Surrogacy in Columbia, MO

Key Points

• Surrogacy in Columbia involves a team of professionals, including surrogacy agencies, fertility clinics, surrogacy lawyers and more.
• Questions to ask potential surrogacy professionals include requirements for surrogates and intended parents, the screening process, services provided, the matching process and average costs.
• If you’re considering surrogacy in Columbia, MO, a surrogacy professional can help you get started today.

Creating families through surrogacy in Columbia requires a team of people to achieve a dream. This includes a number of surrogacy professionals who will be required to complete various aspects of the surrogacy process. Choosing the right professionals can be tricky. This list of resources of all the professionals that you’ll need in order to complete the Missouri surrogacy process will help.

Want to become parents through surrogacy in Columbia, Missouri? Or do you want to become a surrogate in Columbia? A professional can help you get started today.

Speak with a specialist today!

How to Become a Surrogate in Columbia

To become a surrogate in Columbia you can follow these steps:

1. Find a surrogacy agency: Surrogacy agencies will be able to guide you through the rest of the process.
2. Complete screening process: You will fill out paperwork and share your reasons for being a surrogate as you complete the screening process.
3. Get medical clearance: In addition to basic checks, medical screening assures that you won’t have excess risk to your health from a pregnancy.
4. Get connected to a family: A professional will help you find a family you are excited to help.

Fill out this simple form to take the first step and get connected to a surrogacy professional.

Surrogate Requirements in Columbia

Surrogacy requirements help ensure a safe and healthy surrogacy journey.

If you meet these basic surrogacy requirements:

• Are age 21-40 years old
• Have had a previous successful pregnancy
• Are currently raising a child

You can fill out this simple form and get a complete screening. The additional requirements are established by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine and some are industry standards for fertility clinics and surrogacy agencies, but in some cases there are exceptions.

How to Find a Surrogate in Columbia

To find a great surrogate in Columbia, the best thing you can do is connect with a surrogacy agency.

Surrogacy agencies can help you find a surrogate by:

• Marketing: Great marketing means that you can find a great surrogate faster.
• Screening: Knowing the questions to ask can give you assurance surrogates are ready to begin their surrogacy journey.
• Keeping a balanced list: Great surrogacy agencies are mindful of your needs and find surrogates in line with the number of intended parents.
• Matching: Professionals have experience that can help you find a surrogate match that will be a great fit for your family.
• Offering re-match: At some agencies, you may have the option to re-match with another surrogate if you have an unsuccessful pregnancy attempt.

The best agencies can help you find a surrogate in an average of 1 - 6 months

How Much Do Surrogates Make in Columbia?

As a surrogate in Columbia, you can be compensated an average of $50,000-$110,000. Less experienced surrogates will usually earn towards the lower end of the range, while experienced surrogates can earn more.

Compensation can include base pay and reimbursement for expenses like:

• Travel expenses
• Maternity clothing
• Bed rest
• Pregnancy self-care
• Lost wages
• Counseling (if needed)
• Housekeeping
• Family meals

Learn how much you can make as a surrogate here.

How Much Does Surrogacy Cost in Columbia?

Surrogacy costs on average can range from $80,000-300,000+, and includes things like:

• Medical expenses: You can expect medical expenses like medical screening, egg retrieval, IVF, birth expenses, and medical checkups.
• Legal fees: To ensure that you are considered parents under the law you will need support from lawyers, which means creating a legal contract with your surrogate, and receiving support in the parentage process.
• Case management expenses: Surrogacy professionals bring together the many moving pieces of surrogacy so that your legal, medical, and personal needs are met.
• Surrogate matching: Finding a great, qualified surrogate is not always an easy task, so surrogacy agencies must put in time into marketing and screening surrogates, and experienced surrogacy professionals are knowledgeable about what makes a good match.
• Gestational carrier fees: Your gestational carrier will be setting aside time and in some cases personal goals for nine months to help you. In return, you can support your surrogate by compensating her for her time, reimbursing her for extra expenses from pregnancy and helping her feel comfortable.

Finding a surrogacy agency that lists fees transparently and maintains a clear fee can help you predict costs and achieve your dreams without unexpected barriers.

Surrogacy Agencies in Columbia, Missouri

A surrogacy agency in Columbia, Missouri, provides matching, screening, counseling and case management services, as well as referrals to fertility clinics and attorneys. Columbia surrogacy agencies offer all the services required for your surrogacy journey. People who pursue independent surrogacy without an agency in Columbia, on the other hand, have to search for and screen potential matches on their own, must find individual surrogacy professional to complete the legal and medical aspects of their surrogacy process and often put themselves at risk for fraud.

Some of the best surrogate agencies nearest Columbia include:

• American Surrogacy
• The Surrogacy SOURCE
• Alternative Reproductive Resources

Surrogacy Clinics in Columbia, Missouri

Having a local fertility clinic, sometimes called a surrogacy clinic, will be needed for both the intended parents and the surrogate mother in Columbia. You’ll go to your local clinic for the medical aspects of the surrogacy process, such as IVF and the embryo transfer.

Surrogates will often work with the intended parents’ chosen surrogacy clinic, especially if the intended parents were previously undergoing fertility treatments somewhere, which means the surrogate may need to travel for a couple of the procedures, like the embryo transfer. All her travel expenses and any lost wages would, of course, be covered. Once a healthy pregnancy has been confirmed though, the surrogate can continue to work with her own OB throughout the remainder of the pregnancy.

If intended parents weren’t previously working with a fertility clinic, surrogacy agencies can often recommended a good clinic nearby, or you can choose one of these Columbia surrogacy clinics:

• Missouri Fertility
• Missouri University Health Care Reproductive Medicine and Fertility
• Fertility Partnership
• Vios Fertility

Columbia Surrogacy Lawyers

Intended parents and surrogates will need to be separately represented by a Columbia, Missouri surrogacy attorney in order to complete the legal steps of the process. Your Columbia surrogacy agency can typically put you in touch with a local surrogacy attorney, but you could also choose to contact a lawyer for surrogacy in Columbia like one of these:

• Columbia Family Law Group
• Bezler Law Firm
• Benner Law
• Kennedy Law
• Rutter and Sleeth Law Offices

It’s important that you work a reputable Columbia surrogacy attorney. Your attorney will be responsible for the many legal steps involved in surrogacy, like drafting surrogacy contracts, establishing parental rights, filing parentage orders and more. Intended parents and surrogates need to be individually represented by surrogacy attorneys to ensure that the interests of each party are equally represented.

Maternity Hospitals in Columbia

If you’re a surrogate in Columbia, Missouri, you’ll establish a birth plan that includes where you’d like to give birth to the baby. The intended parents will travel to that hospital to be with you and to welcome the arrival of their baby.

Some local options for your birth plan in Columbia include:

• Boone Hospital Family Birthplace
• Missouri University Health Care Family Birth Center
• Columbia Area Midwives

Starting Your Columbia Surrogacy Process

Choosing a trusted surrogacy professional is an important aspect of the surrogacy process. Your professional will be the one to successfully guide you through the complex processes involved in Columbia surrogacy, and you need to feel comfortable working with them. To ensure that a potential surrogacy professional is the right fit for you, it can be helpful to ask the following questions:

• What are your requirements for surrogates and intended parents?
• What’s your screening process like for surrogates and intended parents?
• What services do you provide for surrogates and intended parents?
• Do you match surrogates and intended parents? If so, how?
• How much does it cost to work with you, on average?

If you’re ready to begin the process of surrogacy in Columbia, Missouri now, you can contact a surrogacy professional here.