Using an Egg Donor and a Surrogate

Using an Egg Donor and Surrogate to Have a Baby

If you are considering using an egg donor and a surrogate to have a baby, you are not alone! We understand that you also might feel a bit disheartened when looking for information, as many times the details you find may address only half of the equation: either having a baby using an egg donor or having a baby using a surrogate, but not both. We are here to help clarify the entire process for you and answer your questions.

There are quite a few reasons why intended parents opt for the combination of egg donor and surrogate. The most common reasons include women who are unable, for whatever cause, to carry a pregnancy to term. Other women cannot use their own eggs due to various medical conditions or because their age has rendered their eggs non-viable. For gay men, the combination of egg donor and a surrogate is an excellent option for parenthood. That’s where we excel.

Surrogacy With Egg Donation Process Step by Step

Although the process of using an egg donor and surrogate to have a baby is straightforward, it does have multiple steps. Below we discuss some of the milestones in the process. Depending on your personal circumstances, some of these milestones may or may not be relevant to your surrogacy and egg donation process:

Conversation with our Patient Coordinator

Your initial point of contact is our patient coordinator, who will answer all the questions you may have and guide you through the entire process of becoming a parent. She will also assist you in selecting the egg donor and surrogate who best meets your requirements and needs.

Selection of your egg donor

The next step is reviewing our egg donor database, which contains everything you need to know about our donors. The database has all of our donors’ medical histories and physical traits plus a personal statement from each donor. After reviewing this information, you then choose and secure your donor. Frozen donor eggs are already available and ready for thawing. If you use fresh eggs, we’ll work with your selected donor to plan her donation cycle to retain the optimum number of eggs you need to build your family.

Consultation with our fertility specialist

Because everyone’s parenthood journey is unique, your consultation with one of our specialist physicians will help you map out what your journey looks like. This consultation with our in-house fertility specialist can be done in person or over the phone to help you plan your next steps.

Directed donor screening (sperm provider)

After you have chosen your donor and are providing sperm for fertilization, we will assist you in getting your sperm tested and ready for fertilization. This includes a questionnaire plus a physical exam and also involves taking a blood test to make sure there is not an infectious disease. There is also a sperm analysis and your sperm may be frozen. If donated sperm is used, it will need to get to our clinic before the day of fertilization.

Egg fertilization and embryo incubation

After the eggs are retrieved from your donor or thawed (if you’re using frozen donor eggs), we fertilize the eggs in the lab using your sperm or donor sperm to create embryos.

Embryos are incubated in our fertility lab to make sure they are good candidates for implantation. If you desire, we can test the eggs for chromosomal normalcy and sex at this stage.

Once incubation is complete, we freeze the embryos that are viable and save them for a future transfer. This freezing process is not harmful and frozen embryos will last for years. This gives you the flexibility to grow your family within the timeframe you choose. Plus, if more than one embryo is available, this gives you the chance to have future siblings if you desire.

Choosing a surrogate

The next step in the process is to select your surrogate, who is the woman that will carry your baby to term. We want you to have the perfect match, so our team will assist you in going through our available surrogate profiles. We arrange a match meeting between you and your selected surrogate so you can ask questions and you can be sure she is the right choice for you.

Completion of surrogacy legal agreements

Once you have made and confirmed your selection, the legal agreements between you and the surrogate are executed. These legal agreements protect all parties during the pregnancy and ensure you have legal protection throughout your surrogacy journey. You can select your attorney and we can also give you our recommendations for experienced surrogacy lawyers.

Preparation for embryo transfer

After the legal agreements have been signed, we work with you and your surrogate to work out her cycle and then schedule a date for the actual transfer of the embryo.

Track the surrogate pregnancy

Once embryo transfer has been completed, you will track your surrogate’s pregnancy. For the first 10 weeks, your surrogate’s pregnancy is closely monitored by our fertility clinic. Then, for the rest of the pregnancy and delivery, the monitoring is done by the surrogate’s obstetrician. You are part of your surrogate’s pregnancy journey and, depending on the prior agreements and what is outlined in your surrogacy contract, this can include attending her medical and ultrasound appointments, as well as receiving regular updates throughout the pregnancy to the delivery of your baby.

Using an Egg Donor and a Surrogate FAQ

While we understand that for most people, asking how much does an egg donor and surrogate cost can seem a bit daunting, the cost really depends on an individual’s circumstances and their fertility goals. Do you want one child or multiple children? Do you want to have a child of a particular sex using gender selection? All of these variables will go into the final cost of using an egg donor and surrogate. Let’s look a bit closer at the cost of surrogacy and then examine the cost of using an egg donor.

Surrogacy costs include a consulting service fee, a case management fee, and escrow payment (your surrogate’s compensation package). Consulting fees include the assignment of a professional case manager, recruitment of qualified surrogates, our extensive surrogate screening process, travel costs, and ongoing psychological support for the surrogate.

Case management begins when you have chosen your gestational surrogate and the match is confirmed. Case management fees cover your background screening, the surrogate’s medical preparation, and legal fees for you and your surrogate.

