Last updated: October 14, 2026
Reviewed by Parham Zar, Founder and Managing Director of Egg Donor & Surrogacy Institute.
The first conversation with a surrogacy agency should help intended parents understand more than the agency fee or how many surrogate profiles are available. It should explain how candidates are screened, how matching works, how funds are protected, who coordinates independent professionals, and what happens when a journey does not proceed as expected.
Use the questions below to compare agencies using the same standards. Ask for clear written answers before signing an agreement or paying a retainer.
For the complete sequence from consultation through birth, review EDSI’s surrogacy process for intended parents.
What should intended parents ask a surrogacy agency first?
Start by asking what the agency has already completed before presenting a surrogate and what still must be completed by the fertility clinic, psychologist, insurance professional, escrow provider, and independent attorneys.
- What exactly is completed before a surrogate is presented?
- What still requires fertility-clinic clearance?
- How are matches selected?
- What is included in the agency fee?
- Who holds intended-parent funds?
- Who reviews insurance?
- Will both parties have separate attorneys?
- What happens if a match or transfer does not proceed?
For a broader evaluation framework, review EDSI’s guide on choosing a surrogacy agency for intended parents.
Questions about services and coordination
1. Which parts of the journey does your agency manage directly?
Ask the agency to identify what its staff handles and which services are performed by independent professionals. Screening, matching, insurance review, legal work, escrow, fertility treatment, pregnancy support, and birth planning may involve different parties.
2. Who will be my main point of contact?
Ask whether you will have a named coordinator and how that person communicates with the surrogate, clinic, attorneys, insurance professionals, escrow provider, obstetrician, and hospital.
3. What support continues after matching?
Ask what support continues during clinic clearance, legal agreements, embryo transfer, pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum coordination.
Questions about surrogate screening
4. What screening is completed before a surrogate is presented?
Ask exactly what is complete before a profile is shown. At EDSI, a candidate is not presented until the required Ready for Matching surrogate screening process is complete, including required pregnancy and delivery record review, current health and medication review, psychological evaluation, background screening, support and readiness assessment, preliminary insurance review, and final internal qualification.
Agency qualification is not the same as final fertility clinic medical clearance. EDSI Ready for Matching means the required pre match qualification is complete. After a mutual match, the intended parents’ fertility clinic performs its own medical evaluation and makes the final medical clearance decision.
For more context on recruitment, screening, and coordination, review EDSI’s guide explaining how intended parents can find a surrogate in the United States.
5. Who reviews pregnancy and delivery records?
Ask whether records are reviewed before matching and when they are sent to the intended parents’ fertility clinic. The clinic ultimately decides whether a candidate meets its medical requirements.
6. When are psychological screening and background checks completed?
Ask whether psychological evaluation and required background screening are complete before presentation. Under EDSI’s Ready for Matching Standard, both are completed before a candidate is presented to intended parents, with partner or household screening completed where applicable.
7. What happens if the clinic does not approve the surrogate?
The agency should explain whether another match is provided, whether additional fees apply, and how quickly rematching begins.
Questions about matching
8. How do you decide which surrogate to present?
A strong match should consider communication preferences, views on termination and selective reduction, number of embryos planned for transfer, intended-parent involvement, delivery expectations, travel, post-birth contact, insurance compatibility, and clinic requirements.
9. Can both sides decline a proposed match?
Matching should be mutual. Ask whether intended parents and surrogates can decline without pressure or penalty before agreeing to proceed.
10. Can we meet before agreeing to the match?
A video or in-person meeting allows both sides to discuss expectations, communication, boundaries, pregnancy involvement, delivery preferences, and medical decision-making.
11. What is your current matching timeline?
Ask for the agency’s current experience with families similar to yours. Timing can be affected by embryo readiness, clinic requirements, location, insurance, family structure, communication preferences, and views on pregnancy-related decisions.
See EDSI’s how the surrogate matching timeline works for more detail.
Questions about costs and financial protection
12. What is included in the agency fee?
Request a written list of included services, including recruitment, Ready for Matching qualification, matching, record collection and review, psychological evaluation coordination, background screening, preliminary insurance review, legal coordination, case management, pregnancy support, birth planning, and postpartum coordination.
13. Which costs are paid separately?
Ask about IVF treatment, medications, attorneys, escrow, surrogate compensation, insurance premiums, travel, lost wages, bed rest, multiple pregnancy, Cesarean delivery, newborn care, and additional embryo transfers.
