Surrogate Becoming a gestational - Your detailed guide on what to expect on your surrogacy journey - Circle Surrogacy
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Becoming a
gestational
surrogate
Your detailed guide
on what to expect on
your surrogacy journey
circlesurrogacy.com
What’s inside this handy guide.
Welcome to Circle Surrogacy! We want to
thank you for considering the rewarding
commitment of becoming a gestational
surrogate with our agency. Circle
Surrogacy has helped couples and singles,
gay and straight, from more than 30
different countries match with qualified
surrogates since 1995. Circle Surrogacy has
helped bring over 1,800 babies into the
world with unmatched success rates of close
to 100% of clients becoming parents
through egg donor surrogacy.
Here is what’s covered in this guidebook:
• The Application & Prescreening Process
• The Screening Process
• Matching Considerations
• The Matching Process
• Contracts & Medical Screening
• The Embryo Transfer Cycle
• Pregnancy
• Labor and Delivery
• Post-Birth
• Important Information
We’re so happy to be on this journey with you!
2
The Application and
Prescreening Process
The first step in becoming a gestational carrier
with Circle Surrogacy is to complete our online
application. At that point you will also be given
access into our Surrogate Portal.
While your application is under review, you can
begin completing the required tasks located on the
portal. After your application is received and
reviewed, if approved, you will be assigned to a
Surrogate Coordinator, who will reach out to you
within 24 hours.
Prescreening
If your initial application is approved, your coordinator will ask you to complete the
required tasks on the surrogate portal if you have not already done so. Once you
begin completing this paperwork you will be moved into the “Prescreening” phase.
During this time our Medical Records Coordinator will begin requesting your medical
records based on information you’ve provided on the portal. This includes, but is not
limited to: previous OBGYN records, labor and delivery records for each previous
pregnancy, recent pap-smear results, and any other pertinent medical information.
Once received, your medical records will be reviewed by an IVF doctor who will
preliminarily determine if you are medically appropriate for surrogacy. You will
participate in a comprehensive medical screening at a later date.
3
The Application and
PreScreening Process
During Prescreening – and while you are building your Surrogacy Profile in our
Surrogate Portal – if you have health insurance benefits, you will be asked to provide
a copy of the Health Insurance Benefits and Exclusions booklet to be reviewed by our
legal team. Our legal team will determine if your health insurance can be used for the
purposes of a surrogate pregnancy or if additional insurance should be purchased by
the intended parents. All surrogates will be asked for their permission to have Circle
run a criminal and financial background check on them. If you are married or living
with a partner, he/she will be asked for permission to have a background check
completed on them also, as well as anyone else 18 years or older living in the home.
Once the initial documents have been received, the Circle pre-screening team will
conduct a review of your documents. If you continue to meet the criteria to become
a Circle surrogate, you will progress to the screening process.
Birth Control/Condom Requirement
Now that you’ve applied to become a surrogate,
it is important that you are consistently using
contraception to prevent a pregnancy of your own.
If you are not already using regular birth control,
it is crucial you begin using condoms carefully
and consistently now.
In that past, we’ve had several applicants who
have become pregnant with their own child
and it has been disappointing for all parties involved.
If there is any chance that you may be pregnant currently, please be sure to take a
pregnancy test before proceeding further in the application process and/or your
social work screening.
4
The Screening Process
Once the application process is complete, the
next step is for you to have an interview with a
social worker from Circle. The call will last
approximately 2-2 ½ hours on average. We prefer
to have this call take place over Skype, so please
be sure that you have a Skype account set up.
What to expect during your screening call.
The social worker will conduct an in-depth interview with you, examining your motivation to become
a surrogate, your support system, your pregnancy history, your family and interpersonal
relationships, interests and life experiences. You will receive a clear explanation of Circle’s
expectations throughout a surrogacy journey, and next steps in the process, including how we
match waiting intended parents with surrogates. We will also ask that you identify people in your life
who can assist you during a surrogacy journey, by traveling with you to the IVF clinic, and providing
childcare during a surrogacy. The screening is a great time for you to ask any questions about the
surrogacy process, the support offered by our agency, and the fee scale.
