You may prefer using a friend as a surrogate during your surrogacy journey. After all, having a close and trusting relationship with the person who will carry your child is likely appealing!
Are you ready to start your surrogacy journey? Contact a surrogacy professional today to get started.
A surrogacy agency can help you and your friend pursue surrogacy together. With the help of a surrogacy professional, you and your friend can rest assured that both your interests are protected and that your surrogacy goes smoothly.
Can You Use a Surrogate as a Friend? [What to Know]
Yes! And if you have a friend who wants to serve as your gestational carrier, you are one step close to your dream of parenthood!
But, before you embark on your path to parenthood, you and your friend must work together to ensure you’re both ready for the journey.
The Benefits of Working With a Surrogacy Agency When Using a Friend as a Surrogate
Although some people pursue independent surrogacy when they know the surrogate they’re working with (also known as intended surrogacy), you get so many extra benefits when you work with a surrogacy agency.
The following are just a few benefits you’ll experience when you choose to work with a surrogacy agency:
Surrogate Matching Services
Although you already have “matched” with the surrogate you want to work with, it’s helpful to know that a surrogacy agency will ensure you find a match even if using a friend as a gestational surrogate doesn’t work out. Sometimes, intended parents choose to work with a surrogate they don’t know because:
- Surrogates already working with surrogacy agencies are pre-screened and ready to start the surrogacy process.
- The intended parents and the potential surrogate decide they don’t want to complicate their friendship.
If you decide to work with a surrogate pre-screened by your agency, you could match relatively quickly, depending on the agency. For example, we used market research to discover that most surrogacy agencies have an average wait time of 12 to 18 months. But, American Surrogacy’s average wait time for intended parents is only 30 to 90 days from activation to match.
Predictable Surrogacy Fees
Surrogacy agencies often offer fixed fees for all surrogate services that have set costs. Although some surrogacy fees are variable, having an idea of how much most of your surrogacy journey will cost is helpful for budgeting.
Surrogacy Professional Assistance
When you work with a surrogacy agency, you’ll get to work with a surrogacy professional who provides practical and emotional assistance for using a friend as a surrogate. These professionals will guide you through the following:
- Surrogacy screening process
- Medical surrogacy steps
- Legal surrogacy process
What to Consider Before Using a Friend as a Surrogate
Before you and your friend approach a surrogacy agency to start your journey, it helps for you both to be on the same page. Consider the following three things before working with a close friend on your family-building journey.
1. Consider Your Relationship When Using a Friend as a Gestational Surrogate
If you are considering using a friend as a gestational surrogate, it’s important to understand that your relationship will evolve. You will share intimate moments and will forever be bonded by this life-changing experience. And because you both already have a relationship, your friend will likely be more involved in your child’s life. Before starting this journey, you should know how active your friend will be in your child’s life.
2. Discuss Compensation Expectations Early
In addition to your friend trying to help you by acting as your surrogate, they may also want to help you save some money during the process. This may lead you to wonder, “Can a friend be a surrogate for free?”
Although you could choose to have an altruistic surrogacy (a surrogacy where the surrogate doesn’t receive base compensation), most surrogacy professionals suggest that surrogates receive some form of compensation.
Providing your friend compensation for her surrogacy can help:
- Your friend pay for any unexpected costs (like lost work, etc.) that pregnancy can cause
- Prevent your friend from feeling like they aren’t getting what they need during the surrogacy journey
3. A Surrogacy Agency can Provide Help and Guidance
Although you may not need a surrogacy agency’s matching assistance, an agency provides many other essential surrogacy services. When you work with a surrogacy agency, your surrogate professional will help you:
- Go through the surrogacy screening process
- Find a surrogacy attorney to create a fair legal contract
- Work through the surrogacy medical process
- And more
Talk to a Professional About Using a Friend as a Surrogate
Your friend can give you the gift of parenthood. And with the help of a surrogacy agency, you will both remain supported throughout the journey.
Contact a surrogacy professional today if you are ready to pursue surrogacy to build your family.