A Clear Path to Parenthood
The Surrogacy Process for Intended Parents
The surrogacy process for Intended Parents moves through eight stages: getting started, Premium Surrogate Sourcing, matching, screening, legal, embryo transfer, pregnancy, and birth with post-birth coordination. Most families should plan for roughly 18 to 24 months from consultation to birth.
Every journey is unique. This page sets out how long each stage usually takes, what you are responsible for, what your clinic and attorney control, and what Golden coordinates on your behalf.
Get Started
Request information and speak with our team about becoming a parent through surrogacy.
Golden’s Pre-Match Advantage
A More Prepared Start to the Surrogacy Process
Golden coordinates substantial pre-screening and professional clinical review before an Intended Parent is asked to consider a Surrogate match.
- 99%Match Rate
- 99%Clinic Approval Rate for Golden Surrogates
- MFMMaternal-Fetal Medicine Review Included Before Match
- 8Coordinated Stages From Consultation Through Birth
Gestational Surrogacy
How Golden Guides the Gestational Surrogacy Process
Golden exclusively manages and guides gestational surrogacy journeys. In gestational surrogacy, a Gestational Surrogate carries an embryo created through IVF and has no genetic relationship to the child.
For Intended Parents, the surrogacy process moves through eight coordinated stages: consultation, Premium Surrogate Sourcing, mutual matching, clinic screening, legal agreements, embryo transfer, pregnancy, and birth. Golden coordinates Surrogate sourcing, Premium Surrogate Pre-Screening, matching, clinic communication, legal referrals, independent escrow support, approved travel, pregnancy support, and birth preparation.
The fertility clinic, attorneys, and independent escrow provider retain authority over their respective medical, legal, and financial responsibilities. Every surrogacy timeline is unique and can be affected by embryo readiness, matching criteria, clinic scheduling, medical clearance, legal review, and transfer outcomes. Throughout the journey, Intended Parents should understand what is happening, who is responsible, and what comes next.
Process at a Glance
Know What to Expect at Each Step
Eight stages, with realistic timing and clear guidance for each. Select a stage to read what Golden coordinates and what stays with your fertility clinic, your attorney, and the independent escrow provider.
Stage by Stage
The Surrogacy Process, Step by Step
Each stage below explains what Intended Parents do, what Golden coordinates, which decisions remain with independent medical and legal professionals, and the typical timing involved.
1 to 2 weeksStep 1: Getting StartedAn initial consultation, enrollment, and a detailed orientation meeting set the plan for your journey.
The consultation is your opportunity to ask questions, understand timing and cost considerations, and learn how Golden works before you commit to anything.
Once your Intended Parent profile is complete, Golden conducts a detailed orientation meeting to review your preferences, goals, and the path that best fits your family-building journey.
What Intended Parents do
- Speak with the Golden team about goals, timing, and budget
- Choose the program that fits your family
- Complete your Intended Parent profile
- Share matching preferences during orientation
What Golden coordinates
- Consultation and program review
- Enrollment documentation
- Detailed orientation meeting
- Assignment of your dedicated Care Team
6 to 12 monthsStep 2: Premium Surrogate SourcingGolden recruits and pre-screens Surrogate candidates against a custom matching goal set for your journey.
A custom matching goal is assigned once you are enrolled, based on your selected program and any additional criteria that matter to your family.
Candidates are recruited, interviewed, and taken through Premium Surrogate Pre-Screening so a strong potential match can be presented for your review.
This is normally the longest stage of the process, and the stage where an agency’s sourcing capability matters most. Timing depends on your criteria, your program, and the availability of candidates who clear Golden’s Enhanced Surrogate Criteria.
What Intended Parents do
- Confirm matching criteria and flexibility
- Prepare embryos with your fertility clinic
- Review candidate profiles as they are presented
What Golden coordinates
- Premium Surrogate Sourcing against your matching goal
- Candidate interviews and record collection
- Premium Surrogate Pre-Screening before any profile is presented
- Progress updates from your Care Team
1 to 2 weeksStep 3: MatchingBoth parties meet on a Matching Conference Call and must agree before the match becomes official.
Your dedicated Care Team facilitates the call, helps you prepare questions, and gives both sides room to talk about communication, expectations, and the relationship you each hope to have.
Once the match is finalized, Golden notifies your fertility clinic and begins coordinating the Surrogate’s in-person screening appointment with your Reproductive Endocrinologist.