The interview is also an opportunity for you to share what you are looking for in a surrogacy journey
and with which populations you are comfortable working (international, domestic, same-sex couples
and heterosexual IPs, etc.). In addition, there will be an in depth discussion about your views
regarding termination and selective reduction in relation to a prospective surrogacy journey.
It is important to Circle that we match our intended parents with surrogates that share similar views
on these topics and that all parties are comfortable moving forward with these views in mind. Nearly
all intended parents in our program would like to work with a surrogate who is open to undergoing a
termination or selective reduction, if medically indicated due to a medical complication,
chromosomal abnormality or genetic disorder (including a Down’s syndrome diagnosis).
5
The Screening Process
Identifying your primary support person.
Prior to your social work interview, you will be asked to identify a primary support person. This is a
requirement for all surrogates in our program whether you are married, partnered, dating or single.
If you are married or partnered, your significant other will be your primary support person. If you
are single, you need to identify an individual who knows you well and is willing to support you
throughout a surrogacy journey. Your primary support person must be 21 years or older. Once your
interview is complete, and both you and the social worker feel comfortable moving ahead, the next
step is for your primary support person to speak to the social worker. Your primary support person’s
screening can be done over the phone and will likely last 1-1 ½ hours.
The purpose of the primary support screening is to ensure that you have identified an individual who
can assist with the logistical challenges during a journey, including acting as a travel companion,
helping with childcare, housekeeping, and hormonal injections during the IVF process as well as
providing you with emotional support during your journey. Your support person will play an integral
role in helping to make this journey a positive experience for you and the intended parent (s).
In some cases, the social worker may also ask that you identify someone that can serve as a
character reference for you. This person may be contacted by a social worker to provide additional
information about your readiness for a surrogacy journey and/or to provide valuable insight about
you.
Following your Skype interview, primary support screen,
and possible reference check, Circle will determine if you are
physically, emotionally, and mentally prepared to embark
on a journey. If so, we will ask that you meet with your
primary support person to review the process in detail
one final time and to determine if this is a good fit for
your family.
We will ask you to sign a form known as the
Commitment Letter, saying you have considered all aspects
of surrogacy and are ready to move on to the next step;
matching with (a) waiting intended parent(s).
We ask that surrogates return the Commitment Letter to Circle
within 24 hours of receiving it. Don’t hesitate to ask your assigned social worker
any questions that you might have regarding the details of the commitment letter.
6
Matching Considerations
Once you have signed the commitment letter,
you will be connected to a member of our
matching team, who will work to identify
the appropriate intended parents
match option for you.
Circle Surrogacy matches surrogates
and intended parent(s) based on
three important factors:
Appropriate legal fit.
Once the screening process is fully completed,
the legal team will determine appropriate legal matches.
In the United States, every state has its own laws regarding surrogacy. In addition, each country we
work with has different laws regarding surrogacy. Therefore, the legal team’s expertise in this area is
extremely important to ensure that we are matching you based on the laws of your state as well as the
law of the state/country of the intended parents. Circle would never knowingly present you a match
that is not a safe legal fit. This is why it is also important that you do not plan to move out of state during
surrogacy.
Personality fit.
Once the legal team determines an appropriate fit from a legal perspective, the Circle team will do their
best to honor the waiting list for a surrogate match while trying to ensure we are making a good
personality fit. The goal is to match intended parents with surrogates who share the same expectations,
hopes and dreams for a perfect surrogacy journey.
Expectations surrounding termination and selective reduction.
