The document provides guidance on important questions to ask a surrogacy agency when choosing one. Both intended parents and surrogates must meet certain medical, psychological and financial requirements. Agencies should provide screening, matching, medical coordination and ongoing support services. Costs vary but agencies should be transparent about fees. A good agency provides financial education and emotional support through the entire process for both surrogates and parents.

1. TOP QUESTIONS
TO ASK WHEN
CHOOSING A
SURROGACY
AGENCY
Idaho Surrogacy Center

2. Table Of Contents
01 What are the requirements?
01 What services are being provided?
02 What are the costs and compensations?
02 What kind of support do you have in place?
03 Why should I work with your agency?

3. www.idahosurrogacy.org
What Are The
Requirements?
Both gestational carriers and intended
parents must complete psychological
evaluations to qualify. The gestational carrier
will have additional medical quali cations
such as BMI, age, and medical history
requirements depending on the clinic being
used. The intended parents will need to meet
certain nancial guidelines such as funding an
escrow account to ensure their ability to fund
the process. For more information, feel free to
email us at info@idahosurrogacy.org
What Services Are
Being Provided?
Different agencies may provide different
services depending on their capacity. A good
agency should be able to provide the
following services at a minimum:
Screening services
Matching services
Medical record requests
Coordination of the various service
providers such as lawyers, clinics, and
mental health professionals
Ongoing support services for
gestational carriers
Whether you are considering being a
surrogate or an intended parent, it's a good
idea to get clari cation on exactly what
services the agency provides. The more of a
"one-stop-shop" the agency is, the more their
fee may be, however.
It may be worth asking if the agency provides
services before and after the surrogacy
process as well.
It's always a good idea to ask how the agency
protects both the parents and the surrogates
throughout the process. For example, our
agency doesn't ask for a retainer fee until
medical clearance is given by the clinic. Most
agencies require the retainer upfront before
any screenings are performed. This reduces the
nancial risk to the parents. For more
information about what services we provide,
please visit us on the Web at
www.idahosurrogacy.org
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4. www.idahosurrogacy.org
What Are The Costs
And Compensations?
What Kind Of Support
Do You Have In Place?
Ask the agency to go into detail about how
nances are handled. This will likely help
answer a lot of surrogacy interview questions
you have.
For intended parents: Have them explain
exactly where your money is going. Even if they
can’t give you an exact dollar amount (there are
a lot of cost variables that can change in
surrogacy) they should be able to outline
everything in detail based on previous
surrogacies so there are no surprises.
For surrogates: Make sure an agency explains
its compensation structure, including how and
when you would be paid. The specialists should
be able to outline the process for the
reimbursement of surrogacy-related expenses,
as well as talk to you about the escrow
accounts work.
The more transparent and honest an agency is
with you about nances, the better. Remember:
They probably won’t be able to give you too
many exact quotes, because there will be
unknowns in the early stages of every
surrogacy.
Some agencies will list most, if not all, of their
fee structure on their website. For example,
ours can be seen at the following URL:
www.idahosurrogacy.org/services-fees/
A good agency will walk through the process
and provide education as well as emotional and
technical support to both the surrogate and the
intended parents. For surrogates, this usually
happens in the form of regular phone calls and
emails, as well as monthly or quarterly support
group meetings with all the current surrogates
participating. It's not uncommon for a private
Facebook group to be used for group
communication as well. This reminds the
carriers that they are not alone, and allows
them to share their struggles, tips, and
successes with each other. For parents, regular
communication via phone and email is
common.
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5. www.idahosurrogacy.org
Why Should I Work With Your Agency?
Ultimately, it comes down to whether or not
you and the agency are a good fit for one
another. After an agency has (or hasn’t) met
all the standard criteria, you’ll need to factor
in your own philosophies, needs and goals
for the surrogacy process — and decide
whether or not this agency fits in with that.
The agency will likely need to make the same
decision about you, because, like your
relationship with a surrogate or intended
parent, this is a very personal journey
together.
An agency should emphasize the aspects
about its program that are the most
meaningful to its team. Remember that you
can always call with follow-up questions
after your initial discussion, too.
If you’d like to speak with our agency and
begin asking some of these questions, you
can call us at (208) 546-9405 or email us
at info@idahosurrogacy.org
We look forward to hearing from you!
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6. THANK YOU!