Fertility Treatment
Surrogates & Gestational Carriers
Helping you carry your child safely into the world.
What's the Difference?
Surrogates Vs. Gestational Carriers
Surrogates and gestational carriers are terms that are often used interchangeably for women who carry a baby for someone else. While very similar, they actually refer to something slightly different . . . it’s really a technicality, but let’s start there!
Gestational Carriers
A gestational carrier is not genetically related to the child they are carrying. The child can be genetically related to the intended parents or the eggs can be from a completely different egg donor. Can be coupled with IVF or Donor Egg IVF.
While gestational carriers are technically more common, it’s such a nit picky detail, we’re going to let those definitions go. From here on out, we will use the two terms interchangeably.
Helping You Carry
Why Use a Surrogate
While everyone uses a surrogate because they need help carrying a child there are many underlying reasons. Here are some of the most common reasons.
Hysterectomy
Someone who has had her uterus removed due to health problems.
Endometrial Ablation
An endometrial ablation is a procedure that surgically destroys the lining of your uterus (usually done to reduce menstrual flow) but in most cases also makes carrying difficult and or dangerous.
Recurrent Pregnancy Loss
After experiencing numerous miscarriages with unsuccessful immunological treatments many turn to gestational carriers to help bring their child into the world.
Other Medical Conditions
Some medical conditions like uncontrolled diabetes and heart conditions can make carrying a pregnancy incredibly dangerous. Similarly, some conditions can otherwise cause a non-functional uterus.
How It Works
Surrogacy at CNY
At CNY Fertility, we perform the medical procedures required for surrogacy and assist in the medically necessary communication and coordinating efforts between you and your surrogate. We do not offer or help match you with surrogates and we do not offer legal advice. Instead, those wishing to pursue surrogacy at CNY are encouraged to find their own surrogate (either through an agency or friends/family) and seek the counsel of lawyers specialized in reproductive law.
Because there are so many variables in those seeking gestational surrogates, there is no one size fits all solution or answer to what surrogacy looks like. Know however, that there is nearly always a solution that can be worked out, even in states (like Colorado) where exchanging money for surrogacy is illegal.
While your path to parenthood is unique, we encourage you to take a look at the general outline/timeline below of what using a gestational carrier is like at CNY.
Step By Step
The Surrogacy & Gestational Carrier Process
Determining your Needs
Usually, this means setting up and having a consultation and a full reproductive workup.
If you’ve already had a workup with another facility, great, simply fax us your results. You will still need to have a consultation with one of our doctors.
Contact a Reproductive Lawyer
Many times, undocumented surrogacy “favors” are carried out by friends or family members to great satisfaction and success. But more often now, they are handled by agencies which specialize in surrogate arrangements.
Due to the legal complexities involving surrogacy, we highly recommend contacting a reproductive lawyer who will help you find answers to questions you didn’t even think about asking.
Find Surrogate/GC
We do not have our own gestational carriers here at CNY. You will need to seek out your own carrier via family, friends, or a surrogacy agency.
After finding your surrogate, you will need to instruct her to contact our office to establish herself as a patient.
Surrogate/GC Workup
After the surrogate establishes as a patient she will work with our donor team to have a full fertility medical workup.
This will include a full physical, medical releases from her primary care, ob-gyn, and any relevant specialists that she sees, preconception labs, a saline sonogram, and a mock cycle to fully understand how her uterine lining develops in response to estrogen.
Whose Eggs
It is important you contact our donor team regardless of whose eggs you will be using. If using your own eggs, you will need to complete FDA infectious disease testing within 30 days of the retrieval to ensure the safety of your carrier.
If using donor eggs, you will similarly need to contact our donor team to coordinate the donor egg process.
Whose Sperm
If using your own or partner sperm, the sperm will be required to go through a 6-month quarantine as well as FDA testing.
If you use donor sperm, that sperm will already have gone through the necessary quarantine and testing.
Treatment Cycle
After completing the workup and determining all gamete sources, your surrogacy and donor coordinator will discuss and coordinate the treatment cycle.
Getting Additional Support
Recommended Reproductive Lawyers & Agencies
After determining your need a surrogate or gestational carrier with our team we recommend you contact one of our recommended lawyers and or agencies below.