The last factor we consider during matching is the surrogate’s views on selective reduction and
termination. This is extremely important for us to consider since in the United States the pregnant
woman has the absolute right to choose. Therefore, we want to ensure that the surrogate’s views align
with intended parents’ views in the event of a situation arising where selective reduction or termination
is considered. As noted previously, most intended parents in our program would like to work with a
surrogate willing to undergo a termination or selective reduction if medically indicated.
7
The Matching Process
Once we have identified Intended Parents
(a couple or single individual) that we think are
a good fit for you, a member of the matching team
will send the intended parents your redacted
profile to the intended parents via email and
send their redacted profile to you
via email for your review.
Your profile will include:
• photographs of you and your family
• your initial application
• the social work assessment
• primary support interview and sometimes the reports
from your references.
All of your identifying information will be redacted from the documents before they are sent to the
Intended Parents. We allow each party one to two days to review the information in full and ask any
questions. If you have any additional questions about the intended parents, the matching team will act
as a liaison to obtain the answers. Please note: we want all parties to be comfortable moving ahead so
should you feel that this is not a good match, the matching team will respect your decision. They will
request a reason for why the proposed match wasn’t appropriate for you so they can take that into
account when considering future match options.
If both parties are comfortable moving ahead with each other, the matching team will arrange a Skype
call for everyone to “meet.” This call will not be supervised by Circle Surrogacy. General feedback from
intended parents and carriers is that the relationship can develop more naturally without a third party
listening in on the call. We want this call to be a positive starting point for your relationship with the
intended parents. We strongly encourage your primary support person to participate if possible. The
matching team will work with both parties to prepare for the call. Following the Skype call, the matching
team will reach out to both parties to get their perspective on how the call went. If everyone feels
comfortable and ready to proceed, Circle will then consider you “matched”.
Prior to your match being official, you will need to complete a psychological exam. We estimate it will
take you about 45 minutes to complete the exam. This exam will be conducted via online video
conferencing and will be evaluated by a Massachusetts Board Certified Licensed Psychologist. The
results are usually provided to Circle within three to five days after the exam has been completed.
Satisfactory results on the psychological exam are required in order to be cleared to move forward by
Circle and your intended parents’ IVF clinic.
8
Contracts & Medical Screening
Once you have been matched, you will be assigned a
program coordination team consisting of a Program
Manager and a Program Coordinator who will become
your main contacts at Circle from this point on. Your
program coordination team will handle all aspects of
your journey through the medical process, pregnancy
and birth.
You will also be appointed a support social worker who
will provide emotional support to you throughout the
process. They will check in with you on a monthly basis
from the time of match until you are two months
postpartum. Your social worker will invite you to join
Circle’s private Facebook group to connect with other
surrogates in our program.
Drafting your contract.
After you’re matched and introduced to your program coordination team and social worker, Circle’s
legal team will be sent all of the intended parents’ and surrogates’ information so they can begin
drafting your legal agreement. You will be assigned to outside counsel to ensure their rights are
protected. Your attorney fees will be paid for by the intended parents. Your intended parents will
first review the draft of the contract. Once they complete their review, your assigned attorney will
reach out to you to review the contract. You can expect to hear from an attorney about a month to
six weeks after you are matched. The contract typically takes about two months to draft, negotiate
and finalize.
The contract will outline the commitments and risks involved in a surrogacy to be sure that all
parties are fully informed and are in agreement about all aspects of a journey.
9
Contracts & Medical Screening
Travel restrictions.
The contract will also include restrictions on travel during a surrogacy. Once matched, surrogates
are not able to travel internationally. Surrogates and their partners are not allowed to travel to any
areas where there is a risk of contracting the Zika Virus. The Zika virus can be sexually transmitted
and remains in the body for up to six months. Therefore surrogates must wait at least six months
after they or their sexual partner have travelled to an area with Zika risk prior to undergoing an
embryo transfer.
Surrogates also agree not to travel to Michigan, New York, Nebraska, and Louisiana once she
reaches her second trimester gestation. No out of state travel is permitted during the third
trimester.
