Experienced Surrogates and Return Journeys
Many of you wish to return to us for multiple surrogacies. Some of our multiple-time surrogates have even worked with a different agency before coming to Promise. We believe your return or choice to come to Promise is based on our experience-informed approach, which prioritizes helping surrogates communicate their needs and negotiate boundaries with intended parents.
3 Considerations for Returning Gestational Carriers
While you now know what to expect from the process, timeline, matching and your agency and intended parents, there are additional important elements to consider before embarking on another surrogacy journey.
Timing
You might want to commit to another surrogacy journey shortly after completing your first one. There is no mandated timeline to follow but always speak with your OBGYN before coming back. They will have the best advice for you and your body.
Family and Support
You've done this before, so you know what to expect. We encourage you to ensure your family, friends and children are on board with you completing another surrogacy journey. After their experience with you on your previous surrogacy journey, are they ready for you to have those commitments again?
Matching Preferences
You may want to come back for a subsequent journey to help your former intended parents have a second child. You might also choose to work with new IPs entirely. Regardless of your choice, we are here to support you in this decision and facilitate any conversations that need to happen.
3 Next Steps for Return Surrogates
If you're ready to do another journey, here are a few steps to take as you move toward you begin to prepare.
- Speak With Your OBGYN
- Speak With Your Family
- Submit a New Application
Speak With Your OBGYN
Your doctor will likely recommend when it will be best for you to do another transfer after your most recent delivery. For this reason, experienced surrogates must get an OB approval letter as part of their re-screening process with Promise. Your support social worker can email you a copy of this form to bring to your OBGYN appointment or directly fax it to their office.
Speak With Your Family
Make sure your support system will be on board with a subsequent journey. Speak with your partner, your children, and whoever else a 14-16 month surrogacy might affect.
Submit a New Application
You will need to resubmit the surrogate application. This ensures we have your most up-to-date information in our system.
How Does the Surrogacy Process Differ for Returning Surrogates?
Returning surrogates typically enjoy higher compensation and a faster, shorter screening process than first-time surrogates. Returning surrogates often have the option of embarking on a "sibling journey" with intended parents they have previously matched with or helping another individual or couple grow their family.
Ready to Change Another Family's Life?
Apply NowFAQs for Experienced Carriers
Yes, the compensation is different. Experienced carriers typically request additional compensation added to their base fee, which acknowledges their experience and successful fulfillment of surrogacy from their first journey. We will work with you to determine the exact additional amount you require for your specific situation as many experienced surrogates return with a better understanding of their financial needs during the process than they did the first time.
This depends on the IVF clinic that you are matched with, but most clinics allow a transfer to occur 9 to 12 months after your most recent vaginal delivery or 12 months after a c-section delivery.
We advise you to wait at least three months after vaginal delivery to re-apply and six months after a c-section. You deserve to have dedicated time to your postpartum recovery and to focus on yourself and your family. Ultimately, however, the choice is yours.
Our re-screening process is typically much faster and shorter. There are fewer documents to fill out, fewer medical records to collect, and the screening with your social worker is about half the length of your initial screening.
The process for a sibling journey looks very similar from an application and screening perspective. Typically, the main concern for sibling journeys is the timeline, as you will probably be ready to return for a subsequent journey before your intended parents are ready. IPs generally need more time before returning for a sibling journey as they now have a newborn and have invested a lot of finances into their first journey. All parties should discuss their timeline expectations so that everyone is on the same page.
Yes! While it's a special experience to do a sibling journey with your intended parents, that might not be something they are planning – or are ready for. You can be matched with a new set of parents.