FAQS for intended parents

LGBTQIA+ intended parents choose Medipocket Surrogacy because we have been supporting gay intended parents for almost three decades. In fact, almost half of the intended parents partnering with Medipocket are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. We are experienced in the nuances of gay and trans surrogacy to help ensure you have as safe and successful journey as possible.

​Here are 5 reasons to choose Medipocket Surrogacy:

1. We’re a full service agency.

2. We encourage relationships between parents, surrogates and egg donors.

3. We practice a high-quality process for screening our surrogates and donors.

4. We offer an all-inclusive fixed cost program: The Journey Protection Guarantee Program.

5. Over 40% of our staff has personal experience with surrogacy, egg donation, IVF and adoption – including gay parents.

There are two types of surrogacy—gestational surrogacy and traditional surrogacy. In a typical gestational surrogacy arrangement, intended parents create embryos through in vitro fertilization. One or more of these embryos is implanted in a surrogate (sometimes known as a gestational carrier), who carries the child or children to term, but has no genetic relationship to them. Gestational surrogacies makeup the vast majority of modern surrogacy arrangements.

By contrast, traditional surrogates typically become pregnant through artificial insemination, and have a genetic connection to the child or children they carry for their intended parents. At Medipocket, we only provide gestational surrogacy services.

​The length of the process depends on several factors. For an accurate timeline on a surrogacy journey with Medipocket Surrogacy, it’s best to speak with our Parent Intake Team. You can email them at: [email protected].

Medipocket uses a comprehensive 3-step screening process for surrogate applicants to ensure that a surrogate is thoroughly screened prior to being matched with intended parents.

Some surrogates have had a personal experience with infertility and are eager to help a couple or individual to become parents. Others may feel that their family is complete but love being pregnant and feel that helping prospective parents is a greater calling. What unites all of them is the desire to help a family grow.

Because of a legal principle known as jus soli, children who are born in the United States are automatically entitled to for U.S. citizenship and U.S. passports, regardless of the citizenship of their intended parents. As a result, most intended parents who pursue surrogacy in the United States are able to return home with their children without first obtaining a passport from their native country. Nevertheless, some international intended parents may choose to or be required to obtain either passports or temporary visas for their children at a local consulate in the United States in order to return home after the birth. Intended parents should consult with immigration attorneys in their native countries for information about the best procedures for returning home with their children. We will assist you in getting the US passport through one of our partners, an expert in navigating the passport system.

If you live abroad, you may be required to come to the United States 2-3 times (for the creation of the embryos at the IVF Clinic and the eventual delivery of the child), but it is more common for international intended parents to visit about 4 times during the process.

The first preferred visit is to meet your surrogate, once you are matched, and complete the medical screening at the IVF clinic. The second is for the IVF procedure and embryo transfer. The third visit is for the 20-week ultrasound scan. And the final visit is for the birth of your child. Of course, if you and your surrogate choose, you can visit more frequently.

We have built relationships with several IVF clinics across the country. These relationships allow you to take advantage of special pricing packages we have negotiated. However, the decision of which fertility clinic to use is entirely the decision of the intended parents. Medipocket Surrogacy will work with any fertility clinic that the intended parents choose, as long as they will be able to coordinate with our agency. We encourage intended parents to evaluate several fertility clinics and choose the one that they feel meets their needs. When you are choosing a clinic, you should consider some of these things: your personality fit with the doctor and other medical staff, your comfort with their process, and the clarity of their financial information.

Most of our surrogates already have relationships with an obstetrician/gynecologist (OB/GYN) and many will deliver at the same hospital where they gave birth to their own children. All surrogates will deliver at a hospital near their home. The decision about where to deliver is typically made in conjunction with the OBGYN and the insurance company, which may have a network of approved providers and hospitals. Occasionally, our legal team will recommend that a delivery occur at a specific hospital.

Intended parents often wish to be a part of the labor and delivery process. Hospital policy and your surrogate’s comfort play a large role in determining who will be able to be present in the delivery room. Following the birth, the baby will either remain in the nursery or a room assigned to you. According to most hospital policies, the child cannot be released from the hospital until the surrogate has been released.

Openness, honesty and communication are core values at Medipocket Surrogacy. We encourage building meaningful relationships that will continue to exist throughout the life of the child. Intended Parents are encouraged to visit their surrogate in her home town at least once – and when possible, more often – to get to knew her family and where she’s from.

Yes. Depending on the state you are matched in, your marital status, and biological relationship to the child would determine if that would happen via a pre-birth order, a post-birth order, a pre-birth order with confirmatory post-birth order, or a pre-birth or post-birth order with a 2nd parent adoption. Our legal team can help you navigate the legal landscape in each state and the best way to match you and help you obtain a birth certificate with both your names listed.

Once we have accepted a surrogate applicant into our program, our matching and legal teams determine possible matching options based on a variety of factors, including: the state she lives in, whether she has insurance, and the matching preferences from both intended parents and surrogates.

Redacted profiles of the intended parents and surrogates (with no identifying information) will be exchanged. If both parties expresses interest, we coordinate an intro video call for both parties to meet.

An IVF physician medically screens surrogates after a match is made. If for any reason the surrogate doesn’t pass the medical screening (which is rare), Medipocket Surrogacy presents a new match free of charge.

Medipocket Surrogacy’s egg donors are open to and expect to have a phone call or video call with their intended parents. Most of our egg donors are also willing to meet their intended parents in person. You will learn about an egg donor’s willingness to meet you when you read her profile. These women are counseled on the importance of being open to talking with or meeting a child born from their donation in the future, should this be requested.

Choosing an egg donor is one of the most challenging choices intended parents will have to make in the egg donor surrogacy process. Often, they will have an idea about certain traits they are looking for (hair color or eye color, for instance). But intended parents more often base their decision an egg donor’s responses to our detailed questionnaire. You can request access to donor database to view these egg donor questionnaires. When you find a profile that you connect with, your journey coordinator can assist you in making a match with the egg donor.

There are many requirements, medical and psychological, for egg donor applicants. You can find out more about our egg donor requirements in the Donors section of this site. In general, egg donors need to be between 20-29 years old and in good physical and emotional health. They must have a family medical history free of significant genetic syndromes and abnormalities and mental health concerns.

Egg donors are typically young women in their twenties who are looking for a way to help others while also helping themselves financially. Many of these women know people who have struggled with infertility or know other people who have donated their eggs. Our egg donor team seeks strong egg donor applicants who want to help a family grow.