-step guide for 2025

Surrogacy transforms the cherished dream of parenthood into a beautiful reality, guiding intended parents and surrogates through a clear, compassionate journey. In 2025, our streamlined protocols in research, matching, medical care, legal safeguards, and post-birth support ensure every phase is transparent, reassuring, and filled with hope. This comprehensive guide will illuminate the surrogacy process, detail the roles of all participants, outline preparation and eligibility, explain matching and legal agreements, explore medical procedures, cover pregnancy through postpartum, break down costs, and highlight our tailored support for international and LGBTQ+ families. With our expert guidance and unwavering support, you’ll navigate every step with confidence and peace of mind.

Understanding the Surrogacy Journey: A Compassionate Overview

Surrogacy is a profound medical and legal partnership where a gestational carrier lovingly carries an embryo created from intended parents’ or donors’ gametes. This empowering approach enables individuals and couples to build their families when traditional conception isn’t possible or desired. For instance, a same-sex couple can achieve genetic parenthood through in vitro fertilization (IVF) and the support of a carefully selected surrogate. Embracing this collaborative journey lays the foundation for each subsequent, exciting phase.

Here’s a high-level overview of the six key phases in your surrogacy journey:

1. Preparation & Eligibility: Laying the Foundation
2. Matching & Legal Agreements: Building Your Partnership
3. Medical Procedures & IVF: The Path to Conception
4. Embryo Transfer & Early Pregnancy: A New Beginning
5. Pregnancy Monitoring & Birth: Nurturing Growth
6. Post-Birth Support & Financial Planning: Welcoming Your Baby

Phase of Your Journey	Key Activities	Typical Timeline
Preparation & Eligibility	Exploring requirements, agency consultation	1–3 months
Matching & Legal Agreements	Finding your surrogate, drafting contracts	1–2 months
Medical Procedures & IVF	Screening, medication, egg retrieval	1–2 months
Embryo Transfer & Confirmation	Transfer, pregnancy test, first ultrasound	1 month
Pregnancy Monitoring & Birth	Prenatal care, delivery planning	9 months
Post-Birth Support & Finances	Postpartum care, legal parentage confirmation	1–2 months

These thoughtfully designed phases guide all surrogacy participants through a clear, step-by-step path, seamlessly aligning advanced medical protocols with essential legal safeguards and unwavering emotional support.

Your Surrogacy Journey: A Comprehensive Overview

Surrogacy involves a beautifully intricate process with multiple phases, including careful preparation, thoughtful matching, precise medical procedures, and nurturing post-birth support. Each phase requires meticulous planning and compassionate execution to ensure the well-being of everyone involved and to meet all legal requirements [1].

American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Surrogacy: A Guide for Intended Parents (2024)

This trusted source offers a general overview of the surrogacy process, which beautifully aligns with our introduction to the key phases of your unique surrogacy journey.

Who Are the Cherished Participants in Your Surrogacy Journey?

Surrogacy thrives on a dedicated team of individuals and professionals working in perfect harmony to bring your dream to life:

• Intended Parents: Individuals or couples embarking on the heartfelt journey to grow their family through surrogacy.
• Gestational Carrier (Surrogate): A remarkable woman who lovingly carries the pregnancy, without a genetic link to the child.
• Egg Donor: A compassionate woman providing eggs for IVF when intended parents cannot use their own.
• Sperm Donor: An individual generously supplying sperm for fertilization when needed by intended parents.

Each participant brings unique needs and invaluable contributions, and our professional coordination ensures everyone’s health, rights, and expectations are honored with the utmost care.

How Does Surrogacy Embrace Diverse Families in 2025?

Surrogacy in 2025 proudly embraces all family structures, including international parents and LGBTQ+ couples, by offering customized legal guidance, truly inclusive matching protocols, and comprehensive multilingual support. By thoughtfully removing barriers to genetic parenthood, modern surrogacy ensures that every family—regardless of orientation or nationality—receives the same exceptional level of personalized care and the opportunity for successful outcomes.

Preparing for Your Surrogacy Journey: Initial Steps and Eligibility

Your preparation begins with thorough research and meeting thoughtful eligibility criteria, all designed to safeguard health and legal rights. Understanding these requirements early on accelerates your progress and minimizes any potential delays, setting a confident pace for your journey.

What Should Intended Parents Know Before Embarking on Surrogacy?

Intended parents should thoughtfully research surrogacy models, carefully evaluate agency services, and plan financially before committing to this life-changing journey. Exploring an agency’s success rates, comprehensive support packages, and clear communication policies helps establish realistic expectations and fosters a deep, trusting relationship from the very start.

By clarifying your unique goals, financial capacity, and desired timeline, you can confidently select a partner agency that perfectly aligns with your needs and values, becoming your steadfast guide.

What Are the Eligibility Requirements for Intended Parents?

Intended parents generally need to:

• Be of legal age and fully competent to enter into a contract.
• Provide medical records demonstrating reproductive health or the necessity for surrogacy.
• Successfully pass criminal background checks and financial assessments.

Meeting these thoughtful criteria ensures that legal parentage can be established smoothly and that your journey proceeds without unexpected obstacles, bringing you peace of mind.