Medical screening at IPs’ IVF clinic.
While the legal contract is being drafted, your program coordination team will be working with
you to arrange your comprehensive medical screening at the clinic your intended parents have
chosen. Intended parents in our program work with IVF clinics throughout the United States,
though the majority of these clinics are located in California, Las Vegas or in the Northeast. The
medical screening is typically an overnight visit.
The medical screening involves a full physical examination and bloodwork panel at the IVF clinic.
If you have not had a recent pap smear, one will likely be requested.
You will have an ultrasound to ensure your uterus is free from polyps or scarring that could
interfere with the implantation of the embryos. Most clinics will also provide an injection lesson to
educate you on how to administer the medications that are required during the IVF process. Your
husband and/or partner should be available to attend the medical screening with you, as he/she
may be required to undergo routine blood testing or have a urine sample collected as well, to test
for nicotine, drugs, and STDs.
Some clinics may ask that you complete a mock cycle as part of the medical screening process,
while others do not require this. A mock cycle is an artificial cycle of hormonal stimulation
affecting the endometrium or the lining of the uterus where the embryos implant. These results
allow the IVF doctor to know how the surrogate’s body will respond to the medication prior to
scheduling the embryo transfer.
Many intended parents will have both a surrogate and an egg donor. All same sex male couples
require an egg donor, and many heterosexual intended mothers are unable to use their own eggs
for various reasons. If your intended parents require an egg donor, their egg donor needs to
undergo a medical screening and complete legal contracts as well. Once the medical screening
and legal contract are complete for both you and egg donor (if one is needed), you will be ready to
move on to the next step in the journey: the medical process!
10The Embryo Transfer Cycle
Your IVF timeline.
Once all contracts are signed, you will receive a medical timeline from the IVF clinic. Most IVF
clinics recommend a frozen embryo transfer, which means that an egg donor will undergo a
retrieval and embryos will be created and then frozen, therefore your medical timeline will depend
on when embryos are created following an egg donor retrieval and how the egg donor responds to
medications.
Once an approximate timeline is determine, you will be provided an estimated transfer schedule,
which will include instructions for taking IVF medications, dates for local monitoring
appointments, and an approximate date for the transfer. Your local monitoring appointments will
take place at an IVF clinic local to your home. While you are on the IVF medications you will
attend weekly blood tests and ultrasounds to monitor the effects of the medications at your local
monitoring site. You will receive assistance to determine the local monitoring site closest to your
home. These are early morning appointments, typically taking place between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30
a.m. so that the results can be sent to the IVF clinic that same day. Each IVF clinic has a different
number of monitoring appointments, so you may need to attend between five and eleven of these
appointments per IVF cycle. The date of these appointments is based on the cycle, and cannot be
changed based on your personal schedule. Appointments may be added, if results differ from what
was expected by the clinic.
Please note: Some surrogates may need to travel over an hour, or in some cases even longer, to
attend these appointments, particularly those who live more rurally. There are numerous factors
that go into selecting a location, including cost, facility capabilities, if they are accepting new
patients, etc. The closest IVF location will not always be the one that is chosen for local
monitoring due to these factors. In some cases, surrogates may need to miss a half-day or even a
full day of work for these appointments due to location.
Each IVF clinic has its own medication protocol, and therefore it is difficult for us to provide you
with precise information about what a medication schedule will look like for you. The explanation
below is based on medical information provided by Pacific Fertility Center in Los Angeles, CA,
one of the IVF clinics we work with often.
11The Embryo Transfer Cycle
Your IVF medications.
The frozen IVF cycle (FET) starts with your period.
Once you have started your cycle and informed the clinic,
you will receive an IVF calendar with all the medications,
dates, and instructions for taking the medications and
attending local monitoring appointments. You will know
the planned day of the embryo transfer 3 weeks in advance.
It is usually performed 19-21 days from the start of your period,
Day 1 being the first day you see any bleeding, even spotting.
