Your path to surrogacy is a beautiful journey full of ups and downs and joy. For both intended parents and prospective surrogates, the choice to go through the California surrogacy process is a wonderful decision that will have an incredible impact.
To get more information about the surrogacy process in California, get connected with a surrogacy specialist today.
Before you begin the process, you deserve to feel confident about the journey ahead. Our guide to surrogacy can offer you guidance on what to expect and our surrogacy specialists are ready to assist you along the way.
Get Started with American Surrogacy
Surrogate: This is a huge gift you are offering a family when you choose to become a surrogate. Since surrogacy is a physical and emotional process, it’s important to have people who support you. As you prepare for the surrogacy steps in California, you can rely on American Surrogacy to guide you in every part of the process.
Intended Parents: Deciding to use a surrogate to help grow your family is a life-changing journey. Our specialists at American Surrogacy are ready to walk you through California’s surrogacy process and assist you with whatever you may need along the way.
Complete the Screening Process
Surrogate: The screening process will evaluate your health and lifestyle. Surrogates must meet certain requirements. These are to ensure you are in the basic health needed to carry out a healthy pregnancy. In addition to a medical evaluation, you will also go through an in-home assessment, mental health evaluation and background check.
Intended Parents: There will be a screening process for the intended parents, which includes background checks for all the adults living in the house. This portion of the California surrogacy process will help to prepare everyone for the preparation of welcoming a new baby into their home.
Find a Match
Surrogate: This is an exciting part of the California surrogacy process. You get to decide what type of parents you want to work with, and your surrogacy specialist will help to find intended parents that match your criteria. The preference sheet and the profile you create will assist your specialist in finding the right match for you.
Intended Parents: You will work with your surrogacy specialist to outline your goals and preferences to create a match between you and a prospective surrogate. Create a profile that includes photographs and information to help a potential surrogate get to know you. Once you’ve identified a surrogate you want to match with, your specialist will coordinate a meeting or phone call to get to know each other better.
Begin the Legal Process
Surrogate: Your attorney will go over the contract with you and make sure it meets your requests. This contract will go over all aspects from compensation to possible risks. Once it is signed, you may move forward with the surrogacy process, and begin receiving the agreed-upon monthly allowance.
Intended Parents: Your attorney will meet with you to go over your rights, potential risks and compensation. After the contract is signed, you will be able to move on to the next process in your surrogacy journey.
Complete the Embryo Transfer
Surrogate: It’s likely you will be prescribed fertility medications prior to transfer. The medical process for transfer and implantation is relatively quick and painless and doesn’t require medication or anesthesia. After the process, you will likely stay in the clinic for a few hours and then you need to rest for a few days afterward. A few weeks later you will return to the clinic for a pregnancy test to confirm the pregnancy.
Intended Parents: You will decide if you are going to use your own egg and/or sperm or if you’re going to use a donor’s egg and/or sperm. The egg will be harvested, fertilized using sperm from the intended father or donor, and then incubated and assessed for development. Then the embryo will be transferred to the surrogate mother.
Birth & Bringing Home Baby
Surrogate: Spend pregnancy taking care of yourself, attending doctor’s appointments, and mentally preparing for the gift you are giving this family. After the birth, you will have a hospital stay to recuperate and ensure you are healthy. Then you will be discharged with the satisfaction of knowing you helped give someone the gift of family and parenthood.
Intended Parents: Sometimes intended parents get to be in the delivery room for the birth of their child. This is an exciting time as you are nearing the end of the surrogacy process. After everyone is determined to be healthy and discharged from the hospital, you can return home with your new bundle of joy.
Get Started Today
Starting out, it’s crucial to connect with a surrogacy agency. American Surrogacy has helped create over 13,000 families in over 40 years. Our surrogacy specialists are available to help you with every step of the way. If you think you are ready to start the process of surrogacy in California, potential surrogates and intended families can fill out our quick online form today.