What Are the Qualifications to Become a Surrogate?

A compassionate surrogate candidate is typically required to:

• Be aged 21–40 with at least one prior uncomplicated pregnancy.
• Maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI) within recommended ranges.
• Pass comprehensive medical, psychological, and infectious-disease screenings.

These carefully considered standards protect the surrogate’s well-being and significantly increase the likelihood of a healthy, successful pregnancy and birth, ensuring joy for all.

How Do You Choose Your Ideal Surrogacy Agency?

Selecting your agency involves thoughtfully comparing core attributes such as:

• Proven expertise in compassionate matching and seamless legal coordination.
• Transparent fee structures and flexible financing options.
• Dedicated support teams for emotional well-being and medical guidance.

Prioritizing agencies with a track record of high success rates and truly personalized matching processes ensures a deeply supportive and fulfilling experience for both intended parents and surrogates.

The Heart of Your Journey: Surrogate Matching and Legal Agreements

Matching and legal agreements lovingly establish the emotional bond and robust contractual framework that underpins a secure and harmonious surrogacy relationship. Clear, comprehensive contracts protect all parties and beautifully define expectations, fostering trust and clarity.

How Is the Surrogate Matching Process Thoughtfully Conducted?

Surrogate matching thoughtfully blends essential medical criteria—such as age, health history, and lifestyle—with deeply personal preferences like shared values and communication style. Our agencies conduct in-depth interviews and profile reviews to foster genuine trust and profound compatibility between intended parents and their gestational carriers.

By aligning both emotional and practical factors with such care, our matching process cultivates a truly supportive and enduring partnership throughout your entire journey.

What Are the Essential Elements of a Surrogacy Legal Agreement?

A comprehensive surrogacy contract typically includes:

• Clearly defined parental and surrogate responsibilities.
• Transparent compensation and reimbursement outlines.
• Thoughtful health-care decision-making protocols.
• Confidentiality and clear dispute resolution clauses.

Legal and Ethical Foundations in Surrogacy

Legal agreements are absolutely crucial in surrogacy to clearly define the rights and responsibilities of all parties involved. These agreements thoughtfully cover parental rights, compensation, healthcare decisions, and dispute resolution, ensuring a clear and protective framework for your entire surrogacy journey [2].

National Conference of State Legislatures, Surrogacy Laws (2024)

This trusted source beautifully highlights the profound importance of legal frameworks in surrogacy, which perfectly supports our discussion of robust legal agreements and your peace of mind.

How Do Pre-Birth Orders Establish Legal Parentage with Ease?

A pre-birth order is a court decree that lovingly names intended parents as legal guardians even before delivery. Obtaining this vital order involves submitting your surrogacy agreement and necessary medical documents to a family court, ensuring a seamless transition.

Securing parentage in advance beautifully simplifies hospital procedures at birth and gracefully prevents any post-delivery legal complexities, allowing you to focus solely on your new baby.

The Medical Pathway: Procedures Involved in Your Surrogacy Journey

Medical procedures in surrogacy lovingly center on creating and implanting healthy embryos, followed by diligent pregnancy monitoring. Each precise step is thoughtfully designed to optimize safety, comfort, and the highest likelihood of success.

What Medical Screenings Are Required for Surrogates and Intended Parents?

Both surrogates and intended parents undergo:

• Detailed physical exams and comprehensive reproductive health assessments.
• Thorough infectious disease testing for HIV, hepatitis, and STIs.
• Compassionate psychological evaluations to ensure emotional readiness.

This thorough screening process lovingly protects all participants and maximizes the potential for a successful, healthy pregnancy, bringing joy to everyone involved.

How Does the IVF Process Work in Surrogacy?

In vitro fertilization (IVF) involves a series of precise, hopeful steps:

1. Ovarian Stimulation – Gentle fertility medications encourage multiple egg maturation.
2. Egg Retrieval – A minimally invasive procedure carefully collects mature eggs.
3. Fertilization – Eggs are lovingly combined with sperm in a state-of-the-art laboratory to create embryos.

This advanced medical process generates viable embryos that can be gently transferred to the surrogate’s uterus under carefully controlled conditions, bringing your dream closer to reality.

What Happens During the Embryo Transfer Procedure?

Embryo transfer is a brief, hopeful clinic visit during which one or more precious embryos are gently placed into the surrogate’s uterus using an ultrasound-guided catheter. Patients rest comfortably afterward, then diligently follow medication protocols to support successful implantation.

This precise and delicate procedure is absolutely critical for initiating pregnancy and is performed by our highly experienced and compassionate reproductive specialists, ensuring the best possible start.

How Is Early Pregnancy Monitored in Surrogacy?

After transfer, our dedicated medical teams diligently monitor hCG hormone levels with blood tests and joyfully confirm pregnancy via early ultrasound. Regular, reassuring check-ups in the first trimester meticulously track fetal development and maternal health, ensuring any concerns are addressed promptly and with the utmost care.