Reproductive Possibilities
RP is dedicated to matching intended parents with gestational carriers with the legal expertise of Melissa Brisman, a Harvard Law Graduate with more than two decades of reproductive law experience. Melissa and her staff are trusted voices among fertility clinics, intended parents, and surrogates.
Surrogate Steps
SS is headed by NY Law School Reproductive Lawyer Yifat and is dedicated to drafting and negotiating reproductive law contracts and analyzing health insurance plans in surrogacy arrangements, obtaining birth orders, amending birth certificates, and other key steps in successfully using a surrogate or gestational carrier.
AMAZINGLY Yifat and Surrogate Steps is offering 25% off their agency fee, from $20,000 to $15,000.
COPPS DiPAOLA SILVERMAN, PLLC
The firm is located in the Albany, NY area and they have attorneys licensed in New York, Vermont, and New Jersey. They are experts in reproductive technology law (egg/sperm/embryo donation and surrogacy/gestational carrier agreements) and kinship guardianship (KinGAP).
Attorneys & Staff Members Who Support this Practice Area:
Kathleen “Casey” Copps DiPaola, Esq.
Joseph R. Williams, Esq.
Shannon M. Wickenden
ConceiveAbilities
Since 1996, ConceiveAbilities has advocated on behalf of intended parents who want to grow their families. Support includes gestational carrier and donor recruitment, intake, education, agency screening and matching as well as mental health, legal and financial assistance.
New York Surrogacy Center
NYSC is an intentionally small surrogacy matching agency working primarily with surrogates in NY, VT and NJ, offering personalized, attentive services to all of the families we work with. NYSC is run by Attorneys Casey DiPaola and Joe Williams, experts in the field of gestational surrogacy and assisted reproduction, who were actively involved in drafting and revising NY’s surrogacy laws. NYSC follows all ASRM “best practices” guidelines and offers affordable agency fees to families looking to pursue surrogacy.
Kim Kluger-Bell
Kim Kluger-Bell, LMFT is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with many years of clinical experience both in private practice and on staff at fertility clinics nationwide. She is located in the Colorado area and offers psychological evaluations for GCs and Intended parents which are required under Colorado law for Surrogacy.
Attorneys Jamie Batt, Micelle Graham, Beth DiPirro, Keli Iles-Hernandez
The attorneys from Rupp Baase Pfalzgraf Cunningham LLC have formed a dedicated practice group to assist couples and single parents with the legal end of the surrogacy process in New York State. They are prepared to help families understand and navigate the new laws for surrogacy in NY, effective February 15, 2021. Jamie Batt and Micelle Graham will focus on drafting and negotiating written agreements for surrogacy, known donors, etc. Elizabeth DiPirro and Keli Iles-Hernandez will assist with court appearances for judgments of parentage, adoption proceedings, and any other necessary hearings.
Robin Fleischner, Attorney At Law
Robin Fleischner‘s law practice is dedicated to forming families through adoption, surrogacy, and assisted reproduction. Robin drafts egg, sperm, and embryo donation agreements, as well as surrogacy agreements. She also represents clients in parentage proceedings, donation and surrogacy, and for LGBTQ partners. Robin is licensed in NJ, NY, and PA.
Using a Gestational Carrier - 2:52
I cannot begin to express my everlasting gratitude to Dr. Kiltz and his amazing staff. I had many years of failed cycles, and was slowly beginning to lose hope. With the help of CNY Fertility and Surrogate Steps, my dream came true this year. My carrier delivered my gift! My baby boy finally arrived! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
We are a same-sex male couple and have finally welcomed our beautiful baby girl! We have had so many ups and downs like any other couple attempting to complete their family. CNY Fertility has been there for both of us, helping to bring our baby into this world. We cannot thank you enough for your support through what has proven to be an overall amazing journey. I can't believe I'm saying this, but we're ready to do it AGAIN!!
I cannot express how grateful I am for the help we received. Our son is perfect in every way. I am constantly reminded that another woman gave herself fully so that our family could be complete. I am forever thankful to her and CNY Fertility for our miracle.
My gestational carrier experience was truly amazing and I am so grateful to have helped such a wonderful family. Thank you CNY Fertility for making it all so easy!
I feel blessed and honored to have been part of this miracle. I can't express enough how grateful and thankful we are that we found Dr. Kiltz and the entire team at CNY Fertility Center to make this dream come true.
