Surrogacy in South Carolina – A Complete Guide for Intended Parents

Yes, you can! If you don’t have an IVF center yet, we will also provide you with options for embryo creation. We partner with the best fertility clinics in the U.S. and can also create embryos here at one of our partner clinics

You have come to the right place! Aside from our OB-managed model, we are known for always having prescreened Surrogates ready to match! Here at Physician’s Surrogacy, we receive applications from women in 40 states nationwide. They must undergo our extensive pre-screening process, including medical, psychological, and social screening. We manage the details and will present the candidate that most closely aligns with your clinic’s criteria, your criteria, and her personal preferences, making it the perfect match. This comprehensive approach allows us to match you with the ideal Surrogate, whether she is a first-time Surrogate Mother or an experienced Surrogate.

There’s not one answer to this question of a Surrogate Mother price, as the overall cost depends on several factors involved in surrogacy. Your Intended Parents’ coordinator will outline the services required during surrogacy and our fixed-rate compensation cost structure. Immediately after your complimentary consultation, we will provide a price quotation. The quotation will follow your circumstances and preferences. At Physician’s Surrogacy, we pride ourselves on our transparency with our services and pricing. Schedule a free consultation today to receive a transparent quote that will help you understand the total cost of surrogacy.

Due to the variability in Surrogate compensation and other state-specific factors, surrogacy in the US can cost anywhere between $120,000 to $160,000.

The best way to find a Surrogate Mother is to go through a reputable surrogacy agency, such as Physician’s Surrogacy. It is crucial you have surrogacy professionals carry out the process so your journey remains safe and seamless.

Some ask a family member, and others pursue independent journeys, but both scenarios lack safeguards for yourself and your Surrogate. Moreover, an agency ensures you have legal support from the surrogacy contract to parentage, which you may be missing otherwise.

A Gestational Surrogate or a Gestational Carrier is a woman who becomes pregnant using an embryo created by the process of in vitro fertilization (IVF). The Surrogate may achieve pregnancy using the mother’s eggs and the father’s sperm. Gestational surrogacy also offers the option to use donor eggs or donor sperm. There will be no genetic relationship to the Surrogate. 

In surrogacy, the Surrogate Mother carries and delivers a baby for another woman, couple, or individual person (the Intended Parent). In gestational surrogacy, the gestational carrier does not have a biological relation to the child, due to the Surrogate Mother’s eggs not being used in the process. Instead, the embryo is created by using the intended father’s sperm or donor sperm and the intended mother’s eggs or donor eggs.

Anyone can. Physician’s Surrogacy wants to help you build your family regardless of martial status, sexual orientation, or gender identity. The U.S. states that our Surrogates come from all have very favorable legislation and don’t restrict surrogacy to only traditional family models. That means that, unlike a lot of other countries that offer surrogacy programs (e.g. Ukraine), anyone can become a parent with us in California. Other countries don’t permit single parents, unmarried couples, homosexual couples, or intended parent(s) who need a double donor to become a parent through surrogacy due to legislation. This is why the U.S. is such a popular place for surrogacy journeys from parents around the world.

A Surrogate is a woman who carries and delivers a baby for another individual/couple who is otherwise unable to have a baby or carry a pregnancy. In traditional surrogacy, the Surrogate gets artificially inseminated with the father’s sperm/donor sperm. A traditional Surrogate is the baby’s biological mother as her eggs were used to create the embryo. This practice is antiquated and has been replaced with gestational surrogacy.
A gestational Surrogate or gestational carrier does not have genetic connections with the baby as intended mother’s eggs/donor eggs are used to create the embryo. Physician’s Surrogacy only offers gestational surrogacy.

Having a Surrogate mother can be a viable option in cases such as:

• Inability to conceive because of uterine irregularities
• History of multiple failed IVF cycles without a known cause
• Delayed parenthood due to career or other life circumstances.
• Due to circumstances, unable to carry a pregnancy and have a biological child.
• Underlying medical condition that could cause great risk to yourself or your baby during pregnancy
• Same-sex male couples or single fathers

There are several reasons why a woman would choose to become a Surrogate mother for someone else. Some Surrogates have seen a friend or family member experience issues with infertility. Thus, they are eager to help a couple or individuals become parents. Others may feel that their family is complete but love being pregnant. They may feel that helping prospective parents is their greater calling.

The total cost of a surrogacy arrangement includes numbers of factors such as agency fees, Surrogate compensation, medical expenses, fertility clinic fees and legal fees. However, there are more parameters that also affect the surrogacy costs like country, state, special medical condition etc. Hence, depending on these variables, total expenses incurred in surrogacy differs greatly. It is always best to consult a surrogacy expert to get a better understanding about different factors that can impact the surrogacy costs.