What Intended Parents do
- Review the presented Surrogate profile
- Join the Matching Conference Call
- Discuss communication and relationship expectations
- Confirm the match
What Golden coordinates
- Profile presentation and mutual introductions
- The Matching Conference Call
- Notification to your fertility clinic
- Scheduling of the in-person screening appointment
Matching Confidence
A profile reaches you only after the work is done
By the time a profile is presented, the candidate has already cleared Golden's Enhanced Surrogate Criteria and completed Premium Surrogate Pre-Screening, including the Maternal-Fetal Medicine screening review.
That means the Matching Conference Call is about fit and relationship rather than eligibility, and either side is free to say no.
Clinic, Legal, and Transfer
Getting ready for transfer
Stages four through six are the coordination-heavy months, when your clinic, your attorney, and the escrow provider each carry part of the work.
4 to 8 weeksStep 4: ScreeningYour Reproductive Endocrinologist examines your Surrogate in person and grants final medical clearance.
The appointment often has to be scheduled around a specific point in her menstrual cycle, which is the main reason this stage runs several weeks rather than several days.
Golden keeps documents, travel, and communication moving between the clinic, your Surrogate, and your Care Team so nothing waits on paperwork.
What Golden coordinates
- Scheduling with the clinic and the Surrogate
- Travel planning for the screening appointment
- Document flow between clinic, Surrogate, and Care Team
What the fertility clinic controls
- The in-person examination
- Required testing and cycle timing
- Final medical clearance
4 to 8 weeksStep 5: LegalIndependent attorneys draft and negotiate your agreement after medical clearance, and escrow is funded.
Golden refers you to an Assisted Reproductive Technology attorney licensed in the state where delivery will take place to represent your interests and draft the agreement between you and your Surrogate.
Your Surrogate is represented by her own attorney, so both parties receive independent counsel. Escrow is established with an independent escrow provider during this stage and funded before medications begin.
What Intended Parents do
- Retain your Assisted Reproductive Technology attorney
- Review and sign the gestational carrier agreement
- Fund escrow with the independent escrow provider
What Golden coordinates
- Attorney referrals in the delivery state
- Timeline coordination between attorneys and clinic
- Escrow setup support with an independent provider
What outside professionals control
- Legal advice, drafting, and negotiation
- Custody of escrow funds and all disbursements
15 to 30 daysStep 6: Embryo TransferYour Surrogate follows a prescribed medication protocol, completes monitoring, and proceeds to transfer.
Once contracts are finalized and the clinic receives legal clearance, it assigns a tentative transfer date based on medical timing and clinic coordination.
Medications run 15 to 30 days on average, alongside monitoring appointments, before the transfer itself takes place.
No agency controls embryo quality, implantation, or the outcome of a transfer. Golden coordinates logistics and communication so everything within the agency’s control is handled well.
What Golden coordinates
- Medication and monitoring schedules with the clinic
- Travel and lodging arrangements for transfer
- Communication between both parties throughout the cycle
What the fertility clinic controls
- The medication protocol and monitoring
- The transfer date and the transfer itself
- Early pregnancy testing and results
Coordination
Organized in the background, not on your calendar
Screening appointments, attorney timelines, escrow funding, and medication schedules all have to line up in a specific order.
Your Care Team holds that sequence together and tells you what is needed from you and when, rather than leaving you to chase it.
Pregnancy Through Birth
Pregnancy, birth, and going home
Stages seven and eight carry the journey through pregnancy, birth-order coordination, delivery, and the period that follows.
Approximately 9 monthsStep 7: PregnancyYour Care Team supports both parties through pregnancy, with milestone tracking and regular check-ins.
Golden stays closely involved with communication, coordination, and ongoing support so the pregnancy feels well managed for you and for your Surrogate.
Second trimester is when preparation for birth begins in earnest, and that work carries directly into the final stage below.
What Intended Parents do
- Stay in contact with your Surrogate as agreed at matching
- Work with your attorney on the birth order
- Begin planning travel for delivery
What Golden coordinates
- Pregnancy milestone tracking and Care Team check-ins
- Communication between both parties
- Handoff into birth-order and hospital preparation
Birth and post-birth periodStep 8: Birth and Post-Birth CoordinationBirth-order work, hospital preparation, and post-birth coordination complete the journey.
During the second trimester, Golden begins coordinating the legal birth-order process and works with the delivery hospital so everyone is prepared well before birth.
Parentage is established by your Assisted Reproductive Technology attorney under the law of the delivery state. Golden coordinates timing and documentation with the hospital, while the legal work stays with your attorney.
Birth planning covers who attends delivery, how the hospital handles recovery and newborn care, and how you and your Surrogate want the day to go. Those preferences are documented in advance rather than settled at the hospital.
