Step 1. Meet with New jersey Surrogacy Center, LLC.

Either our New Client Manager, Carol Garcia, or our Director and Founder, Jim Miskowski , or Tony Cariddi, will take the time to get to know you, learn about your needs, and explain the process. Whether you want to come to our office or speak to us by phone or Skype, we will be happy to answer all of your questions. Find answers to common questions about gestational surrogacy here.

This is also a good time to set up an initial consultation with the fertility clinic you wish to work with.

Step 2. Sign up with our agency.

Once you decide to move forward, you will sign our contract, pay our retainer fee, and fill out a questionnaire with your contact information and personal details.

Step 3. Choose a surrogate.

We believe a great match is the key to an extraordinary surrogacy experience. We match surrogates with intended parents based on a variety of factors, especially on shared goals and expectations for the surrogacy.

We will look for the right match for you and provide you with one or more profiles of potential surrogates. If you like a profile, you and the surrogate will meet in our office for an introductory visit. International intended parents may conduct a first meeting by phone or Skype, but will travel to our office in New Jersey to meet a potential surrogate before signing a contract with her.

If you and the potential surrogate feel comfortable with each other, we ask that you place an initial deposit of $4,000 in a trust account for your chosen surrogate to begin additional screening and medical procedures. A more detailed breakdown of surrogacy prices can be found here.

Step 4. Sign a contract with your surrogate and fund her trust account.

NJSC provides a draft surrogacy contract. You and your surrogate will review the document with separate attorneys, reach an agreement, and sign the contract.

Upon signing the contract, our second agency fee is due. At this time you will also fund the remainder of the trust account for your surrogate. We base the estimate for this fund on your final contract. (Your surrogate does not begin receiving her base fee until confirmation of pregnancy by ultrasound, but when you sign the contract she will begin receiving a $200 monthly allowance from the trust account.)

Step 5. Additional screenings for you and your surrogate.

You and your surrogate will undergo additional psychological and medical screenings, and your surrogate will have a home visit. What screenings are required of you will depend on what screenings you have already undergone in your path to having children.

For your surrogate, the screenings may include a “mock cycle” of IVF (in vitro fertilization) injections, which usually lasts about two weeks, that allows the clinic to determine the specific effect of the medications on her body. She and her partner will receive blood work and infectious disease and STD screening, and she will meet with an obstetrician to receive clearance for pregnancy. She will also undergo a hysterosonogram and trial transfer.

Step 6. Surrogate begins medication cycles.

Once the contract is signed and the trust account is funded, we will send a letter to the fertility clinic giving them clearance to begin the medication cycles with your surrogate. She will then undergo a cycle of medications for about six weeks before the embryo transfer can occur.

If you are planning to use an egg donor, you will use this time to choose a donor and work with the clinic on synchronizing the donor’s cycle to your surrogate’s cycle.

Step 7. Embryo is transferred to the surrogate.

The fertility clinic will transfer the embryo to your surrogate’s uterus. Some intended parents choose to attend this procedure in person or by Skype.

Step 8. Pregnancy is confirmed.

About ten days after the embryo transfer, your surrogate will receive a blood test as an initial pregnancy test. If the pregnancy test results are positive, she will receive another blood test a few days later. About three to four weeks after the transfer she will receive an ultrasound to confirm pregnancy.

Once pregnancy is confirmed by ultrasound, our last agency fee will be due, and your surrogate will begin receiving installments of her base compensation from the trust account you established for her.

In the event that pregnancy does not occur, you may begin another IVF cycle with your surrogate.

Step 9. Enjoy the pregnancy experience.

You can be as involved as you and your surrogate wish during the pregnancy. Some intended parents use this time to bond with their surrogates and attend many of her appointments, either in person or by phone or Skype, while others prefer to wait and be present mainly during the birth. In the meantime, relax and enjoy preparing for your new family.

NJSC will be available to you at all times in case you have questions, want us to help mediate issues with your surrogate, or just want to share your excitement! We’ll also be checking in regularly with your surrogate to make sure she has everything she needs. In the case of unexpected expenses, including bed rest or unplanned medical procedures, you may need to make additional payments to her trust account.

Depending on how you choose to establish parentage and what your genetic relationships are, you may also use this time to have an attorney help you establish parental rights and the right to make medical decisions once the baby is born. Many of our clients use the same attorney for this who helped them review the surrogacy contract.

Step 10. Welcome your new baby.

The wait is over, and you get to be present for the miracle of your child being born! If there are rooms available, most hospitals will allow intended parents to stay in the hospital to have time alone with their baby. The surrogate may also wish to spend some time with the baby or have her own children meet him or her.

As soon as the baby is medically ready to be discharged from the hospital, you can take your new baby home!