However, this date could change as you get closer to the transfer.
You will be taking three medications: Prenatal vitamins, Estrogen, and Progesterone. Prenatal
vitamins are taken daily beginning at the start of a surrogacy journey. The clinic will then instruct
the surrogate to start Estrogen injections, to be taken every 3 days starting on the 2nd day of
your menstrual cycle. The medication is called Estradiol valerate or E2V. Your dose is typically 0.2
cc given intramuscularly. Estrogen is the hormone that builds your uterine lining. You will then
undergo a transvaginal ultrasound at your monitoring clinic to check your lining. If the lining
check looks good, you will begin Progesterone injections 6 days before your planned embryo
transfer. This medication is also administered intramuscularly in the hip and the typical dose is 1 cc
per day. You will also begin Progesterone vaginal capsules starting the night of the embryo
transfer at bedtime and daily following the transfer. Progesterone is the “cement” necessary to
keep your uterine lining from disintegrating.
The trip for the transfer will typically be about four or five days, but could be as many as seven
days. The length of time you will need to be at the clinic will depend on many factors, including
how your body responds to the IVF medications and the quality of the embryos. You will be told
about three weeks ahead of time, an approximate date for the transfer, based on the cycle
schedule, the exact dates may change within just a few days of your expected trip. The dates can
change depending on how your body responds to the IVF medication, so it is important to have
flexibility in terms of your ability to take time off or be away from your child/ren on short notice.
It is strongly recommended that the surrogate bring a travel companion for support during the
medical process. All travel costs for the surrogate and their companion as listed in the contract
will be covered by the intended parents. Surrogates are not permitted to bring their children on
embryo transfer trips or to the medical screening.
12The Embryo Transfer Cycle
Your transfer!
The embryo transfer is done at the IVF clinic.
You will arrive an hour before your scheduled
time and fill your bladder. A full bladder, as
uncomfortable as it is, allows a better visualization
of your uterus that is necessary for an optimal
embryo transfer. The transfer is performed
under ultrasound guidance. A catheter is
introduced into the uterine cavity and the
embryo(s) released with a syringe. You will
stay in bed for an hour in a tilted position and
then discharged home or to your hotel.
Most clinics will recommend bedrest for
1-2 days after the embryo transfer.
You are typically unable to lift over 10 pounds
in the days following a transfer. Timeframes for this
restriction vary, so you must follow the instructions of your IVF clinic.
Once the beta test shows an indication of pregnancy, you will undergo an ultrasound examination
to confirm the health and growth of the baby(ies) between 6 and 8 weeks gestation. Once an
ultrasound confirms a heartbeat, Circle will consider you “officially pregnant” and monthly
payments will begin. If it is determined that you are not pregnant, you will be directed by the
clinic to stop taking the medications. You will have one full menstrual cycle before you begin
medications again in preparation for a second transfer attempt. Typically, there are one to three
months in between transfers. If the intended parents have frozen embryos, which they often do
at that time, they will use those. However, on occasion intended parents may need to create new
embryos or even select a new egg donor for a subsequent cycle, which may result in a delay in the
next scheduled transfer date. We ask that both intended parents and surrogates commit to at
least three transfer attempts, which historically has resulted in a 99% rate of success.
If you are confirmed pregnant at the six week ultrasound, clinics will typically have you undergo
another ultrasound at 8 weeks and again at 10 weeks gestation, at which point, if everything looks
healthy, you can stop medications and the IVF clinic will release you to your own OB doctor and
you will continue along as you would in a normal pregnancy.
13The Embryo Transfer Cycle
Post-transfer.
Ten days post-transfer, you will have a blood test called a beta test to test for pregnancy. If your
beta test is positive, we consider this is an indication (not a confirmation) of pregnancy.
