Updated July 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 preliminary screening is completed?
- 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 whether the agency has collected and reviewed pregnancy and delivery records, medical history, lifestyle information, insurance information, identification, background information, support-system details, and expectations for the journey.
Preliminary agency review is not the same as final fertility-clinic medical clearance. The agency should explain the difference clearly.
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 which adults in the household are screened and when psychological evaluation occurs. The process should address motivation, emotional readiness, communication, support, pregnancy decisions, and expectations after delivery.
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, preliminary screening, matching, record collection, psychological evaluation coordination, 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.
Red flags intended parents should take seriously
Ask for written fees, clear screening definitions, independent escrow, separate attorneys, realistic timelines, and a clear point of contact.
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, preliminary surrogate review, compatibility based matching, clinic coordination, insurance review, attorney guided legal coordination, and independent 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.
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.
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