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All About Canadian Surrogacy
Join us for an informative session on Canadian surrogacy. We're talking about myths, surrogates, reimbursements, sharing stories and more.
Voices of Experience
Hear it from those who've lived it
Outside of what we’ll cover in our information sessions, these are some commonly asked questions we’ve heard before:
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Overall, a surrogacy journey tends to cost over $100,000 and can be significantly more depending on how the journey unfolds
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Surrogacy is definitely legal in Canada. It follows an altruistic model in which surrogates are reimbursed for pregnancy related expenses.
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The surrogate has no genetic connection to the baby she carries. The genetic material comes from the intended parents and/or egg/sperm donors.
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As a surrogate, you do not need to work with an agency. However, working with a reputable agency will provide you support through the process, including, but not limited to someone to talk to on those difficult pregnancy days, helping you navigate the appointments at the beginning of the journey, someone to chat with about the financial reimbursement component, which can be a bit uncomfortable to chat with your intended parents about and many other other areas
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Generally, the wait time is between 18 and 24 months in Canada to find a surrogate for intended parents. The demand is very high and there is not enough education about surrogacy in Canada.
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Lawyers are used to make sure everyone’s rights are considered. The intended parents will have their own lawyer, and the surrogate will have her own independent legal council as well to make sure that there is somebody that understands the laws looking out for both parties.
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A surrogate as a person, a human being, and as people and human beings, we change our minds. However, in Canada, when a woman becomes a surrogate, she goes into the journey, knowing that she’s helping somebody else, knowing that she’s helping somebody else’s dream come true, so the chances of her changing her mind are very slim.
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Women choose to become surrogates for many reasons, including, but not limited to the love of the pregnancy experience, wanting to help somebody else realize the dream of parenthood, support for the gay community, support for the growing infertility that’s happening in Canada, to be part of a community of amazing women, to become belly buddies with a friend of theirs, to try something new while giving back, and just wanting to give back
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This depends on the clinic and the protocol, but on average it usually takes 2+ transfers for successful pregnancy in Canada. That doesn’t mean it can’t happen the first time, because it definitely can, but the average is just over two.
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In Canada in 2023 there were between 400 and 500 babies born through surrogacy in Canada
For Surrogates:
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There are some foods that are off-limits during pregnancy due to dangers noted by the medical professionals, but other than that, intended parents cannot dictate what a surrogate eats or does not eat outside of the regular guidelines for a healthy pregnancy
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Many intended parents look forward to attending appointments if they are local to the surrogate. So, depending on where the intended parents live, they may or may not attend appointments.
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If your husband or partner is not fully on board with a surrogacy journey for your family, then it’s probably not a good idea right now. That doesn’t mean never, it just means not right now. You want to make sure you are fully supported by those that you live with so there are no complications during the journey, and it doesn’t impact your own life and your own relationships
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There are many books published that explain surrogacy in child friendly language so they can help young children understand what their mom is going through or what is happening within their family. Children are resilient, children are accepting, and as long as we are chatting with them and giving them the information that they need to understand, answering their questions when they have them, and keeping the conversation open, children of surrogates are very accepting of the journey.
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Any pregnancy related expenses are covered by your intended parents. These can include medical care such as Chiropractor, Physiotherapy, massage therapy. They can also include prenatal classes for pregnancy support and birth support, and also exercise and fitness to keep you healthy during the pregnancy. Other things covered include maternity clothes, prenatal vitamins, travel to and from appointments, missed work due to pregnancy related reasons, and many other others.
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Depending on the fertility clinic that your intended parents use will depend on the specific protocol that they prescribe for your surrogate journey. The protocol outlines the types of medications, the duration and the dose of them throughout the beginning phase, before transfer, and into the first trimester of pregnancy. Some of these medications do include the injection of progesterone on a daily basis while others are oral medications and or suppositories.
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Yes, as the birth person, surrogates do qualify for the first portion of maternity leave in Canada. That can be up to 15 weeks post birth.
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Surrogates will deliver at the hospital of their choice. Iintended parents will come to the surrogate for birth
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No, many surrogates do not breast-feed the surro-baby, but some do pump the colostrum and/or breastmilk for their intended parents. This is a personal choice for surrogates. They do not have to do this, and they can also determine the length of time that they would like to express the milk if they choose to.
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Yes, many women choose to complete multiple surrogacy journeys for the same or different intended parents
For Intended Parents:
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We have seen many single intended parents chosen by surrogates, and it is often not a deterrent for surrogates to choose
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Whether a surrogate chooses a Canadian intended parent or international intended parent will depend on many factors, with one of them being what she’s looking for out of the journey. If she’s looking for someone to come to all the appointments and be present, then an international intended parent is not a good connection. If she has a busy life with her own children and is OK going to the appointments on her own and not wanting to have to schedule them around other people's schedules then international parents would be a good connection. So, it’s not often the location but the hope for the journey and what that looks like as a determining factor when a surrogate chooses a Canadian tended parent versus international
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Humans are humans, and depending on the agency that intended parents are using will depend on the process of how surrogate and intended parents are connected together. Surrogacy is a journey of patience, and in my experience, intended parents are always chosen - maybe not first or second, but they are chosen.
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Many fertility clinics in Canada will only transfer one embryo at a time so the chances of twins relies on nature and the embryo splitting naturally.
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Yes, as long as the surrogate is in agreement, and she is still able to carry and deliver successfully for another pregnancy
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Surrogates come from everywhere. Sometimes they are friends of other surrogates, sometimes they are coworkers, sometimes they are family members, sometimes they’re random women that come upon and agency online or a social media post, and sometimes the situation is just so, where they meet somebody, they hear about surrogacy and decide they want to do it.
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As international intended parents, the only obligation for you to come to Canada would be creating your embryos, if you want to create them in Canada, and at the end of the pregnancy to bring baby home. Some intended parents that are international come once throughout the pregnancy, usually around the 20 week mark, so they can attend that anatomy ultrasound, but this is not not an obligation. It’s nice and surrgates to do love and appreciate, but if it’s not possible because of schedules or finances or many other reasons than that’s OK.
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For Canadian intended parents that have a surrogate in a different province, similar to international intended parents, you can visit them as often as feasible for you, and you will go to them for the birth
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We recommend planning at least 4 to 6 weeks to make sure all the paperwork is in order
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Some surrogates will agree to express colostrum and breastmilk after birth. Someone will not. This is an individual decision and something you can discuss with your surrogate.
Stories of Love from Surrogates
Maya C.
Doing a sibling journey was different than working with first time parents. As a former surrogate, I had already been through the process and as parents themselves the IP’s had already been through the process. And since I carried their first child, we had already been through the process together and gotten to know each other
pretty well.
Jessica P.
When I was younger, my older sister who had two really close girlfriends who both were unable to have children. From that time I remember always thinking that, if this comes easy to me, meaning having a baby, that I promise to help someone else who can’t. This thought came to me early on, before my husband and I had even had our own.
Anonymous
My first and second surrogacy journeys were for a couple in Ireland. They were the cutest same-sex couple just hoping to be Dads one day and wanted to use Canada for that process. As my husband and I were working with a surrogacy agency, they presented us with five different profiles of intended parents to choose from.