The requirements helped me feel safe and supported throughout the whole process. I knew I was healthy and in the right frame of mind to make the commitment.
Surrogacy is a modern and growing means of bringing new life into the world, where a woman carries a baby for another person or a couple. The intended parents undergo in vitro fertilization (IVF), meaning fertilization outside of the body, to transfer an embryo into the surrogate mother’s uterus. In our work at ConceiveAbilities, surrogates are not genetically or legally related to the baby and are compensated for their time and service by the intended parents. In 2018, more than 10,000 births took place by surrogate in the United States, and the market is steadily growing at 15% per year based on data from the Centers for Disease Control. And, in the past ten years, the percentage of all IVF transfers that took place with a gestational carrier grew from just over 1% to 4.8%.
In order to ensure that surrogacy can be a healthy and successful experience for you, the basic requirements include your age, your experience with prior deliveries, and your medical history.
These surrogacy qualifications are a first step. Once we get to know each other a bit, our relationship will build. Together, our next steps include
Virtual interviews
A thorough review of your medical records
Ensuring you have up-to-date assessments of both your physical and emotional health
An in-depth background review of you and those with whom you share your home
At each step, we'll explain "the why," making sure the journey is a healthy and safe one for you. And, with each step, we're bringing you closer to your goal of helping someone else build their family. Because, after all, family is everything.
I felt heard, supported and like I had everything I needed from the first phone call on.
Perhaps the most important requirement is your motivation for pursuing surrogacy. Surrogacy creates an exciting purpose as you can help others build their family, and get well-paid for doing so. At the same time, surrogacy is a serious responsibility. By agreeing to become a surrogate mother, you are offering to give your time, your energy, and your own body to help someone else build their family. Of course, there is the financial compensation, which averages out to approximately the average annual income for a household in the United States (and experience does earn a surrogate mother higher financial compensation). Many past surrogates, however, have found that the greatest reward they experience is the sense of pride – bordering on awe – at the service which they have been able to provide.
Without a doubt, a surrogate mother must have compassion and commitment – in ample quantities. Further, since ConceiveAbilities has been working with reproductive endocrinologists, obstetricians, IVF clinics, intended parents, egg donors and surrogates for almost 25 years and across every major market in the United States, we have developed exhaustive specifications for high quality, reliable outcomes. If you’re ready to take that first exciting leap towards becoming a surrogate mother, we are here to guide you through every step of your journey. Take the first step and apply now.
At ConceiveAbilities, our surrogates are at least 21 years old and generally no older than 40 at the time that their surrogacy journey begins. Age is a requirement based on the growing data set about the impact of age on a successful and healthy surrogacy journey. To offer the best chances for the delivery of a healthy baby boy or girl, without any complications, a surrogate must be within her primary childbearing years and also have positive prior experience with childbirth.
We choose prospective surrogate mothers who have already exhibited the emotional qualities that we feel offer the best chance of providing a safe, stable, and healthy environment for themselves and the baby they will carry, over the course of the surrogacy. We look for individuals with a demonstrable history of responsible and upstanding behavior. We offer support networks and resources which can help our surrogates accommodate a busy modern lifestyle with their responsibilities as a surrogate. Finally, we work in partnership with you to reduce other risk factors for stress and complications, at every stage of the process, as much as possible.
No. A surrogate must demonstrate financial stability in order to qualify for the surrogacy program, however, receiving government assistance is not on its own a disqualifying factor.
No. We require that a surrogate must have given birth to at least one child. Part of our qualifying process involves the review of your prenatal and delivery records to ensure you have a history of healthy, uncomplicated pregnancies and deliveries.
An uncomplicated or healthy pregnancy is one that results in a full-term birth without complications like preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, bed rest, blood transfusion or other issues that could pose health risks to the surrogate and/or unborn child.
Yes, you can apply and, assuming you meet the basic requirements, we will work through the entire qualification process with you. That said, we will not be able to match you with intended parents until you have completely weaned and have had at least one menstrual cycle.
Yes, you can apply and, assuming you meet the basic requirements, we will work through the entire qualification process with you. That said, we will not be able to match you with intended parents until you have had your IUD removed (at your own cost) and have had at least one menstrual cycle.
More questions about surrogate mother requirements and how to become a surrogate mother? Our compassionate professionals are ready to help and listen as you begin your journey to become a surrogate.
If you’re thinking of becoming a gestational carrier, you’re already a special human! To consider helping an individual or couple build their family through surrogacy is both compassionate and generous. Even if you’re being paid to be a surrogate you're taking on not just a physical commitment, but one that will involve a significant part of your life, all to assist someone in finally realizing their dream of parenthood.
Angel is now into the third trimester of her surrogate pregnancy with a baby girl. Throughout the process her husband Travis has been one of her biggest supporters, and he's sharing his perspective on the surrogacy process – plus his answers to the many questions people have for the "surrogate dad."