# US Egg Donation/Surrogacy



## Audley (Jun 15, 2012)

Hi everyone,
After several treatments and misscarriages, we need to move on to egg donation and surrogacy. Our clinic has advised us to look into the US. Has anyone had a positive experience and can recommend a clinic? Any help will be appreciated.
Many thanks.


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## ♥JJ1♥ (Feb 11, 2006)

Are you in the UK? I looked into the US through UK agencies and some US agencies but it ended up prohibitively expensive for me- over £100K after legal fees, clinic fees, surrogate fess, travel etc. Good luck with your journey


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## napy (Jun 17, 2011)

Hi Audley, we had a US surrogate for our two year old daughter.  The experience was good overall and we went through Surrogacy Options to find our surrogate mother and had one failed cycle at IRH in Cincinnati, Ohio and a second cycle that was successful at GIVF in northern Virginia.  We liked GIVF alot because they have a big donor database that you can view online, wonderful IVF nurses and doctors, and of course because we were successful on our first try with them!  We got the shared risk plan so it was very expensive.  Surrogacy Options has tripled their fees since we started with them.  The US is very expensive and that's why we are doing surrogacy in Ukraine for a sibling.  We spent about $135K for the two trys and all the other costs for our surrogate mother and lawyers.  The shared risk plan was more expensive than just one cycle would be, but we wanted some assurance that we would get our money back if we didn't end up with a baby.  Best of luck to you!


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## Audley (Jun 15, 2012)

Hi Napy,
Thank you for the information. I am really glad to hear that it is going well for you. I have been told that California is probably the best estate to do it for legal reasons. I am only starting to do the research. I will also look into the Ukraine. I guess I know of two couples that went to the US so that gives me a bit of comfort. My doctors want me to do egg donation again but I have had three misscarriages with my own eggs and one with egg donation so I am not sure how much "bad luck" you can have... Are you getting a lot of info about the donors in Ukraine? Would they provide you access to a list with details before you decide going with them?
Thanks.


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## napy (Jun 17, 2011)

Hi Audley,  California is a good state, but there are alot of other states that are just as good. The key is that your surrogate mothe needs to deliver in a state that allows pre-birth orders.  That way your names can be put directly on the birth certificate and all the legal stuff is taken care of before the birth of the baby.  Our surrogate mother lived and delivered in Ohio that is a surro-friendly state, meaning that you can get a pre-birth order. There are alot of other states that allow you to get a pre-birth order like North Carolina, Maryland, and Montana.  I'm sure there are alot more too.  Surromomsonline (a website for surrogate mothers and IPs) has a link to good list of the laws in each states.

For Ukraine (La Vita Felice in Kharkov), I'm not sure if you can get alot more detailed information if you asked for it.  We just based our decision on the information they provided us.


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## Audley (Jun 15, 2012)

This is of great help. By the way how long did the whole process in the US, from the time you contacting the agency until they found a surrogate and then how long till your daughter was born. I am trying to make a decision in the coming weeks and then travel the first of week of Jan wherever we decide to go through the whole process. 
Thank you!


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## napy (Jun 17, 2011)

We started with an agency (Surrogacy Options) in May of 2008 and they found a surrogate mother for us right away. We did our first cycle in September 2009.  That was the failed cycle at IRH in Ohio. Then we switched to GIVF in Northern VA (our home state) and started another cycle that was supposed to happen in late February/early March, but in the middle of our cycle our surrogate mother started having gall bladder problems and we had to cancel the cycle. She had surgery to have her gall bladder removed and then we had another cycle in June 2009 that was successful with our daughter being born in February of 2010.  It was about a year a half from start to finish but it took longer because of the failed cycle and the cancelled cycle.  I highly recommend GIVF in Northern Virginia. They are very good and seem to be on the cutting egde of ART. The only catch with doing a cycle with a surrogate mother in the state of Virginia (and it could apply in some other states as well), is that the sperm has to be quarantined for six months before you can use it.  That's why we didn't do our first cycle with GIVF and instead did it with IRH in Ohio (they don't have this law).  I'm not sure of the laws about this in California.  The six month quarantine can add quite a bit of time to the whole process.


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## NatGamble (Mar 1, 2007)

Hi Audley

The law in California is favourable and lots of UK parents go there, but there are lots of other US states too. A big issue for international IPs in the US is often health insurance costs (for the surrogate and your baby, assuming you don't have US health insurance coverage yourselves) and which state you choose can have an impact on this, so plan carefully.

In the Ukraine, you need to take care to make sure that whoever you are working with is reputable (we have sadly seen disappearing agencies with disappearing deposits).

In both countries, you're likely to be named on the birth certificate as your child's parents, but do bear in mind that that won't be automatically recognised in the UK, so you'll need to navigate getting home safely and securing your parentage in the UK too if you want to get everything tied up legally. Whether your surrogate is married or unmarried can make a significant difference to how quickly you can get home, and you may also want to bear in mind whether you would rather be waiting for a passport in the Ukraine or the US in terms of your planning.

On the legal side, there's more info you may find useful at : http://www.nataliegambleassociates.co.uk/page/intsurr/38/ or give me a shout if you have any questions.

Best of luck with your research.

Natalie


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## olinaiti (Aug 23, 2011)

Hi ! We did gestational surrogacy to have our daughter (who was born this May ) in Texas . It' s also a good state to do it since you can have the prebirth order , and we did IVF in New Jersey ( I started it in London) , .the surrogate flew in , we were based in NY for two weeks during it. For us the whole proces fom signing up with the agency to birth was about a 2 y journey. They say the average is 15-18 m . We had our daughter with the second try , the first ended up in an early misscarriage. We took our time with looking for the right person. We had been signed up with them for about 6-7 m by the time we found the perfect person for us . It is time consuming and pretty complicated and the legal proces in this country takes a while after . We were happy with our US experience I do recommend it .


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## olinaiti (Aug 23, 2011)

... We used Reproductive Possibilities surrogacy agency based in New Jersey and RMA IVF clinic that has places all over including New Jersey and New York .


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## Audley (Jun 15, 2012)

Thank you. Very useful. We have a couple of consultations this week. Hopefully we will sign in the next few week. Our intention is to go to the IVF clinic in January so that we can do all the tests etc. Originally I thought California was a good choice but East coast is better for travelling back and forth.


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## LouGhevaert (May 18, 2009)

Hi

It's a question of what feels most comfortable for you overall, taking into account things like legal process, costs, timescales and logistics.  Personal recommendations can be positive and helpful too.

A recent High Court international surrogacy judgement (published just last month) highlights the importance of ensuring you have confidence in your foreign surrogacy agency or clinic and establishing a good working relationship with them, as well as direct dealings with your surrogate as far as possible to help ensure her full co-operation and consent to the grant of a parental order (the post birth court order you'll need to get to secure full legal parental status here in the UK).

No surrogacy arrangement is risk free and both the US and the Ukraine have had their share of problems recently. 

Do also make sure you are eligible to apply for a parental order before you enter into a surrogacy agreement - as this can otherwise cause all sorts of problems.  The legal process is, unfortunately, typically far more complicated if you enter into a foreign surrogacy arrangement as opposed to a UK arrangement and it's best to do your homework so you know what lies ahead and you can weigh everything up carefully.

Best of luck

Louisa


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