The Heart of the Journey: Pregnancy, Birth, and Post-Birth Support

Once pregnancy is beautifully established, our coordinated prenatal care and clear delivery plans ensure a smooth, joyful transition to parenthood and a nurturing postpartum recovery for everyone involved.

How Is the Surrogate Pregnancy Monitored and Supported?

Prenatal care for a surrogate mirrors standard obstetric protocols, enhanced with additional emotional and logistical support tailored just for her. Our surrogacy agency lovingly facilitates:

• Frequent, reassuring prenatal visits with maternal-fetal specialists.
• Compassionate counseling sessions to address emotional well-being.
• Open, consistent communication channels between the surrogate and intended parents.

This consistent, nurturing support sustains both the surrogate’s health and the mutual trust throughout the entire pregnancy, fostering a beautiful bond.

What Are the Birth Procedures and Legal Steps at Delivery?

At the joyous moment of delivery, hospital staff diligently verify the pre-birth order and carry out standard obstetric and neonatal care with utmost compassion. The intended parents are lovingly present at the birth, and legal parentage is confirmed immediately through hospital birth certificates, ensuring a seamless welcome for your baby.

These coordinated steps ensure your precious baby enters the world under clear, loving guardianship, allowing you to embrace parenthood without worry.

What Post-Birth Support Is Available for Surrogates and Intended Parents?

Our comprehensive postpartum support includes:

• Essential medical check-ups for the surrogate’s physical recovery.
• Compassionate emotional counseling to navigate post-delivery transitions.
• Heartfelt relationship follow-up meetings to share the beautiful birth experience.

This ongoing care lovingly honors the profound contributions of the surrogate and fosters a lasting, cherished bond with your new family, celebrating this incredible journey.

Understanding Your Investment: Costs and Financial Considerations in Surrogacy

Surrogacy involves a transparent and meaningful investment in our dedicated agency services, precise medical procedures, and essential legal protections. Understanding each cost component empowers intended parents to budget effectively and confidently embark on their journey.

How Much Does Surrogacy Typically Cost in 2025?

The journey of surrogacy in the United States generally represents an investment ranging from $120,000 to $180,000 in 2025. This investment beautifully reflects our comprehensive agency coordination, the highest level of medical expertise, and the compassionate care provided to your surrogate.

What Are the Main Components of Surrogacy Costs?

Key cost elements include:

Cost Component	Role in Your Journey	Estimated Range
Agency Fees	Expert coordination, thoughtful matching, unwavering support	$25,000–$35,000
Surrogate Compensation	Base pay, maternity benefits, and appreciation for her gift	$50,000–$60,000
Medical Expenses	IVF, diligent monitoring, and compassionate delivery care	$30,000–$50,000
Legal Fees	Contract drafting, pre-birth orders, and peace of mind	$10,000–$15,000

These figures serve as a helpful guide for your financial planning, empowering intended parents to confidently secure appropriate funding for their dream of family.

What Financing Options Are Available for Intended Parents?

Intended parents can access a variety of supportive financing options:

• Structured, flexible payment plans thoughtfully offered through agencies.
• Specialized medical financing loans tailored specifically to fertility treatments.
• Grants and scholarships from compassionate infertility foundations.

Our flexible financing solutions are designed to make the surrogacy journey more accessible and reduce any up-front financial pressure, allowing you to focus on what truly matters.

Embracing Every Family: Surrogacy for International and LGBTQ+ Families

Modern surrogacy lovingly meets the unique needs of families across borders and orientations by providing specialized legal, logistical, and emotional support, thoughtfully adapted to each individual context.

What Are the Legal Considerations for International Surrogacy?

International surrogacy requires navigating with expert guidance:

• Country-specific parentage laws and citizenship requirements.
• Seamless cross-border travel and immigration procedures for your newborn.
• Comprehensive multilingual contracts and essential consular approvals.

Our expert legal guidance ensures seamless compliance with both your home and host country regulations, providing complete peace of mind.

How Is Surrogacy Tailored for LGBTQ+ Family Building?

LGBTQ+ couples benefit from our deeply inclusive approach, which includes:

• Inclusive matching that thoughtfully aligns gestational carriers with diverse family values.
• Strategic legal approaches securing two-parent recognition in all relevant jurisdictions.
• Supportive community networks that address unique emotional and social considerations.

Customizing our surrogacy services proudly affirms every family’s inherent right to parenthood, celebrating love in all its forms.

What Specialized Support Services Are Offered for International and LGBTQ+ Clients?

Our specialized support includes:

1. Expert legal consultation on multi-jurisdictional parentage.
2. Comprehensive cultural and language interpretation services.
3. Referrals to supportive community resources for post-birth integration.

These tailored services ensure a smooth, affirming, and truly joyful experience from the very start to the beautiful finish of your journey.

Surrogacy in 2025 offers a beautifully structured, deeply supportive path to parenthood through clear phases, rigorous protocols, and compassionate, personalized care. By understanding each step—from your initial research through comprehensive post-birth support—intended parents and surrogates can embark on this life-changing journey with unwavering confidence and joy. For personalized guidance and expert coordination, we invite you to reach out to a dedicated surrogacy advisor and partner in parenthood at BabyTree Surrogacy. Your dream family awaits.