Sometimes, unexpected costs occur during the surrogacy process. Costs may include surrogate fees and allowances, health and life insurance for the surrogate, expenses such as maternity clothing, travel, and in the case of a surrogate put on bed rest by her physician, coverage of childcare and housekeeping. Plus, if the surrogate needs a C-section or is carrying twins, costs will increase.

At Pinnacle Surrogacy, the average cost for the entire surrogacy process typically falls between $140k and 160k. You can see a more detailed analysis of the cost of surrogacy here.

Next, let’s look at the cost of using an egg donor.

Just as the cost of using a surrogate varies depending on individual circumstances, the cost of using an egg donor depends on such circumstances as how many children you desire and whether Preimplantation Genetic Screening (PGT-A) is done to determine the health or sex of the embryo.

There is also the question of whether you are using fresh or frozen donor eggs. For both options, the cost per egg is $3,725. However, both options have a different minimum purchase. With frozen donor eggs, the minimum package is 6 eggs for a cost of $22,350. The minimum package for fresh eggs is 8 and costs $29,800. If you are hoping for only one child and are not going to pursue either gender selection or chromosomal testing, then the six frozen eggs package is a great option. Here at Pinnacle Fertility, our live birth success rates are comparable with either fresh or frozen eggs.

What Are the Next Steps?

Ready to start your egg donor and surrogacy journey? If so, we invite you to explore our extensive library of resources for more information, including our surrogacy FAQ and patient testimonials. There are also additional details on using donor eggs and finding a surrogate on their highlighted pages respectively. We want you to have all the information you need, as we understand this is perhaps one of the most important decisions of your life. Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any additional questions you may have. You can call our coordinators at 877 261 0392. We would be delighted to assist you!

Surrogacy With Compassion, Integrity & Collaboration.

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What Our Surrogates Say About Us

Quotes icon for testimonials on the Pinnacle Surrogacy website

Great and friendly customers service, devoted employees. Dr. Jain is awesome, he explained everything, step by step. I would recommend them to anyone who is planning a family, or willing to help a family.

I have been with Premium Surrogacy for nine months now. I researched many clinics to become a Surrogate and I fell in love with this agency. Dr. Jain answers all your questions and helps you out with any issues. The nurses are very nice and explain everything in detail. It’s great when you can call and they can give answers to questions that may even come up later in the process.

Julie, Lanesha, Gaby, n Patricia are just some of the lovely ladies that walk you through EVERYTHING. I EVEN HAD SOME ISSUES WITH THE SHOTS BUT THE NURSES WALKED ME THROUGH AND MADE SURE I HAD EVERY AVAILABLE resource.

I am now pregnant with twins and can’t wait to do it again.

I have worked with California Premium Surrogacy for the past year. I have just completed my Surrogacy Journey about a week ago. This journey was absolutely flawless. From the beginning, I knew I needed to find an agency that had my best interest in mind. California Premium Surrogacy was that company and clearly the only choice if you are looking to take this journey yourself.

The difference with this agency is that Dr. Jain has two separate sides to his practice, the fertility side, and the surrogacy side. This means that when you are choosing a couple, he is both your doctor AND theirs. He knows all of his patients and is involved in the matching process. His staff is absolutely hands down the best team you will ever meet. They work together very well and they all know you by name. Every one of them is very quick to respond to phone calls and emails and answered all of my questions thoroughly.

Dr. Jain is very knowledgeable and very kind and sweet. He keeps things real and has your health in mind at all times.

They have a really great psychologist named Peggy who is a pro at all things fertility and how that can affect you emotionally she calls periodically to check on you and I will miss her phone calls.

The person I talked with the most is Amber. She is in charge of the surrogates, and if you intend to apply you will get to know her. She has become a friend. She doesn’t make this process feel “Businessy”. She has been a surrogate herself and had great advice and tips for me while I was on this journey. She was never more than a phone call away. Being a surrogate changed my life and it is something I will never forget. It was so rewarding and it is all because of California Premium Surrogacy. I wish I could do it again and again.

If you are looking into becoming a surrogate and want to have a beautiful experience I would 1000% recommend this agency.

I had the best experience with my first surrogacy that I decided to do it again. Amber is amazing. She helped me through the whole process and any time I had questions all I had to do was shoot her a text. Its a wonderful thing to help someone start a family!!

We are so grateful and ecstatic to have our new son in our family. We experience heartbreaking miscarriages and were told we could not have another pregnancy. Our other son wanted a sibling so bad, that he wrote a note to “the storks” asking for a brother or sister to lay with and help take care of. Thanks to Pinnacle Surrogacy, Dr Jain and his wonderful staff, we have been blessed with a beautiful baby boy! We feel that our family is “complete” but we would highly recommend Pinnacle Surrogacy to any family seeking to bring another child into their family. Perhaps it’s not quite “in the usual way” but just as amazing and wonderful. We are forever grateful!

