Reference Document

Questions to Ask a Surrogacy Agency Before You Sign: Technical Reference Document

Document Structure

1. How to Use This Question Set
2. LGBTQ+ Experience
3. Legal Coordination
4. Surrogate Matching and Screening
5. Financial Structure
6. Surrogate Insurance
7. Transparency and Fit
8. Red Flags
9. Key Terms

1. How to Use This Question Set

Most intended parents research agencies through agency websites. Those websites are marketing documents and are written by the agencies themselves.

This question set is intended to help intended parents evaluate agencies from the opposite side of that conversation: what experienced intended parents ask, what reproductive attorneys notice, and what patterns consistently separate agencies that serve families well from those that do not.

These questions apply whether the intended parents are pursuing surrogacy in Texas, California, Mexico, or another jurisdiction. Some questions include Texas-specific notes where Texas law creates special procedural risk.

Not every question needs to be asked in one call. However, intended parents should have clear answers to all of them before signing an agency agreement or paying a deposit.

2. LGBTQ+ Experience

Question 1

Ask: How many LGBTQ+ families did you work with in the last 12 months, and can you break that down by family structure?

• Useful answers include numbers, date ranges, and family-structure detail such as married same-sex couples, unmarried couples, and single intended parents.
• A policy statement such as "we welcome all families" is not the same as a demonstrated track record.

Question 2

Ask: Can you connect us with an LGBTQ+ family you have worked with who had a situation similar to ours?

• Agencies with genuine category experience usually have prior families willing to speak about it.
• Hesitation or refusal should trigger follow-up questions about why references are unavailable.

Question 3

Ask: Have you successfully completed surrogacy journeys for unmarried intended parents or single intended parents in Texas?

• Texas surrogacy statutes are written around married intended parents.
• Experience with unmarried or single intended parents in Texas requires navigating a different legal path and county-specific strategy.

3. Legal Coordination

Question 4

Ask: Which attorneys do you work with, and do they have specific experience with LGBTQ+ surrogacy cases in the county where we will likely file?

• In Texas, county matters. A lawyer experienced in Travis County or Harris County may be operating in a materially different environment than one filing in a less experienced county.
• Agency-attorney relationships should not substitute for direct evaluation of attorney experience.

Question 5

Ask: Can you walk us through your standard timeline from gestational agreement signing to court validation?

• Texas-specific issue: the gestational agreement must be signed at least 14 days before embryo transfer under Texas Family Code.
• If an agency cannot explain how it manages that sequence, that creates procedural risk.

Question 6

Ask: If our surrogate is married, how do you confirm her husband has been fully briefed on the relinquishment requirement, and do you verify this before matching?

• Texas-specific issue: a married surrogate's husband must formally relinquish parental rights.
• This is one of the most common legal tripwires in Texas surrogacy.

4. Surrogate Matching and Screening

Question 7

Ask: What is your current average time-to-match in Texas, and what typically makes it longer?

• Time-to-match varies significantly by agency and by market conditions.
• Useful answers include a range and an explanation of what causes longer waits, rather than a single best-case number.

Question 8

Ask: What does your surrogate screening process include, and what is the minimum a surrogate candidate must meet before you present her to intended parents?

• Minimum standards should address prior pregnancy history, psychological evaluation, and medical screening.
• Low surrogate compensation can reduce the pool of qualified candidates, so screening standards matter.

Question 9

Ask: If a conflict arises between us and our surrogate mid-journey, not about the baby's health but about the relationship, what is your documented process for managing that?

• An agency with no conflict protocol has no clear mechanism for protecting the parties when the relationship becomes difficult.
• The answer should include escalation process, coordinator responsibility, and expected documentation.

5. Financial Structure

Question 10

Ask: Is your fee structure fixed or pay-as-you-go, and what does that mean for us if something goes wrong?

• Fixed-fee agencies absorb more risk. Pay-as-you-go agencies bill per event.
• Neither model is inherently better, but intended parents need to understand which model they are entering before they commit.