Your Care Team remains available after birth for hospital coordination and for the post-birth communication both parties agreed to at matching.
What Intended Parents do
- Complete birth-order steps with your attorney
- Confirm delivery travel and accommodation
- Share your birth preferences with your Care Team
What Golden coordinates
- Birth-order timing with your attorney
- Delivery hospital preparation and documentation
- Post-birth communication agreed at matching
What outside professionals control
- Legal parentage under the law of the delivery state
- Hospital policy, medical care, and newborn discharge
Planning Resources
Planning for Success
A few decisions made early tend to shape the whole surrogacy timeline. These are the ones worth working through before your sourcing stage begins.
Choosing an experienced fertility clinic
Third-party coordination, lab strength, and clinical fit matter more in surrogacy than in a standard IVF cycle, because your clinic also screens and clears your Surrogate.
Embryo readiness and creation
You may enroll before creating embryos, including while choosing a clinic or egg donor. At least one PGT-viable embryo is required before match presentation. Three PGT embryos are preferred, as most Surrogates prefer that readiness when considering a match.
Financial preparation
Review agency fees, Surrogate compensation, medical and legal costs, insurance, and escrow funding together rather than one line at a time.
Program selection
Your program sets the custom matching goal used during Premium Surrogate Sourcing, so it directly affects both cost and matching time.
Matching preferences
Location, delivery hospital, communication style, and relationship expectations are all part of matching. Narrow criteria generally lengthen the sourcing stage.
Realistic timing expectations
Cycle timing, clinic availability, and legal requirements vary by state. Building flexibility into your plan is more useful than building in a deadline.
Golden's Role
What Golden coordinates throughout your journey
Golden is the agency. Medical care is provided by your fertility clinic, legal advice by licensed attorneys, and escrow custody by an independent escrow provider. Everything below is the operational work Golden performs around them.
Premium Surrogate Sourcing
Active recruiting against a custom matching goal set for your program and criteria, rather than waiting for a candidate to appear.
Enhanced Surrogate Criteria
Golden's own eligibility standard, applied before a candidate ever reaches your review.
Premium Surrogate Pre-Screening
Coordination of medical-record collection and professional review, background and insurance checks, OB clearance, psychological assessment, virtual home visit, hospital and NICU verification, and Maternal-Fetal Medicine screening review, all before match.
Thoughtful mutual matching
Profile presentation and a Matching Conference Call, with both parties free to decline before a match is finalized.
Clinic coordination
Scheduling, document flow, and timing between your Reproductive Endocrinologist and your Surrogate.
Legal referral coordination
Referrals to Assisted Reproductive Technology attorneys licensed in the delivery state, and timeline coordination between counsel.
Independent escrow support
Setup support with an independent escrow provider. Golden does not hold, control, or distribute escrow funds.
Insurance and travel coordination
Insurance review during pre-screening, plus travel planning for screening, transfer, and delivery.
Care Team support
A dedicated Care Team for both parties, with pregnancy milestone tracking and hospital coordination through birth.
Timing
Factors that can affect your surrogacy timeline
The stage durations on this page reflect Golden's typical experience. These are the variables that move them.
Embryo readiness
Before match presentation, Golden requires at least one PGT-tested embryo that your fertility clinic has deemed suitable for transfer. Your clinic directs transfer preparation.
Clinic scheduling and cycle timing
In-person screening often has to align with a specific point in the Surrogate's menstrual cycle, which is why that stage runs 4 to 8 weeks.
Surrogate availability and matching criteria
Sourcing length depends on how many pre-screened candidates meet your program and your preferences.
Medical and legal review
Final medical clearance and state legal requirements are controlled by your clinic and your attorney, not by the agency.
Insurance coordination
Reviewing existing coverage or arranging an alternative can add time before transfer.
Transfer outcomes and pregnancy variables
No agency controls embryo quality, implantation, miscarriage risk, or live birth outcome. A repeat cycle extends the timeline.
From Golden Parents
A Process Shaped by Personal Experience
“We could not have asked for a better partner in this journey to parenthood.”
Intended Parents
Frank and Adam Golden began their own path to parenthood through surrogacy before creating Golden Surrogacy. That experience continues to shape how Golden communicates, prepares Intended Parents, and coordinates the details of each journey.
Common Questions
Intended Parent process questions
Answers drawn from Golden’s Intended Parent resources, surrogacy costs, matching guidance, and the stages set out above.
How long does the surrogacy process take for Intended Parents?
