FAQs
Why is Conception Fertility different from other agencies?
Conception Fertility is led by an internationally renowned, board-certified fertility expert who has been delivering on the promise of family to intended parents worldwide for over twenty years. Her team of highly experienced and caring medical professionals provides an easy, comfortable, and empathic pathway to pregnancy. One of the few fertility clinics in the country to boast of our own in-house egg bank, Conception Fertility provides all the components needed to start a family and has some of the highest outcomes and fertility rates available to patients. With a seamless and efficient process guided by compassionate and loving staff, future parents and their surrogate and donor partners receive individualized journeys that lead to life-changing experiences.
What is a Gestational Surrogate?
A gestational surrogate (also known as a gestational carrier) is a woman who carries a baby for another couple. A surrogate may be needed by women who have been diagnosed with cancer or have medical contraindications to pregnancy. Gay couples will need a surrogate and donor eggs. Surrogates are sometimes friends or family members, but often, people work with a surrogacy agency such as ours.
How Does Egg Donation Work?
Egg donation may be required to create a healthy pregnancy. Egg donors are thoroughly screened and tested as the FDA and ASR recommended. Egg donors typically apply independently to donate eggs, and if they pass the screening, they are included in a database held by the organization with which they register. When a couple needs donor eggs to achieve pregnancy, they review the available donors and select a woman to provide eggs. When a woman is chosen to be a donor, she will take follicle-stimulating hormones to increase egg production for a successful harvest. Harvested eggs are then joined with sperm from either the male in a couple or from donor sperm. The blastocyst is then injected into the uterus of the woman who will be carrying the baby.
How to Find a Sperm Donor?
Sperm donor banks have FDA-tested sperm available. Single women, lesbian couples, or hetero couples with severe male factors impeding their fertility may use donor sperm. We can help you find a donor.
Can These Techniques Be Combined With Other Procedures?
Sometimes, donor sperm is used in conjunction with IUI or in-vitro procedures. Some lesbian couples may designate one partner as the egg donor and the other as the gestational surrogate, playing integral roles in creating a baby.
What is an intended parent?
Intended parents hope to have a child and start a family. They can be single men, single women who cannot carry a child themselves, same-sex couples who are unable to conceive without third-party support, or heterosexual couples who cannot conceive or carry on their own.
How long does it take for intended parents to have a baby through surrogacy?
The length of the process depends on several factors. We typically tell intended parents that they should plan on a year and a half from the time they sign on with our agency until they have a child, although it can be quicker or take longer, depending on the legal requirements and the course of the IVF treatment.
How long does it take to complete an ovum donation cycle once I’ve chosen an egg donor?
Once you’ve chosen an egg donor who’s been confirmed by LFI/CF, the process takes about three months. The egg donation screening process requires extensive screening, reporting, and interviews so you can feel confident that your egg donor is thoroughly qualified.
Why does your program require a consultation for potential intended parents?
The decision to use donor eggs and a surrogate is a personal one, and this time allows our Program Director to explain to you how the program, surrogacy, and egg donor selection process works, the legal aspects involved, and answer any questions you might have. We can also get non-identifiable information from you, such as your life, family, upbringing, and perspective on parenting, to share with the egg donor or surrogate. This consultation also helps to clarify costs. We are happy to accommodate you for your consultation via phone or in person, depending on your geographical location and time constraints.
How long does it take to match with a surrogate?
The matching process takes an average of ten months, but CF will try to speed it up as much as possible. Because of the limited nature of surrogates and high demand in some geographical regions, your matching process may be quicker or shorter depending on your desired criteria. Understand that the matching process requires time and thoughtful consideration, and the best way to speed up the matching process is by trusting your coordinators. We take our time with matches and want to get it right the first time. We measure our success by time to pregnancy, not time to match.
How much does surrogacy cost?
Surrogates are giving the most valuable gift of all—your child—and monetary compensation is the most basic way to thank these women for their contributions. The surrogate’s compensation is just one aspect of the overall cost of surrogacy. The average cost of surrogacy can range from $90,000 to over $200,000, depending on geography, your surrogate’s personal experience, IVF costs, egg donor needs, and other variable factors that come up throughout this journey.
How much does egg donation cost?
On average, an egg donation can cost $40,000 or more once you include all costs, including the donor fee and IVF, to retrieve the eggs. At CF, we carefully supervise the egg donation cycle and ensure our donors are cared for. CF egg donors are specially qualified and receive competitive compensation for their cycles, and returning proven egg donors receive higher fees.
How much contact will I have with my donor?
The amount of contact available to you varies depending on your egg donor. Many of our egg donors choose to remain anonymous throughout the donation process. However, if your egg donor is amenable and you desire, we can arrange a facilitated face-to-face confidential video meeting after your egg donor is confirmed for your cycle. We also encourage using letters to introduce yourself to the egg donor and thank her for sharing her gift with you.
Our fertility specialist has advised us that we would increase our chances of achieving pregnancy with a surrogate. Can CF help?
Yes. CF can assist you in your search for a surrogate. One of our roles is coordinating egg donor cycles for eventual embryo transfer to a surrogate. Please call our offices at 415 432 7272, and we would be delighted to provide you with more information on the surrogacy process and the exceptional group of women who become surrogates.
Are all of the egg donors in your database available to donate?
Yes. Egg donors visible to you in our database are available to donate. Once an egg donor is confirmed for a cycle, her profile is “hidden” from view within three days until she is available to donate again. We do not place donors on hold, and please bear in mind that multiple intended parents could be interested in the same available donor. The rare exception may occur when an egg donor is matched with another intended parent before you can secure them.
Can I be a parent if I am HIV positive?
Yes! Intended parents who are HIV+ can grow their families through surrogacy. Through sperm washing and HIV testing, men testing positive for HIV+ can safely father a biological child with no health risks to the baby or surrogate. We can discuss this in detail.
How much contact will I have with my surrogate?
At CF, we encourage frequent, open, and honest communication with your surrogate. Your surrogate is giving you an amazing gift, and a positive relationship during the surrogacy process can add depth to your journey. We hope that you form a wonderful connection with your surrogate that may continue past the surrogacy and that you communicate often during the surrogate’s pregnancy so you can get to know her and her family.
Who can be a surrogate? Your surrogate checklist
Surrogates should meet certain guidelines to ensure they are healthy enough to carry a baby for intended parents. These guidelines may vary by agency, but some common requirements include:
- Age: Surrogates should generally be between 21 and 45 years old, though some agencies may have different age ranges.
- Health: Surrogates should have a healthy BMI, ideally less than 30, and a history of healthy pregnancies and full-term deliveries without complications. They should also be free of treatable STDs for at least 12 months.
- Lifestyle: Surrogates should not smoke, use drugs, or abuse alcohol. They should also have no significant history of depression or mental health illness and pass a psychological screening to ensure they are comfortable giving up the baby after birth.
- Other considerations: Surrogates may also need to be willing to travel for medical screenings and embryo transfers and to carry a twin pregnancy or terminate a pregnancy if there are severe defects. They should also have a clean criminal record, be financially stable, and have a support system.