14. Which amounts are fixed and which are estimates?
A responsible agency should distinguish predictable fees from expenses that depend on medical care, insurance, travel, transfer outcomes, or pregnancy circumstances. EDSI’s 2026 U.S. surrogacy cost breakdown explains the major categories.
15. Who holds intended-parent funds?
Ask whether funds are held by the agency or administered by an independent third-party escrow provider. Independent administration separates case coordination from control of client funds.
Egg Donor & Surrogacy Institute uses an independent third-party bonded escrow provider rather than holding intended-parent escrow funds directly.
16. How are payments and reimbursements approved?
Ask who reviews requests, what documentation is required, when payments are released, how disputes are handled, and whether intended parents receive regular statements.
Questions about legal coordination and insurance
17. Will the intended parents and surrogate have separate attorneys?
Each party should have independent legal representation. The agency may coordinate the process, but legal advice should come from qualified reproductive attorneys representing the individual parties.
18. Who coordinates parentage and birth documentation?
Ask how the agency works with attorneys regarding the surrogacy agreement, parentage process, hospital documents, birth planning, birth certificate, and international documentation when applicable.
EDSI uses an attorney-guided legal coordination process while independent attorneys provide legal advice. Review EDSI’s U.S. surrogacy laws guide for general planning information.
19. Who reviews the surrogate’s insurance?
Ask whether the policy is reviewed by an insurance professional experienced with surrogacy pregnancies. The review should address exclusions, deductibles, copayments, premiums, maternity coverage, enrollment deadlines, supplemental policies, and possible liens.
20. What happens if the current policy does not cover the pregnancy?
The agency should explain how alternative coverage is identified through a review of surrogacy insurance and maternity coverage, when it must begin, and how the additional expense will be presented.
Questions about communication and difficult situations
21. How often will we receive updates?
Ask what communication occurs during screening, matching, clinic clearance, legal work, transfer, pregnancy, and delivery. Also ask how urgent issues are handled outside normal business hours.
22. How do you handle disagreements?
Ask for examples involving reimbursement disagreements, communication breakdowns, changes to a birth plan, or differences in expectations.
23. What happens when there is an unexpected problem?
Ask how the agency has handled failed medical clearance, unsuccessful transfers, pregnancy loss, insurance problems, bed rest, early delivery, and pregnancy complications. The quality of an agency is often most visible when something does not proceed as expected.
Questions about references and reviews
24. Can we speak with recent intended parents and surrogates?
Ask for references from people who completed journeys similar to yours. Direct conversations can provide useful context about communication, transparency, and how the agency handled challenges.
25. How should we evaluate agency reviews?
Look for repeated patterns across independent platforms rather than relying on one positive or negative review. Pay attention to communication, reimbursements, hidden costs, matching, insurance, legal coordination, and support during difficult moments.
Review EDSI’s surrogacy agency reviews and family stories.
Three follow-up questions to ask before choosing a surrogacy agency
These follow-up questions matter when intended parents already have frozen embryos, need another embryo transfer, or want to understand when agency fees and escrow payments are due.
What happens if an embryo transfer fails during surrogacy, and will I pay more?
A failed embryo transfer does not automatically mean intended parents need a new surrogate. The fertility clinic decides whether and when another transfer is medically appropriate. Ask each agency how many transfer attempts its program covers, whether another transfer with the same surrogate is possible, which medical and medication expenses might recur, and when a rematch or additional agency fee could apply. Request the written policy before signing. EDSI coordinates the next steps with the clinic and other independent professionals, but medical decisions and payment obligations depend on the clinic and the applicable agreements. Review the surrogacy process for intended parents to see where these decisions fit.
When are surrogacy agency fees due, and what happens to unused escrow funds?
Agency fees and escrow funds serve different purposes. Before signing, ask for the written agency fee schedule, which milestones trigger payments, which fees may be refundable, and when journey-specific escrow must be funded. EDSI uses an independent third-party bonded escrow provider to administer funds designated for surrogate expenses rather than holding those escrow funds itself. After all contractual expenses and obligations are reconciled, any remaining escrow balance is returned to intended parents according to the escrow agreement. That is different from a refund of an agency fee. The 2026 U.S. surrogacy cost guide explains the main budget categories.