Most Intended Parents should plan for roughly 18 to 24 months from consultation to delivery. That range adds up the eight stages on this page: getting started in 1 to 2 weeks, Premium Surrogate Sourcing in 6 to 12 months, matching in 1 to 2 weeks, screening in 4 to 8 weeks, legal in 4 to 8 weeks, embryo transfer preparation in 15 to 30 days, roughly 9 months of pregnancy, and then birth and post-birth coordination.
Sourcing length, clinic scheduling, and transfer outcomes are the three variables that move the total most.
How long does it take to match with a Surrogate?
Premium Surrogate Sourcing generally runs 6 to 12 months, and the matching conversation itself takes 1 to 2 weeks once a pre-screened candidate is presented. A custom matching goal is set for your journey based on your program and your criteria.
Flexibility on criteria such as location, delivery hospital preferences, and communication style usually shortens the wait.
Do Intended Parents need embryos before enrolling?
You may enroll before creating embryos, including while choosing a fertility clinic or egg donor. At least one PGT-viable embryo is required before match presentation. Three PGT embryos are preferred, as most Surrogates prefer that readiness when considering a match.
If you are still choosing a clinic, read Golden’s guide to choosing the best IVF clinic for surrogacy.
What screening is completed before a Surrogate is presented?
Every candidate completes Premium Surrogate Pre-Screening before a profile reaches you. That included pre-match review covers application review, a detailed interview, pregnancy and delivery records, background review, insurance review, OB clearance, a psychological assessment, a virtual home visit, delivery hospital and NICU verification, Maternal-Fetal Medicine screening review, preliminary IVF clinic review, and a final leadership review.
Candidates are also held to Golden’s Enhanced Surrogate Criteria: age 24 to 36, a maximum BMI of 30, one to three prior deliveries, a maximum of one prior C-section, and at least 12 months between the most recent delivery and embryo transfer. Final medical clearance is separate and is granted by your own Reproductive Endocrinologist after an in-person examination.
When do legal agreements and escrow funding occur?
Legal begins after your Surrogate receives official medical clearance and typically takes 4 to 8 weeks. Golden refers you to an Assisted Reproductive Technology attorney licensed in the state where delivery will take place, and your Surrogate is represented separately.
Escrow is established with an independent escrow provider and funded before the medication protocol begins. Golden does not hold or disburse escrow funds.
What happens before embryo transfer?
Once contracts are finalized, the clinic receives legal clearance and assigns a tentative transfer date. Your Surrogate takes medications for 15 to 30 days on average and completes monitoring appointments before the transfer itself. Golden coordinates scheduling, travel, and communication throughout that window.
What happens at birth, and how is parentage established?
Birth-order coordination begins in the second trimester, and Golden works with the delivery hospital so the staff, your Surrogate, and you are prepared before the day arrives. Parentage itself is established by your Assisted Reproductive Technology attorney under the law of the delivery state.
Birth preferences, including who attends delivery and how the hospital handles recovery and newborn care, are documented in advance. Your Care Team stays available after birth for hospital coordination and the post-birth contact agreed at matching.
How much does the surrogacy process cost?
Golden Signature, our Variable Cost pathway, has a $65,000 agency fee. With estimated third-party expenses, the overall planning estimate is approximately $230,000 for Intended Parents who already have embryos created, assuming one successful match, one embryo transfer resulting in pregnancy, no rematch, no complications, and no unusual third-party expenses. This planning estimate is not a fixed price or guaranteed maximum.
Golden Guarantee has a $275,000 program fee, subject to the program agreement, inclusions, exclusions, and eligibility requirements. IVF clinic expenses are separate. Review the Surrogacy Costs page and Golden Guarantee program for complete details.
What factors can extend the surrogacy timeline?
Embryo readiness, clinic scheduling and cycle timing, Surrogate availability, the breadth of your matching criteria, medical review outcomes, state legal requirements, insurance coordination, embryo transfer results, and pregnancy variables can each move the schedule. No agency controls embryo quality, implantation, miscarriage risk, or live birth outcome.
What happens if an embryo transfer fails or a pregnancy ends in loss?
A failed embryo transfer or pregnancy loss can occur even when Surrogate screening, clinic preparation, and embryo planning are strong. The fertility clinic determines the medical next steps. Golden supports communication, logistics, and planning while the Intended Parents, Surrogate, and medical team decide how to proceed.
What Happens After a Failed Embryo Transfer or Pregnancy Loss?
Ready to Begin
Begin Your Surrogacy Process with Clarity
Intended Parents can speak with Golden about embryo readiness, matching priorities, program options, costs, and the next steps in their surrogacy process.