Sometimes hormones can create false positives or a chemical pregnancy. This is due to the fact
that HCG levels (hormone levels) in the body are tested and the medication you have been taking
could indicate higher levels of hormone due to variables other than pregnancy. The results of the
beta test are in number form and usually a result higher than five indicates a pregnancy; however,
if your number is between 5 and 100, the clinic will typically have you return for repeat testing at
the monitoring clinic to ensure that the number is increasing exponentially. Some IVF clinics
have all surrogates complete up to three beta tests. If the tests are positive and the numbers
continue to at least double, you will continue taking the medications up to ten to twelve weeks of
pregnancy to maintain the pregnancy.
The reasons for continuing to take these hormones is that the medications you take are hormones
naturally produced by your body. The reason the hormones are administered to you is for timing
and logistical reasons. Once you start these hormone injections, your body is fooled to think that
it is making them, hence it stops from secreting these hormones. Therefore, you must continue
taking these hormones until your body takes over around the 7th week of pregnancy, otherwise
the pregnancy could not be sustained. The clinic will likely direct you to continue the shots until
the 10-12 weeks of pregnancy to be on the safe side. At that point, if everything looks good, the
clinic will direct you to stop taking the injections and continue taking the prenatal vitamins only.
[As noted above, this description of a medication cycle and embryo transfer is based on the medical
protocol of Pacific Fertility Center of Los Angeles. Other IVF clinics may have a slightly different
protocol. Some clinics will have a surrogate begin a low dose birth control pill in order to regulate your
cycle and then may prescribe Lupron, to suppress your nature cycle. Lupron stops you from ovulating
and is given in the form of a daily injection for about four weeks on average. This injection is
subcutaneous and can be injected into the stomach (like a pen injection similar to what a diabetic takes
for insulin). For clinics that use Lupron, this is done prior to beginning progesterone injections. Some
clinics may also recommend a “fresh” embryo transfer, instead of a frozen embryo transfer. In a fresh
transfer, the surrogate and egg donor/intended mother must use birth control to sync their cycles. An
egg retrieval will then take place between three and five days before the embryo transfer. With a fresh
transfer, the date of the embryo transfer will not be confirmed until after the retrieval takes place. If
you have questions about a specific clinic’s protocol, please ask the clinic staff at the time of your
medical screening.]
14Pregnancy
The second and third trimester of a pregnancy will be
monitored by your own OBGYN. During the second
trimester you will likely participate in prenatal testing.
This is an exciting time because the transition from
the IVF doctor to your OBGYN means that the
pregnancy is going well! However, for some intended
parents it can be a difficult transition because they
are no longer relying on the doctor they have chosen
to monitor the pregnancy but now have to place
their trust in your doctor.
Due to HIPAA privacy laws, intended parents do not
have permission to speak directly with your OBGYN
unless the surrogate provides written permission for them
to do so. Surrogates are asked to sign a HIPAA release
so the intended parents can access health information
about the pregnancy and their baby(ies). We have found that
by allowing the intended parents to speak with your OBGYN, it reduces some of their anxiety during
the transition from the IVF doctor to your own OBGYN. We ask you to help facilitate this
communication in any way possible, including potentially including intended parents in appointments
through phone or Skype. It is also important to verify that your doctor and preferred hospital are in-
network of your insurance plan. Though we will confirm this with you at the start of the surrogacy
process, this can change over the course of a year, so we ask that you work with us to confirm that your
doctor and hospital have remained in-network throughout the pregnancy.
An important milestone at this stage is the anatomy scan, which typically takes place between 18 and
20 weeks gestation. We recommend that surrogates schedule this scan as early as possible, in order to
allow sufficient time for follow up testing, should an anomaly be discovered on this scan.
