How to Choose a Surrogacy Agency for a Journey Abroad

Agencies, facilitators, clinics and lawyers: who does what

An international surrogacy journey usually involves four kinds of provider: an agency or facilitator that coordinates and often matches you with a surrogate, a fertility clinic that creates and transfers embryos, lawyers in the destination and at home, and the hospital where the baby is born. Knowing who does what tells you who is accountable when something goes wrong.

These labels are not legally protected in most countries, so ask every provider to describe, in writing, exactly what it does and does not do.

The agency is usually the least regulated piece. If you have not yet chosen a country, start with our destination comparison and the surrogacy laws by country guide, because the law in the destination decides which kinds of provider can lawfully take part.

Are surrogacy agencies licensed? The reality by country

In most countries, no. As of October 2026, very few jurisdictions license surrogacy agencies. Clinics hold health licences, but agencies and facilitators usually operate as ordinary businesses. Several countries go further and ban paid intermediaries altogether. A licence, where one exists, is a minimum standard, not a guarantee of good practice.

The table summarises what we could verify from primary sources and labelled legal analysis on 5 October 2026. Confirm the current position with a lawyer licensed in the destination.

International guidance points the same way. The Verona Principles (opens in new tab), published by International Social Service in 2021 after consultation with more than 100 experts, say that where surrogacy is permitted, intermediaries should be subject to authorisation, regulation and periodic review, and should not receive remuneration that is unreasonably high relative to the services they provide. Few states have legislated this, so ask how each agency meets it voluntarily.

Escrow, trust accounts and contract transparency

The safest structure keeps the surrogate's compensation and expenses in an escrow or client trust account run by an independent third party, released against a written schedule you can see. The agency's own fees should be separate and itemised. If an agency asks you to pay everything into its operating account, you have no protection if it fails.

How escrow should work

In an escrow arrangement, a neutral escrow agent holds money under written instructions signed by all parties and pays it out only when agreed milestones are met, such as a confirmed pregnancy or each month of expenses. New York law, for example, requires the surrogate's base compensation and reasonable anticipated additional expenses to be placed in escrow with an independent escrow agent. Outside New York there is usually no such rule, so ask:

• Who is the escrow agent, and are they independent of the agency (not a director, relative or related company)?
• Is the account a regulated client or trust account, and in which country?
• Will you receive statements showing every payment in and out?
• What happens to unspent funds if the journey ends, and how quickly are they returned?

Contract transparency

Ask for the agency's service contract and a sample surrogacy agreement before you pay a deposit. A transparent contract lists every fee, what it covers, what is excluded, which payments are refundable and when, and what happens if the agency, clinic or law changes. Compare the total with the ranges in our international surrogacy cost guide. Our post on surrogacy contracts abroad explains the clauses to look for.

Surrogate protections a good programme puts in place

Professional bodies agree on core protections: independent legal counsel for the surrogate, psychological screening and ongoing support, health insurance that covers pregnancy and complications, respect for her right to make her own medical decisions, a clear compensation or expense schedule, and postnatal care. A programme that cannot show these in writing is not one to trust.

These protections also protect you: arrangements built on pressure or secrecy are the ones most likely to collapse or end up in court. The standards below come from the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) 2022 committee opinion, the 2025 ESHRE Ethics Committee paper, the 2025 FIGO position statement, and the Verona Principles.

• Independent legal counsel. ASRM and ESHRE both say the surrogate and the intended parents should each have their own independent legal advice. Ask who chooses her lawyer and confirm the lawyer is not employed by, or paid commission by, the agency.
• Psychological screening and support. ASRM says psychological evaluation and implications counselling by a qualified mental health professional is required for all potential gestational carriers and their partners, and psychosocial counselling should be provided to intended parents. ESHRE recommends that each party is counselled by a separate team.
• Medical screening and safe practice. ASRM recommends carriers are preferably aged 21 to 45, have had at least one uncomplicated term pregnancy, and strongly recommends single embryo transfer in all gestational carrier cycles. Learn more in our gestational surrogacy guide.
• Health insurance and care. FIGO calls for comprehensive physical, psychological and emotional care throughout pregnancy and after birth. Ask which policy covers the pregnancy, birth, complications and newborn care, and who pays any shortfall.
• The right to make medical decisions. ASRM says no agreement should contradict a carrier's protected reproductive decision-making, and FIGO says she must remain the ultimate decision-maker on mode of delivery and any interventions. New York law states that the agreement cannot limit her right to terminate or continue a pregnancy.
• A clear compensation or expense schedule. Whether the destination allows compensation or only reimbursement of expenses, the schedule should be written, paid on time, and not conditional on handing over the baby.
• Postnatal care and contact. Ask what medical and psychological follow-up she receives after the birth, and what contact, if any, all parties have agreed on.

The Verona Principles add protections focused on the child: a genetic link to at least one intended parent, preserved information about the child's genetic, gestational and legal origins, and free and informed decisions by everyone involved. For a wider discussion of these standards, see our post is international surrogacy ethical?

Due-diligence checklist: how to choose a surrogacy agency

Work in order: confirm the law at home and in the destination, then verify the agency's legal status, ownership and track record, then its contracts, money handling and surrogate protections, and finally speak directly with the clinic, the doctors and the lawyers it names. Do not pay a deposit until each step is complete and documented.

