How to Start the Surrogacy Process: A 3-Step Roadmap

The path to parenthood is different for everyone. One family may already have embryos ready for transfer. Another may know they need an egg donor but have no idea whether fresh or frozen eggs make more sense. Someone else may still be comparing fertility clinics after months of research. The destination may be the same, but the path to get there can be completely different.

For intended parents who are ready to begin the process, the first step can be the hardest. They may know that they need a clinic, an egg donor (or frozen eggs), and a surrogate, but are unsure of which comes first, or even how to go about finding the right fit. Proceeding without a clearly defined plan can result in wasting precious time, money, and emotional bandwidth.

That is the gap many families do not see at first: the space between deciding they want to build a family through egg donation and surrogacy and actually being ready to begin. That's the specific knowledge gap the 3-Step Family Forward Concierge™ is designed around how to start the surrogacy process: a 3-step roadmap, replacing scattered research with a roadmap built by a team that has already walked many families through these same decisions.

Step One: The Family-Building Blueprint

The first phase centers on something surprisingly rare in this industry: a personalized plan built before a family commits money to a specific path.

It includes in-depth meetings and strategy sessions covering medical history and family-building goals, so a team can walk through IVF clinic recommendations, fresh-versus-frozen donor options, realistic timelines, and a budget overview from the start of the journey through live birth.

The output of Step One is a clinic recommendation with reasoning behind it, a donor strategy, and a step-by-step roadmap toward embryo creation — not a single prescribed path, but a clear enough picture that a family can make an informed decision before, not after, money has been spent..

Step Two: The Embryo Creation Concierge

When the time comes for intended parents to find an egg donor, the second phase goes further than simply handing over a login and a search bar.

Many people assume there's one large, comprehensive database somewhere, and their donor is simply sitting inside it. In reality, the criteria that matter most to a specific family — genetic background, physical characteristics, personal values — are often narrow enough that the right match isn't guaranteed to exist in any single platform, no matter how large.

This phase includes full-service donor sourcing (a process that can take up to six months), donor cycle coordination, and IVF clinic strategy — whether the donor comes from Giving Tree's own database or elsewhere. It also carries forward two benefits into the surrogacy phase that follows: a locked-in fixed price and priority access to the surrogate pool, rather than starting that search from zero once embryos exist.

Every donor candidate presented to intended parents has already been through medical history review, genetic screening, and psychological evaluation.

The outcome of Step Two is a secured IVF clinic, a donor match, and embryos created and ready for a surrogate — which is where the 3-Step Family Forward Concierge™ actually connects to surrogacy itself.

Step Three: The Fixed Cost Surrogacy Program

Once embryos are ready, intended parents  move directly into Giving Tree's Fixed Cost Surrogacy Program: Family Forward Guarantee™ — for matching with a surrogate and full case coordination through birth. That transition happens with the same care team from previous steps, plus the priority matching access carried over from Step Two.

This is the step that connects the first two to an actual outcome. The planning and donor sourcing phases aren't a separate service that ends once embryos exist — they're the front half of one continuous journey, handled by a team that already knows the intended parent’s  goals, budget, and history by the time matching begins.

Why Staying With One Team, Start to Finish, Matters?

A family-building journey can stretch 24+ months. Re-explaining a full history — the losses, the goals, everything already discussed — to a new person at every stage feels a lot like getting transferred between customer service departments and having to start over each time.

In a structure like this one, continuity means something specific: the same team, across all three steps — planning, egg donor sourcing, and surrogacy matching and pregnancy support— rather than a handoff to someone new once embryos are created.

That continuity isn't only an emotional convenience. A team that was part of the early planning already understands the reasoning behind earlier decisions — why a particular clinic was chosen, what budget constraints shaped the plan, which timeline pressures are real versus flexible. That context doesn't need to be reconstructed from a file; it's already there, which tends to make the matching and coordination phase move more smoothly than starting cold with someone new.

Who This Kind of Program Is For

The honest answer is: almost anyone who feels overwhelmed at the very beginning. That includes families who have already spoken with a fertility clinic and hit a failed cycle, families who know they need an egg donor but have no idea where to start looking, and families simply trying to compare clinics and options without a clear framework for doing it.

The common thread isn't a specific circumstance — it's the sense of not knowing what the actual next step should be, and not wanting to guess with money that's hard to get back.

If this sounds like where you are: a planning consultation can map out whether the 3-Step Family Forward Concierge™ fits your situation, and what it would look like for your specific timeline and budget — b

efore you commit to anything.

Apply for a No-Cost  Planning Consultation ->

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 3-Step Family Forward Concierge™?

It's a structured program for intended parents who need both an egg donor and a surrogate: a personalized planning phase, egg donor sourcing and embryo creation, and a direct transition into a fixed-cost surrogacy program — all with the same team throughout.

What does a surrogacy journey with an egg donor actually look like?

It typically starts with a planning phase to map out clinic fit, timeline, and budget, followed by egg donor sourcing and embryo creation, and finally surrogate matching and case coordination through birth — ideally handled by one team across all three stages rather than separate providers.

Does the 3-Step Family Forward Concierge™ include the actual surrogacy journey, or just the planning?

Both. The first two steps build a plan and, if needed, source an egg donor and create embryos. Once embryos are ready, families move directly into the Fixed Cost Surrogacy Program for matching with a surrogate, with the same team continuing on and priority matching access.

Do I need an egg donor to start the surrogacy process?

If you require both an egg donor (to create your embryos) AND a gestational surrogate (to carry the baby), then the program that best fits your needs is the 3-Step Family Forward Concierge Program.  Not all intended parents  will need that though. Some intended parents already have embryos ready to go, while others need to find a donor first. The right starting point depends entirely on your specific situation, which is why a planning step upfront can be more useful than assuming a single standard path applies. There are other program options for those cases.

How long does egg donor sourcing usually take?

In a full-service model, sourcing can take up to six months, since it involves searching beyond a single database, vetting candidates directly, and coordinating between the donor, the fertility clinic, and the family.

Do the planning and donor-sourcing fees count toward the surrogacy program later?

In programs structured this way, yes — though the exact amount matters. For the 3-Step Family Forward Concierge™, $2,000 of the $2,500 planning fee and $10,000 of the $15,000 donor-sourcing fee are credited toward the surrogacy program, for a combined $12,000 in credits.

Why does having the same coordinator throughout the process matter?

Family building can take well over 24+ months. A coordinator who was part of the early planning already understands the reasoning behind earlier decisions, so nothing has to be re-explained or reconstructed once a family moves into matching and case coordination.