Intended parents often plan to attend the anatomy scan and this is usually the intended parents’ first
meeting with your OBGYN. It allows the intended parents the opportunity to ask any questions they
have regarding the pregnancy. In addition, most intended parents will find out the gender of their
baby(ies) at this time. During this visit, the intended parents are encouraged to take a tour of the
hospital in which their child(ren) will be born. This is important so that when they return for the
delivery, they are familiar with the hospital and know where to go. Also, international intended parents
are encouraged to explore lodging since they will likely remain in the area for two to four weeks post-
birth. If intended parents are unable to attend due to distance and logistics, surrogates are often able to
Skype or Facetime intended parents into this appointment, so they can share in the excitement.
15Labor & Delivery
The labor and delivery will occur at the hospital in your
community, having been determined by a combination
of your insurance coverage, your OBGYN’s hospital
privileges and your preference. Your program
coordination team will call the hospital approximately
six weeks before the birth to prepare the hospital
for the upcoming delivery and to learn the hospital’s
protocol and policies. The goal is for everyone to
be prepared and for expectations to be discussed
before you arrive at the hospital to give birth.
The intended parents typically wish to be a part of the
labor and delivery if possible. Of course, hospital policy
and surrogate’s comfort also play a large role in determining
who will be present in the delivery room. Following the birth,
the baby(ies) will either remain in the nursery or a room assigned
to the intended parents. According to hospital policy, the child(ren)
cannot be released from the hospital until the surrogate has been released.
It is important to note that Circle has a strict policy that surrogates cannot breastfeed the baby(ies).
This is because feeding is a bonding experience and it is hoped that the intended parents will begin the
bonding process as soon as the child(ren) is/are born. However, many intended parents and surrogates
understand the benefits of breast milk and will develop a plan for the surrogate to pump milk post-birth.
This is not a mandatory requirement and will be discussed with your program coordination team and/or
social worker during the surrogacy. If you agree to pump for the intended parents, our legal team will
include an addendum to your contract that includes the expectations and compensation for this task.
The child(ren) will be released to the intended parents and they will likely remain in the surrogate’s
community for a short time post-birth. International intended parents typically remain in a surrogate’s
community between two and six weeks, while domestic intended parents may have a shorter stay.
The length of time they need to remain in your community depends on the legal paperwork that needs
to be completed and the process of obtaining the birth certificate and passport (if the intended parents
are international). The surrogate may need to attend a court hearing post-birth but this is not typical.
However, all surrogates will be required to fill out some paperwork at this point in time to help the
parents establish guardianship and legal rights to their child(ren).
16Post birth
Circle truly hopes that the relationship you have with your intended parents will be lifelong.
The post-birth relationship and communication really depends on the surrogate and the
intended parents and there is no set framework for the relationship. Circle has seen a range of
post-birth relationships that includes continued daily communication to no contact post-
birth. A common example of a typical post-birth relationship is for there to be continued
contact with updates about three to five times per year for birthdays, holidays, etc. It will be
important for you to inform the social workers during the screening process what type of
contact you desire post-birth so you can be matched with intended parents that share similar
expectations. It is ultimately the intended parents’ decision how much contact there is
between the surrogate and their family post-birth.
17Important Information
Thank you for taking the time to read through this handbook and for your overall commitment to
the application process. All of the information included herein will be reviewed in detail during your
phone interview with a social worker.
If you have any questions you would like addressed before your phone interview, you can contact
one of the Circle social workers:
Solveig Gramann, LICSW, Manager of the Surrogate Screening and Support Department
sgramann@circlesurrogacy.com
Christina Bleimeyer, LICSW, Social Worker in the Surrogate Screening Department
cbleimeyer@circlesurrogacy.com
Alana Geboff, LICSW, Social Worker in the Surrogate Screening and Support Department
ageboff@circlesurrogacy.com
Katherine Aleo, LICSW, Per Diem Social Worker in the Surrogate Screening Department
kaleo@circlesurrogacy.com
Molly Siegle, LCSW, Per Diem Social Worker in the Surrogate Screening Department
msiegle@circlesurrogacy.com
Please click here to meet our entire team at Circle Surrogacy:
circlesurrogacy.com/staff
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