Intended Parent FAQ

Giving Tree Surrogacy offers intended parents a fully-supported journey with benefits including: • Pre-screened surrogates with minimal wait time and low risk of match breaks. Our low or no retainer fee makes starting your journey easier and more affordable.Proven success: 95% of surrogates are pre-approved by IVF clinics, 90% medically cleared, and 99% of match meetings result in a successful connection. • Multilingual support is available in English, Spanish, and Mandarin.

The key difference lies in genetics. In Gestational Surrogacy, the gestational carrier (surrogate) has no biological connection to the baby. An embryo—created through In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) using the intended parents’ or donors’ egg and sperm—is transferred to the surrogate’s uterus. She carries the pregnancy but is not genetically related to the child. This is the most common and widely accepted form of surrogacy in the U.S. In contrast, traditional surrogacy involves the surrogate using her own egg, making her both the genetic and the birth mother. This method typically uses artificial insemination, not IVF. Because of the genetic link, traditional surrogacy raises more complex legal and emotional challenges and is much less common today. For clarity, legal protection, and emotional peace of mind, gestational surrogacy is considered the safer and more secure path—both for intended parents and surrogates.

Typically, intended parents should expect the journey to take 18 months or more from the time they sign the Retainer Agreement to the birth of their child. The length of the process varies depending on several factors, such as the success of in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments, the matching process, legal requirements, and more.

All prospective Intended Parents start by filling out an application (https://www.givingtreesurrogacy.com/parents/become-a-parent)and scheduling a consultation with our Client Relations Manager. During this consultation, you can share your story and better understand the surrogacy roadmap, review our programs and options, and also get answers to any questions regarding the Intended Parents’ journey to parenthood.

Absolutely! At Giving Tree, we consider it an honor and a privilege to help Intended parents from a variety of backgrounds – regardless of marital status, sexual orientation, gender, age, or nationality – to achieve their dreams of starting a family.

A variety of factors such as the health and viability of your embryos, the medical history of your surrogate, and the clinic can all influence surrogacy success rates. In some cases, the clinic will also perform multiple embryo transfers until a healthy pregnancy is achieved. At Giving Tree, our experienced teams and the clinics we work with will analyze, guide, and help you along the way to provide you the best chances of achieving your dream.

Our H.E.A.R.T. Matching Approach At Giving Tree, our H.E.A.R.T. Surrogacy Process is designed to blend compassion with efficiency, ensuring every journey is thoughtful, personalized, and successful. Holistic Understanding: We take time to know the stories, needs, and aspirations of both Intended Parents and Surrogates, creating meaningful and lasting matches. Expedited Matching: With the fastest matching times in the industry, you gain immediate access to surrogates who fit your unique criteria. Aligned Values: We carefully match based on personality, communication styles, and shared views on important decisions, fostering harmony throughout the journey. Rigorous Selection: Surrogates’ medical records are reviewed and pre-approved with IVF clinics before matching, minimizing risks and maximizing success rates. Trust Building: By encouraging openness and connection, we strengthen the bond between Intended Parents and Surrogates, ensuring trust that lasts beyond the surrogacy journey. Together, these elements form the HEART of our approach—giving you confidence, clarity, and the best chance to achieve your dream of parenthood.

Relationships between intended parents and surrogates is the core belief at Giving Tree. We encourage maintaining meaningful communication with your surrogate throughout the pregnancy and beyond the birth via phone, text, virtual meetings, or – if possible – in-person meetings. Surrogacy is an emotional journey, and nothing trumps the precious friendship formed with your surrogate throughout this experience.

Most surrogates will deliver the baby at a hospital located near their home. This is not only convenient for them, but most surrogates already have an existing relationship with their obstetrician and gynecologist from the births of their own children. In other cases, the hospital location may be decided by the insurance company and their network of approved providers and hospitals. Whether an Intended Parent can participate in the labor process will depend on the hospital policy and the comfort level of the surrogate.

The number of visits for international intended parents depends on their preferences. The most important and mandatory visit is for the birth of your child(ren). Prior to that, some intended parents choose to accompany their surrogate to the embryo transfer or the 20-week ultrasound scan, but these visits are not mandatory. Giving Tree Surrogacy will coordinate these appointments and keep you updated on any progress.