If I already have frozen embryos, what should I ask a surrogacy agency?
If you already have embryos ready for transfer, ask how the agency matches you with a surrogate, what your fertility clinic requires before approving a match, whether embryos can remain at your current clinic or must be transported, and when insurance review, separate legal representation, and independent escrow funding take place. EDSI completes its Ready for Matching qualification before presenting candidates, but the fertility clinic performs its own medical evaluation and makes the final clearance decision after a mutual match. Embryo handling and treatment timing are determined by the clinic. See the surrogacy with embryos already created guide for a more detailed starting point.
Single intended parents and LGBTQIA+ intended parents should also ask how the agency coordinates matching preferences and which independent reproductive attorney will advise on their family-specific legal protections and parentage plan.
Red flags intended parents should take seriously
When comparing surrogacy agencies, intended parents should look beyond matching promises or the number of available surrogate profiles. Ask how the agency handles the parts of a journey that create the greatest financial, medical, legal and coordination risk.
| What to ask | What a clear answer should explain | Potential red flag |
|---|---|---|
| What is completed before a surrogate is presented? | The agency should clearly identify which qualification steps are complete before a profile is shown and which evaluations still belong to the fertility clinic or other independent professionals. | The agency cannot clearly explain what has actually been completed before presentation. |
| Who determines final medical clearance? | After a mutual match, the intended parents’ fertility clinic should perform its own medical evaluation and make the final medical clearance decision. | Agency screening is described as if it replaces fertility clinic medical clearance. |
| Are the fees and estimated journey costs provided in writing? | The agency should distinguish its own fees from estimated expenses such as surrogate compensation, legal services, insurance, escrow, travel and medical costs. | Important costs are unclear, bundled without explanation or introduced only after the process begins. |
| Who holds intended parent funds? | The agency should clearly identify the escrow provider and explain how funds, reimbursements and statements are administered. | The agency directly controls intended parent escrow funds or cannot clearly explain how the funds are protected. |
| Will the surrogate and intended parents have separate attorneys? | Each side should have independent legal representation, with the agency coordinating the process rather than providing legal advice. | One attorney is expected to advise both parties or the agency blurs the distinction between coordination and legal advice. |
| How is insurance reviewed? | The agency should explain who reviews the surrogate’s coverage, when the review occurs, what exclusions are considered and what happens if additional coverage is needed. | Insurance is addressed late in the process or no one can clearly explain who is responsible for reviewing it. |
| What happens if a match cannot proceed? | The agency should explain its rematching process, possible additional fees, responsibilities and next steps before the intended parents sign an agreement. | Rematching terms are unclear or are discussed only after a problem occurs. |
| Who coordinates the journey after matching? | Intended parents should know who coordinates communication among the surrogate, fertility clinic, attorneys, insurance professionals, escrow provider, obstetrician and hospital. | Responsibility is repeatedly passed between providers without a clear point of coordination. |
EDSI uses a structured surrogacy coordination model designed to keep these responsibilities clear. EDSI completes its Ready for Matching qualification before presenting a surrogate candidate. After a mutual match, the intended parents’ fertility clinic independently determines final medical clearance. Separate attorneys provide legal advice, and journey funds are administered through an independent third party bonded escrow provider.vice, and journey funds are administered through an independent third party bonded escrow provider.nd journey funds are administered through an independent third party bonded escrow provider.
How EDSI approaches surrogacy coordination
Egg Donor and Surrogacy Institute, also known as EDSI, is a Beverly Hills, California surrogacy and egg donation agency serving intended parents in the United States and abroad.
EDSI provides structured coordination, Ready for Matching qualification before presentation, compatibility based matching, clinic coordination, insurance review, attorney guided legal coordination, and independent third party bonded escrow.
Final medical approval comes from the fertility clinic. Independent attorneys provide legal advice.
Compare agencies using the same questions
Use the same written questions with every agency. Compare completed screening, planned steps, fees, independent professionals, and how risk is handled.
Intended parents who are comparing specific programs can also review EDSI’s guide to top surrogacy agencies in the United States to compare agency structure, screening, matching, financial safeguards, legal coordination, and communication.
Speak with EDSI about your surrogacy plan
A private consultation can help you compare program structure, screening, costs, matching expectations, legal coordination, insurance, and next steps.
Request a Private Consultation