Here are the more common questions that future parents have before start the process:
A: Depending on the circumstances but the minimum time frame will be 14 months from the moment you decide to start your surrogacy process until your gestational carrier delivers your baby.
A: US citizens/residents women, who live in California. They are married/single/ divorce reliable women between the ages of 20-42 years old, with a good physical and mental health, who have proven live birth capability, who have the motivation and desire to help future parents that seeks surrogacy as the only way to achieve parenthood.
A: Our agency doesn’t work traditional surrogacy, which will be the case when a women donate her eggs and carries the child. The reason we choose not to work with traditional surrogacy is because of the legal complications this may carry. The eggs would have to come from the future mother or an anonymous/known egg donor.
A: Yes, you may. However, you must communicate this desire to your egg donor case coordinator before start the search.
A: Yes, you can meet your surrogate mother at anytime after you have decided to work with her.
A: Surrogate Mothers must pass an intensive psychological test, which determines if they are mentally capable to go through the process or not. Also, they are bind by an agreement, which they don’t want to breach or at least they don’t enter into a surrogacy process thinking in breaching the contract.
A: As of October 2017, GRACE is not taking any parents willing to transfer more than 2 embryos. Multiple pregnancies are very risky pregnancies. One of GRACE goals is to help the intended parents and surrogates to have the best experience; therefore GRACE is focusing on singleton pregnancies.
A: It depends on the medical problem(s) but could end up in abortion. That decision will be between you and the surrogate mother, decision must be agreed from the start.
A: At the beginning of your cycle it is hard to tell how far your relationship with your surrogate mother is going to grow. Therefore, we advice you to keep it professional from the beginning, remember we are here to help you.
A: This will be totally up to you and her. All depends on what type of relationship you build during the pregnancy. Sometimes communication is frequent other times parents want to move on with their lives and there is not communication at all.
A: There will be a minimum of two trips; first for your medical screening (if you are donating your genetics) and second for the birth of your child. If you are working with egg donor and sperm donor, only one trip is necessary, which is for the birth of your child.
A: Yes, will do, per your request.
A: Our agency works with Attorneys that are specialized on the subject of reproduction-assisted law that is part of the coordination of your process. One Attorney will be drafting, representing you in the contract as well as the parentage order. A different Attorney will be representing the surrogate mother. However, if you have one in particular you would like to work with, please let us know. It is very important that the Attorney is specialized on this area of the law and not other.
A: 1st payment: once you have chose your egg donor a payment will be made to the clinic as well as the first payment to GRACE LLC.
2nd payment: once your surrogate is medically cleared
3rd payment: when the contract is signed
4th payment: at the 12th week of pregnancy
5th payment: at the 20th week of pregnancy
A: Bank wire transfer, credit/debit card, Western Union, MoneyGram. Please note that United States customs allows you to enter to the United States up to 9,999.00 USD without paying any fees each time you travel. You must declare the amount you enter in cash or travel checks but if it is less than 10,000.00 USD you do not have to pay any fees. Also, we recommend opening a bank account in the States under your name, that way you can transfer all the funds at once from your account overseas to your account in the States. The only information you need to open a bank account is your passport.
A: Yes, your case coordinator or agency representative will be with you and your surrogate at the hospital. We will make sure you can enjoy every minute of this life changing experience. We will take care of all the administrative and financial aspects for you.
A: Yes, we will. We make sure you have everything you need to get back home with all required documents in a timely manner.
A: If your child is born healthy, you must stay a minimum of 2 weeks.