Currently a surrogate working with [Pinnacle Surrogacy] and it is my first journey. I can not express enough how truly incredible this agency is. As a first time surrogate it was incredibly overwhelming starting out, and I had spoke to several agencies. But Pinnacle Surrogacy really stood out to me the advisor I spoke with made my decision to move forward with them so easy. You can tell their advisors really truly care and the majority have been surrogates themselves so its a very personal and understanding experience. Wendy is my advisor and to say she was a God sent is an understatement. Every step of the way each person involved in my journey has been so great. I would 110% recommend Pinnacle Surrogacy if you are considering surrogacy!! I would use them over and over again and would refer them personally without hesitation. This journey so far has been everything I dreamt and more thanks to this incredible team of people!

[Pinnacle Surrogacy] has been amazing to work with. As a first time gestational carrier I am thankful I was able to work with such an amazing team. This experience has been one that I won’t forget. Not only do I get to help bring someones dream of having a family come true, I got to work with a great group of people.

[Pinnacle Surrogacy] is an AMAZING agency!!! Everyone in the office is so helpful and so nice! This is my second time being a surrogate and working with Dr. Jain and his staff and both experiences have been wonderful! Since the agency works hand in hand with Dr. Jain and [Pinnacle Fertility] the screening process and the matching process were so much quicker than with a regular agency! They are able to get you screened and matched with an IP in less time than any other agency I’ve heard of! I would highly recommend anyone interested in becoming a surrogate apply with [Pinnacle Surrogacy]!!!

The entire staff is amazing, with so many moving parts they make the whole process so much easier.

I used [Pinnacle Surrogacy] for my second surrogacy and could not have had a better experience. My first agency was not a great agency and left me really doubting the process and whether or not I could do it again but [Pinnacle Surrogacy] changed my perspective on it all! They truly care about their surrogates and their needs through the process. I received email and phone call checkups from them to make sure I had everything I needed and things were going smoothly. If something wasn’t going as planned they would jump on it right away to fix it. Their agency coordinator was great at understanding my feelings through it all. I HIGHLY recommend this agency!!

Absolutely love [Pinnacle Surrogacy]! I delivered a surrogate baby in July and could not have had a better experience! They exceeded all of my expectations so much that I am currently in the process of doing another journey with them. 🙂 Any questions and concerns are answered ASAP and they always make sure you are comfortable with everything! I will always always always recommend this agency!!

If you are in search of an amazing agency for your Surrogacy please contact [Pinnacle Surrogacy]. I have worked with this agency for a little over two years and I wouldn’t change anything about my experience with them! All of the staff are amazing and one of the things I loved is that everything is “in-house.” Being able to see the same nurses and doctors for every aspect of the IVF process was a huge plus for me.

I had the best experience with my first surrogacy that I decided to do it again. Amber is amazing. She helped me through the whole process and any time I had questions all I had to do was shoot her a text. It's a wonderful thing to help someone start a family!

Lindsay

[Pinnacle Surrogacy, formerly] California premium Surrogacy has been amazing to work with. As a first-time gestational carrier I am thankful I was able to work with such an amazing team. This experience has been one that I won't forget. Not only do I get to help bring someone's dream of having a family come true, but I also got to work with a great group of people.

Cassandra

[Pinnacle Surrogacy, formerly] Premium Surrogacy has been an absolute dream to work with! They make the whole process so smooth and seamless, always having your best interest at heart. Being able to be a surrogate is such an amazing opportunity but can also be terrifying as well, with premium surrogacy I’ve never felt more confident and at ease. This agency truly cares, and they show it in the way they treat you no matter what time of day someone is always available if you need something. They send birthday cards, and they also send small spontaneous gifts just to show you their gratitude which is completely not necessary, but very heartwarming they take the time to do those small actions that really do speak volumes. I can not say enough good things about this agency! You work with them once and I guarantee you'll be looking at doing surrogacy at least one more time.

Jaun’L

[Pinnacle Surrogacy, formerly] California Premium Surrogacy has been a breath of fresh air. I have worked with them for the past year and have no complaints. The coordinator that I have worked with the entire time has always been understanding, informative, honest, and quick to get things done on my behalf. They have taken the pressure off of me and done everything in their power to make this an enjoyable experience as a first-time Gestational Carrier. I will be using them for any future journeys.

Makaylah

Amazing & Supportive agency! I just completed my surrogacy journey and it was hands down something I will never forget. I knew I wanted to be a surrogate but I was a little hesitant and scared. I took a leap just based on the shared stories and reviews of [Pinnacle Surrogacy, formerly]California Premium Surrogacy, and I would not change this for anything. This agency has an amazing team (that feel more like really supportive friends) that works with you every step of the way. They are professional, and caring and they make the whole journey feel so smooth. They honestly think of everything to make sure you are comfortable and doing good. I honestly felt like top priority with them, not just a transaction. Some members of their team have also been surrogates themselves which is so helpful in hearing their experiences and getting guidance. The process was seamless and it was such a pleasure meeting and working with all of them. I would 100% recommend them if you are thinking about becoming a surrogate.

Jessica