We recommend staying at least 2–4 weeks after delivery to allow enough time for any medical and legal work to be completed. This will also allow time for the issuance of your baby’s birth certificate, social security number, passport, and other travel documents necessary for you to travel home.

We recruit only healthy, dedicated women who are already mothers and capable of carrying a healthy pregnancy. All potential surrogates undergo thorough pre-screening, including: in-depth interviews, criminal background checks, psychological assessments, medical records review by IVF professionals, insurance verification, OBGYN clearance, virtual home evaluations, and drug testing. This rigorous process confirms that they are emotionally, medically, and legally prepared, giving you confidence and peace of mind throughout your surrogacy journey. Learn more about surrogate requirements h(https://www.givingtreesurrogacy.com/surrogates/surrogate-requirements)ere.(https://www.givingtreesurrogacy.com/surrogates/surrogate-requirements)

While there is really no difference in success rates between using a first-time egg donor and a proven egg donor, a proven donor is someone who has gone through the entire egg donation process and the cycle has resulted in a viable pregnancy. Proven egg donors will generally receive higher compensation for their “proven” status. Using a proven donor over a first-time donor will not necessarily guarantee success, but it does offer some additional reassurance.

At Giving Tree Surrogacy, selecting an e(https://www.givingtreesurrogacy.com/parents/egg-donor-program/egg-donor-process-overview)gg donor (https://www.givingtreesurrogacy.com/parents/egg-donor-program/egg-donor-process-overview)begins with choosing the approach that best fits your journey. Our E(https://www.givingtreesurrogacy.com/parents/egg-donor-program)gg Donation Program (https://www.givingtreesurrogacy.com/parents/egg-donor-program)offers • Fresh Egg Donation, where eggs are retrieved after ovarian stimulation and used immediately, providing a potentially higher number of eggs for fertilization. • Frozen Egg Donation, where eggs are retrieved, vitrified, and stored for later use, offering immediate availability and more predictable outcomes. Once you review donor profiles within your chosen option, our team will guide you in making a confident match.

Choosing an egg donor is likely one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make. One way to approach the search is understanding that there may not be that “perfect” match, but there will be the “right” match for your family. The important factors when choosing your egg donor include age, availability, medical history, personality, location, and most important physical characteristics (such as eye, hair and skin color as well as blood type) that match yours and your family’s.

Giving Tree Surrogacy is committed to providing the most optimal conditions for Intended Parents looking to grow their families through egg donation. All of our egg donors must meet criteria that include age, weight, family history, lifestyle, education and schedule flexibility requirements. In screening our egg donors, we follow very strict guidelines set forth by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM). All of our donors are personally interviewed and counseled prior to including them in our database of egg donors, and we do everything in our power to ensure each donor fully understands the commitment required. Read more about our requirements for our egg donors here(https://www.givingtreesurrogacy.com/donors/donor-requirements)

As long as both the egg donor and the Intended Parents are comfortable with the arrangement, you can elect to have as little or as much contact as you like.

Yes. For the protection of both the intended parents and the surrogates/egg donors, legal contacts are required for a successful journey. Our legal team will draft an agreement and contract covering medical procedures, reimbursements, and relationship with the child/children once you are matched with your gestational surrogate and/or egg donor.

Once you have joined the Giving Tree family, our legal team will act as your counsel for all legal matters relating to your surrogacy in the United States. In all cases, you must have wills finalized before the embryo transfer to ensure guardian care for your child in the unfortunate event of your death. Legal work may also include – but is not limited to – a judgment of paternity, a pre-birth order, a voluntary acknowledgement of paternity, a custody order, or an adoption. Our legal team will represent you in any negotiations to finalize your parental rights.

In many surrogacy-friendly states pre-birth order will be put in place that will allow the hospital to enter the intended parent’s names on the birth certificate. In some instances, there will be additional legal work which will require the intended parents’ names to be added on the birth certificate after the birth of the child/ children. Some States will also require same sex couples to submit a second parent adoption application so both parents' names will be listed on the birth certificate. Our legal team will advise you on the proper paperwork necessary.

If you undergo gestational surrogacy, our legal team will constitute the pre-birth order, which establishes your parental rights and the surrogate’s relinquishment of the baby/ babies, ensuring your surrogate will not have any parental rights to the baby. In the rare case where a surrogate has strongly bonded with your child during pregnancy, an agency counseling and support services can be provided to help both parties overcome any anxiety during the journey.