Question 11

Ask: If a rematch is needed, including situations outside our control like the surrogate withdrawing, what fees do we pay again and what fees do we not?

• Rematch clauses vary widely.
• Some agencies distinguish between surrogate-initiated and intended-parent-initiated rematch. Others do not.
• This clause should be reviewed carefully before signing.

Question 12

Ask: What happens financially if the first embryo transfer fails? Is a second transfer covered, and what additional costs should we budget for?

• Many journeys include at least one failed transfer.
• Families should budget for this before the journey begins, not after the failure occurs.

Question 13

Ask: Do you use independent third-party escrow, or do you hold funds in-house?

• Independent bonded escrow is the protective standard.
• Agency in-house escrow means the same organization managing the case also controls the money.
• Parents should ask for the escrow provider's name and confirm the provider is independent.

6. Surrogate Insurance

Question 14

Ask: How do you review the surrogate's health insurance before matching, and what happens if her insurance excludes surrogacy or contains lien language?

• Surrogate insurance is often the most unpredictable cost variable in a surrogacy journey.
• Some insurance policies allow the insurer to recover claims paid from the surrogate's compensation after birth.
• That recovery can range from roughly 30 percent to 100 percent of claims and is often missed in weak reviews.

Question 15

Ask: Does your standard insurance review check specifically for lien language?

• A "yes" should be followed by a request to see what the review process actually looks like.
• The issue is not whether the agency uses the word "insurance review" but whether the review is specific and competent.

7. Transparency and Fit

Question 16

Ask: What would make you tell us we are not ready yet?

• This is one of the most revealing questions in the set.
• Agencies focused on outcomes usually have a real answer. Agencies focused mainly on onboarding often do not.

Question 17

Ask: What is your process if we are unhappy with how our case is being managed, and who do we escalate to?

• Look for a named process and a named person.
• General reassurance without an escalation path is not enough.

Question 18

Ask: Can you give us an itemized cost estimate, not a range, but a line-item breakdown including what is and is not included?

• Headline quotes often exclude egg donor costs, IVF medications, surrogate insurance, failed transfer costs, and post-birth legal proceedings.
• An agency that cannot produce an itemized estimate is asking the family to commit without full information.

8. Red Flags

Behavioral Red Flags

• Defensive or vague answers when basic process questions are asked
• Pressure to move forward before key questions are answered
• Pressure to sign or pay a deposit before understanding fees, rematch terms, insurance review, and legal coordination

Interpretation Principle

Good agencies expect these questions and welcome them. If an agency becomes defensive, vague, or pressures intended parents to move forward before they have answers, that reaction is itself meaningful information.

9. Key Terms

• Escrow: Account used to hold and disburse surrogacy funds during the journey. Independent third-party escrow is generally safer than agency-held escrow.
• Failed transfer: Embryo transfer that does not result in an ongoing pregnancy. Often triggers additional medical, agency, and legal costs.
• Gestational agreement: Contract between intended parents and gestational carrier governing the surrogacy arrangement.
• LGBTQ+ experience: Demonstrated prior work with LGBTQ+ families, ideally broken down by family structure rather than described as a general inclusion policy.
• Lien language: Insurance policy provision allowing an insurer to recover claims paid from the surrogate's compensation or related proceeds after birth.
• Rematch: Replacement of the original surrogate match after a withdrawal, failed progression, or other disruption.
• Surrogate screening: Evaluation process for surrogate candidates that may include obstetric history, medical review, and psychological assessment.
• Time-to-match: Period between signing with an agency and being matched with a surrogate. Actual timelines vary by agency, market, and match criteria.

This document reflects patterns reported by intended parents and reproductive attorneys and is intended as a structured reference document. It is not legal or financial advice. Always consult a licensed attorney before signing any surrogacy agreement.

Source: SurrogacyOffers.com - surrogacyoffers.com