How to Find Intended Parents

[4 Steps for Surrogates]

Whether you are just beginning your research or have already made the life-changing choice to become a surrogate, choosing an intended family is one of the most important decisions you can make.

But what steps do you take when finding intended parents? (This guide is a great place to start!)

Here, you will find helpful information you need to feel comfortable and confident as you begin your search for the best intended parents seeking gestational surrogates. By reading this guide, you will learn about building a surrogacy plan, questions to ask prospective intended parents, and the importance of finding a match through an agency.

Any time you have any questions about surrogacy or finding families looking for a surrogate, you can fill out our online form to get more information. A specialist will be more than happy to help provide the answers you need. In the meantime, continue reading this guide to learn more about how to find intended parents.

Step 1. Complete the Screening Process

Before you can start searching for anyone looking for a surrogate carrier, the first step you need to complete is to meet screening requirements. Although the exact requirements you’ll need to meet will vary, and you will need to reach out to a surrogacy agency to determine their specific requirements, your screening process as a hopeful surrogate will typically include:

  • Background screening to check your criminal and financial history.
  • Health evaluations to determine how your body will react to fertility treatments and pregnancy. 
  • Mental evaluations to ensure you are emotionally prepared for gestational surrogacy.
  • In-home assessments, which can help social workers get a better feel for your personality and discuss your goals and any questions you may have in person.
  • And more

This screening aims to protect everyone involved by determining that you are physically, mentally, and emotionally healthy enough for the surrogacy process. Most importantly, it is to keep your health and safety the top priority. 

Step 2. Create Your Surrogacy Plan

Once it has been determined that you meet all the requirements, you will then begin your surrogacy plan. Your surrogacy plan will act as a guideline for your preferences of your experience. The main goal of this plan is to determine the types of intended parents you are hoping to help and the relationship you want to have with them throughout your pregnancy and beyond. As a surrogate looking for intended parents, you can specify the types of matches you would be excited about.

Step 3. Make a Surrogate Profile

Once you and your specialist have a general idea of your preferences on an intended family, you will create a surrogate profile to express your reasoning and motivations behind helping a family achieve their goals of becoming parents. This profile will include:

  • Pictures
  • Basic personal information
  • Previous experience
  • Goals for the surrogacy
  • And more

This profile will essentially be a first impression for hopeful intended parents to view you as a surrogate and consider a match. Although this may sound intimidating, don’t worry! Your specialist will help walk you through the process and remind you to remain true to yourself. Contact a surrogacy professional now to learn more about the screening process and creating your profile.  to learn more about the screening process and creating your profile.

Step 4. Finding an Intended Parent Match

Once you have gotten the technicalities of screening out of the way and created your surrogate profile, you will start to receive “potential matches” of intended families who share similar goals. 

As these potential matches come in, you are able to view their intended family profiles, which will be similar to your surrogate profile, and will obtain personal information, goals, motivations, and more. If you find a family you are interested in but would like more information, your specialist will help facilitate a meeting between the two of you so that you can ask any questions you may have that might help you make a decision when hoping to match and find intended parents. 

Asking questions helps eliminate concerns or misconceptions about the intended family’s goals for the surrogacy journey. Some of the most common questions surrogates ask intended parents include: 

  • What made you decide to pursue surrogacy?
  • How long have you been considering surrogacy?
  • When are you hoping to begin this process?
  • What are your relationship goals during and after pregnancy?
  • How do you plan to be involved during my pregnancy? 
  • Have you thought about how you will tell your child when they are older?
  • How many rounds of IVF would you be willing to try?
  • What are your thoughts on multiple embryo transfers?
  • Many others

The purpose of this meeting is for both sides to better understand each other’s goals while hopefully creating a connection that leads to a match. With such an important decision as choosing a couple seeking a surrogate, you want to make sure you ask any questions you have, voice your concerns, and clear up any doubt that may make you lack confidence in a decision. Click here for more information about finding a match.

If you have made a mutual decision to move forward with a match, you and the intended family will undergo additional medical screening at their clinic to ensure everything meets the requirements and that you can start the surrogacy process. Once you have passed the screening, both sides will sign the surrogacy contract, and the journey will officially begin!

Matching with an Intended Family Through an Agency

As a surrogate, the matching process is one of the exciting moments in your surrogacy journey. Although you have the opportunity to find intended parents either through the internet, surrogate groups, or elsewhere, an independent surrogacy journey can put you at a higher risk for failure or complications. Your health and safety is the number one focus.

When you pursue an independent surrogacy, there are no intended parent screening or requirements put in place prior to fertility clinic screening to help protect you. Because of this, families may change their mind during your pregnancy, have a criminal history, are not financially stable enough to raise a child, or have other problems that could be avoided with proper screening. 

Working with an experienced surrogacy agency helps ensure your goals, needs, and safety are respected and met to the fullest ability. Giving the gift of parenthood is an incredible and selfless decision. We are here to help make sure you have the resources you need as a surrogate carrier looking for intended parents. 

To get in touch with a surrogacy professional,  fill out this form to get more information or to begin this amazing journey today!