Gestational and Hybrid Surrogacy Program for Canadian Residents

The legal portion of a surrogacy journey happens in 2 phases. The first phase is the gestational carrier agreement (GCA). This legal document is between 30-60 pages and covers anything and everything that could, would and should happen in a journey. Both the intended parents and the gestational carrier have separate legal representation and an attorney who specializes in reproductive law or assisted reproduction. The GCA lays out all of the information of the parties involved, attorneys, fertility clinic information, OB/GYN and delivering hospital information, insurance, compensation, termination views, parental rights, and much more. This ensures that all parties are protected and on the same page moving forward in the journey.

After the GCA has been finalized, the fertility clinic will be notified of legal clearance and the medications and transfer preparation can begin. All clinics have different protocols and medications they required their gestational carriers to follow. It is important to always reach out to your physician and medical team for questions regarding any of this step. While your agency is always here to support you, we do not give out any medical advice.

Once the embryo transfer procedure is complete, you will be required to have continued monitoring by the fertility physician for a specific amount of time before being released to your OB/GYN. That timeframe will be given to you from the medical team as you complete this phase of the journey. Ultrasounds and bloodwork testing are simple ways they are able to track the progress of the pregnancy.

After a confirmed pregnancy and continued monitoring by the fertility physician, a gestational carrier is released to her own, local OB/GYN for the remainder of the pregnancy and delivery. All prenatal care will be completed locally, unless a specialist is needed for additional monitoring (ie; a complication or multiples pregnancy).

Around the 18 weeks gestation mark, the second phase of legal can commence. This is when the parental rights paperwork and birthing orders are completed. These documents (while much smaller than the GCA) spell out the intended parents as the legal parents of the child being born to a gestational carrier under third party reproduction. The intended parents, gestational carrier and delivery hospital all receive copies of these court orders so they can put into place birthing records and additional paperwork required to bring the baby home and create a birth certificate. **Please note, not all states in the United States grant pre-birth orders. This is to be discussed with the attorneys prior to creating the GCA and discussed during the matching phase with all parties.

Hooray! Delivery day is near! Carrying Dreams Surrogacy will work with the surrogate and intended parents on a birth/delivery plan and ensure the hospital has record of it. All logistics at this time should be complete and we will happily help handle them for you. The gestational carrier should relax and hope for a safe and healthy delivery!

Even after the precious bundle of joy has arrived, your journey doesn't end there - and we know this (first hand!) There is still care to be given, and we are here for you. All resources are still available to you and we want to ensure you recover smoothly and take the time you need to get back on your feet and in routine. (Life doesn't slow down) so if you need an extra boost or help, we've got your back!