Yes. Once you get a match with a Surrogate, we will draft an agreement. We will negotiate it on your behalf with your Surrogate’s independent attorney. These contracts cover everything from the medical procedure to your Surrogate Mother’s reimbursement costs during the whole surrogacy process. It will also clearly mention the amount of contact you would like to have with the Surrogate during the process. There are two separate attorneys in the process. One will represent you, the Intended Parents while the other represents the Surrogate. This avoids any conflict of interest.

The amount of contact between the Intended Parents and the Surrogate varies case by case. Both parties shall determine & agree upon the contract during the matching process. Some cultures are a little more closed off than others; however, the relationship and communication develop as the journey progresses.

It depends on the agency you choose to work with. Most agencies have a 6-18 month waiting list to match with a surrogate. Some also require you to sign a contract and pay agency fees for them to begin the process of matching. Physician’s Surrogacy offers complimentary matching, and you can match with your Surrogate as quickly as a week. On average, the typical timeline is two weeks.

If you do not live in the United States, you will need to travel to the U.S. at least once. This trip is for the delivery of your child. Another time would be to create your embryos at a U.S. clinic. If you prefer creating the embryos without having to travel, you can choose to either have your embryo transported or send your eggs/sperm to the U.S. clinic. Should you choose to come to the U.S. for the embryo creation the trip will include an introductory meeting with the Surrogate. On the same visit, we conduct your medical screening and then the creation of the embryos at the IVF clinic.

Generally, you can break down the surrogacy process into six stages: Consultation, Matching, Screening, Legal, Conception, and Pregnancy/Delivery

*Consultation: The entire process begins with a complimentary surrogacy consultation with our experienced team which requires no cost. In this meeting, you’ll have an opportunity to share your story with us and why you’ve chosen surrogacy to grow your family. We will explain our process and program offerings and answer any questions you might have.

*Matching: Our average matching timeline is one week. This successful and dynamic matching timeline is attributed to our comprehensive 3-4-month medical pre-screening. Our in-house OBs supervise the pre-screening process of our Surrogates. Before we present a potential Surrogate candidate, she has undergone a thorough background check. Moreover, our Ob team has already screened all of her pregnancy histories. Lastly, she has undergone proper and necessary lab work, qualifying her to become an eligible candidate through our agency.

*Screening: Once we have a confirmed two-way match (Intended Parents & Surrogate), the Surrogate will go through the final stages of medical and psychological screening. The whole process takes place through the IVF clinic which the Intended Parents have chosen. Once the Surrogate has been cleared, we move into the legal phase.

*Legal: The legal contract phase is typically two to four weeks. Your attorney drafts the agreement and works with your Surrogate’s attorney to establish the terms of all aspects of the journey, including parental rights and obligations of both parties. Later there will be a second legal stage to establish parentage. You will have unlimited access to your attorney and your Surrogate’s attorney during the contractual phase and the entire journey.

Our flat rate cost structure includes:
The Surrogate mothers’ compensation cost.
Legal representation for both sides.
Medical expenses.
Insurance.
The agency fee.
Almost all of these surrogacy-related procedures come with predetermined costs.

*Conception: Your Surrogate can begin her IVF treatment after receiving medical, psychological, and legal clearance.

*Pregnancy/Delivery: Throughout the pregnancy phase of the journey, you will have detailed weekly updates. Your case manager will provide weekly updates with all new information regarding your Surrogate and child.

You, as the Intended Parent will be the one who will have full parental rights to the baby. Also, it is your name that will appear on the birth certificate.

There are several factors that influence the overall success rates of Surrogacy pregnancy. These factors can include the health and viability of the embryos used and the health of your Surrogate. As an Ob-Managed surrogacy agency we ensure that our Surrogates are medically prescreened before even being presented to you. The IVF clinic you work with also plays a vital role. Your fertility clinic can help you determine your best chances of achieving a successful pregnancy. Not only that but also the clinic will perform it under your specific circumstances. Besides, most surrogacy professionals will perform multiple embryo transfers. It continues until achieving a healthy pregnancy. This makes the overall surrogacy success rate very high.

All funds related to your surrogacy (including medical expenses for the Surrogate) will be held in a trust account. An experienced escrow company will manage the account. This way all monies due for your Surrogate fees and reimbursement of related expenses are paid in a timely manner. Finally, the surrogacy agency will be handling all financial matters. This arrangement effectively removes the payment related component from your relationship with the Intended Parents during the process.

There are different options to finance your surrogacy journey such as fertility loans, surrogacy grants or personal lines of credit. To read further about how to finance your Surrogate price click here.