1. Get home-country legal advice first. Confirm your home country will recognise you as the parents and how your baby will get citizenship or a visa. Our guide to citizenship, passports and parentage covers the US, UK, Canada, Australia and the EU.
2. Confirm the destination is open to you. Check eligibility for your profile on the destination pages, and that the agency is offering a programme the law actually permits.
3. Identify the legal entity. Get the agency's registered company name, registration number, country of incorporation, registered address and the names of its owners and directors. Look them up in the official company register.
4. Search for court cases and news. Search the company and director names with words such as "court", "judgment", "police" and "investigation", in English and the local language.
5. Read the contracts. Obtain the agency agreement, the escrow instructions and a sample surrogacy agreement, and have your own lawyer review them.
6. Verify the money trail. Confirm the escrow agent independently, not through contact details the agency provides.
7. Check surrogate protections. Ask for written evidence of each protection in the section above.
8. Speak to the clinic and doctors directly. Verify the clinic's licence and each doctor's registration (see how to verify a doctor).
9. Speak to past clients. Agency-chosen references are a weak signal; your home-country lawyer's experience is a stronger one.
10. Plan the exit. Ask how many babies the agency has brought home to your country in the last two years, and what documents parents needed.

Questions to ask a surrogacy agency

The most revealing questions to ask a surrogacy agency are about money, law and people: who holds your funds, what happens if the law changes or a transfer fails, who represents the surrogate, and which named clinic and lawyers you will work with. Good agencies answer in writing and welcome the questions. Evasion is itself an answer.

Surrogacy agency red flags

The clearest surrogacy agency red flags are guaranteed-baby packages without written limits, pressure to sign or pay quickly, cash or personal-account payments, no named lawyer for you or the surrogate, and programmes that rely on moving surrogates or births between countries. Programmes operating where authorities have recently prosecuted surrogacy or trafficking cases need extra scrutiny.

• "Guarantee" packages without caveats. Unlimited-attempt or "baby guaranteed" packages can be legitimate pricing, but no one can guarantee a live birth. Read exactly what is promised, the age and number limits, and what happens when the package ends.
• Pressure. Short deadlines, "last surrogate available" messages, or discounts for paying today.
• Cash or unusual payment routes. Requests for cash, cryptocurrency, or payment to a personal account or a company in a different country from the one that signs your contract.
• No named lawyers. No independent lawyer for the surrogate, or the agency's lawyer "acting for everyone."
• Moving people across borders to avoid the law. Plans for a surrogate from one country to undergo transfer in a second and give birth in a third, or instructions to describe your relationship to the surrogate untruthfully.
• Vague clinic details. The clinic's name, location or licensing changes, or turns out to be in a different jurisdiction than you were told.

Recent enforcement cases to know about

These cases do not mean every provider in these places is unsafe, but they show why checks matter. Summarised as of October 2026 from court, government and news reports.

• Greece, 2023. Police arrested staff of a fertility clinic in Chania, Crete, in August 2023 on charges including human trafficking and illegal adoption, with surrogates reportedly brought from Ukraine and elsewhere in Eastern Europe. Greece later tightened its residency rules in 2025.
• Georgia, 2025. In February 2025 Georgian and Thai authorities investigated an alleged ring that recruited Thai women with surrogacy job offers and then subjected them to repeated egg retrieval. Separately, on 12 June 2023 Georgia's government announced a bill to ban surrogacy for foreigners from 1 January 2024; according to Georgian press reports it was withdrawn before its third reading on 15 January 2024 and never took effect, but it remains a political risk. Check our Georgia page for the current position.
• Northern Cyprus, 2024–2026. In Re Z [2025] EWHC 339 (Fam) (opens in new tab), the President of the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales described intended parents trapped abroad for about four years after two children born through unlawful arrangements in the north were left effectively stateless. Other 2024–2025 English judgments criticised agencies that routed surrogates through northern Cyprus and births through third countries. In May 2026 police in the north arrested people over an alleged attempt to move embryos through the airport.
• Cambodia, 2024. A Cambodian court convicted 13 Filipino women who had been recruited as surrogates, after commercial surrogacy was banned there in 2016.
• Laos, 2025. Authorities arrested 26 people linked to an alleged surrogacy ring and warned that surrogacy can be prosecuted as trafficking.
• Kazakhstan, 2026. An amendment signed in July 2026 reportedly restricts surrogacy to married Kazakh citizens, closing it to foreigners. See our laws by country guide for status updates.

How to verify a doctor's registration

Search the doctor's full name in the official medical register of the country where they practise, confirm the registration is current with no restrictions, and check any specialist certification separately. Use the regulator's own website, never a link sent by the agency, and match the name exactly against your clinic paperwork.

• United Kingdom: the General Medical Council register (opens in new tab).
• United States: the medical board of the state where the doctor practises; specialist certification in reproductive endocrinology and infertility can be checked with the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
• Mexico: the professional licence (cédula profesional) on the SEP Registro Nacional de Profesionistas (opens in new tab).
• Colombia: the ReTHUS health workforce register (opens in new tab), which also shows disciplinary sanctions.

For other countries, ask the clinic for the doctor's registration number and the name of the regulator, then find that regulator independently. Our doctor vetting standards explain how to check registration details.

How we fit in, and how we are paid

We help intended parents compare destinations and providers and prepare for these checks. We explain on our About page exactly how we work, how we are paid, and what we will not do, including any fees we receive from providers. Hold us to the same standard you apply to any agency.

If you are comparing an international surrogacy agency with other options, read how we work and how we are paid first, then book a free consultation to talk through your shortlist. We will tell you if we think a programme does not meet the standards on this page.