Podcast guest and media resource
Parham Zar on Surrogacy, Egg Donation & Modern Family Building
Parham Zar has worked inside surrogacy and egg donation since 2001, on the side most listeners never see: agency screening, matching, insurance, escrow, and what happens when plans change. He brings practical experience to conversations about what intended parents should question, what ethical agency practices look like, and how complex journeys are coordinated.
Founder and Managing Director of Egg Donor & Surrogacy Institute, Beverly Hills
Previously featured: Dr. Phil Primetime · The Axe Show · The Pregnancy to Parenting Show
Hear Parham in conversation
A producer can get a sense of his style from these interviews. The Dr. Phil appearance is a television discussion, while the Axe Show interview offers a longer conversation.
DR. PHIL PRIMETIME · TELEVISION · MAY 2025
International Surrogacy and Intended Parents
Parham discusses international family building and the distinction between a surrogacy journey and birth tourism.
THE AXE SHOW · INTERVIEW · FEBRUARY 2026
The Real Costs and Decisions Behind Surrogacy
A longer conversation about costs, expectations, and the responsibilities of a coordinated professional team.
Earlier podcast: The Pregnancy to Parenting Show with Elizabeth Joy, July 2021. A discussion of infertility, egg donation, surrogacy, and ways to build a family.
In the press: Explore EDSI’s media coverage, including reporting from the Associated Press, Le Monde, and Los Angeles Times.
Views Parham brings to the conversation
These ideas are drawn from Parham’s own public commentary. They create room for questions, examples, and thoughtful disagreement on air.
A complete screening file does not automatically mean a good match.
Parham has argued that screening and matching are different responsibilities. Values, expectations, and compatibility need attention before a journey begins.
Surrogate protections and surrogate autonomy belong together.
He has emphasized that independent support and the freedom to raise concerns must continue after matching, not disappear once a journey is underway.
An agency should not be the bank.
Parham has publicly advocated for independent escrow so that funds and reimbursements are managed separately from the agency coordinating the journey.
Read more from Parham on LinkedIn.
Episode ideas, ready to discuss
Choose a subject that fits your audience. Parham can go practical for fertility and parenting shows, examine ethics and consumer questions for news podcasts, or discuss his experience building and running an agency for business shows.
The Surrogacy Questions to Ask Before Signing Anything
How to judge an agency, prepare for matching, and understand which commitments should be clear from the beginning.
Where Surrogacy Money Goes and Which Promises to Question
Agency fees, insurance, independent escrow, unexpected expenses, and the problem with unrealistic guarantees.
What Ethical Surrogacy Looks Like Day to Day
Screening, informed decisions, surrogate autonomy, respectful communication, and independent professional advice.
Six Professionals, One Pregnancy: What Must Work Behind the Scenes
The complex coordination among the agency, clinic, attorneys, insurance, escrow, and support professionals.
Building a Family Across Borders
What international intended parents should understand about U.S. surrogacy operations, documentation, planning, and qualified legal guidance.
Running a Surrogacy Agency Since 2001
Lessons from managing a specialized service business where trust, ethics, changing expectations, and high stakes decisions all matter.
Questions that make a useful conversation
Parham can explain what intended parents often overlook before matching, why fee structures and contingency planning matter, how screening responsibilities are divided between agencies and clinics, and which questions deserve clearer answers from agencies.
He can also speak about surrogate autonomy, financial transparency, the complexity of international journeys, LGBTQ+ family building, and how expectations between intended parents and surrogates are established.
Professional scope: Parham speaks from experience managing agency programs. He is not a physician or attorney and does not provide medical or legal advice. Confidential journeys are never shared without explicit approval for that use.
For podcast producers
Host introduction
“Our guest is Parham Zar, Founder and Managing Director of Egg Donor & Surrogacy Institute in Beverly Hills. He has worked in surrogacy and egg donation since 2001 and joins us to talk about what families need to understand beyond the medical side of building a family.”
Short biography
Parham Zar is the Founder and Managing Director of Egg Donor & Surrogacy Institute in Beverly Hills. He has worked in surrogacy, egg donation, and third party reproduction since 2001. Parham speaks about responsible agency practices, screening and matching, cost transparency, international family building, and the coordination required across clinical, legal, insurance, and escrow teams.
Extended biography
Parham Zar is the Founder and Managing Director of Egg Donor & Surrogacy Institute (EDSI), a Beverly Hills based surrogacy and egg donation agency. He has worked in surrogacy, egg donation, and third party reproduction since 2001. His experience spans intended parent education, donor and surrogate matching, agency screening procedures, and coordinating complex journeys with independent fertility clinics, attorneys, psychologists, insurers, and escrow providers. Parham speaks about ethical surrogacy, the practical questions intended parents should ask, surrogate support and autonomy, financial transparency, and the realities of family building across borders. He can offer a perspective on what agencies can responsibly promise and what happens when plans or circumstances change. His commentary draws on experience overseeing agency programs, not on medical or legal practice. He also writes about family building through his Family by Choice Substack and has appeared in podcast and television interviews discussing surrogacy and related decisions. He is based in Beverly Hills, California.
Headshot: View the high resolution portrait. For previously published articles, see EDSI In the News.
Original commentary: Family by Choice on Substack.
Invite Parham to your podcast
For interview requests, send the topic, format, and anticipated recording dates to Shoshana at the EDSI media team.
edsi@eggdonorandsurrogacy.com | 310.209.1898
