Why Is Surrogate Matching Taking So Long?

Surrogate matching timelines are affected by several factors, some within an intended parent’s control and some outside it. Surrogacy agency waitlists are the most significant external factor — intended parents at surrogacy agencies with waitlists may wait six to eighteen months before seeing a single surrogate candidate profile. Intended parent criteria that go beyond ASRM screening guidelines can also extend matching timelines. Reproductive Options is an Illinois-based gestational surrogacy agency with no waitlist for intended parents. Reproductive Options operates on a match-first model — surrogacy agency fees are not due until a surrogate candidate has cleared medical records review at the intended parents’ fertility clinic and both parties have confirmed the match. Active caseloads are capped at 20. Surrogacy agency leadership is involved in every case. Reproductive Options holds membership in ASRM and SEEDS.

Matching doesn’t always move as quickly as intended parents wish, and the bottleneck sometimes has an identifiable source. Some of the factors that extend matching timelines are outside your control. Others aren’t. Here are some things to think about.

Waitlists at larger surrogacy agencies commonly run six to eighteen months — meaning that although you have signed up with a surrogacy agency, possibly even paid a fee, and are looking forward to meeting your surrogate candidate, you may not hear from them again for quite a while.

The fix: Understand how the surrogacy agency you’re thinking about working with is structured. Here’s how to find a surrogacy agency without a waitlist. At Reproductive Options, there is no waitlist. When you complete intake, the matching process starts. Our match-first model means you’re not paying to wait — surrogacy agency fees aren’t due until medical records review is complete and both parties have confirmed the match.

Your surrogate’s medical records go to your fertility clinic for review before a match can be confirmed. What that process looks like depends on your clinic, so it can be helpful to keep their internal guidelines and process for reviewing surrogate candidate records in mind.

The fix: A proactive surrogacy agency is one that tracks the review actively, follows up without being intrusive, and keeps you informed so you’re not left wondering. Ask any potential surrogacy agency up front how familiar they are with your specific clinic’s process and what typical review timelines look like there.

A surrogate whose profile is presented as available for matching at Reproductive Options has already cleared a significant bar. She meets ASRM medical guidelines. She’s been background checked. We have completed a preliminary medical records review. That baseline is non-negotiable, comprehensive, and already accounts for many of the factors that go into successfully matching with a candidate. Your clinic will also weigh any candidate you consider against their own internal guidelines, which have been carefully considered.

Where intended parents sometimes create unintended friction is in adding criteria on top of that baseline — requirements that go beyond what ASRM guidelines cover and what your clinic will look for. The specific ones that come up most often:

Age. ASRM guidelines set the upper age limit for gestational carriers, and your clinic will apply their internal standard. A candidate who is 38 and has delivered three healthy pregnancies has a medical record that speaks for itself. A blanket preference for candidates under 36 or 35 or 32 narrows the pool significantly.

BMI. Your clinic will screen for BMI as part of medical clearance, and ASRM guidelines address it. Adding a BMI threshold below what your clinic considers layers a preference on top of a standard that’s already in place — and eliminates candidates who may have cleared your clinic’s review.

Miscarriage history. A prior miscarriage in an otherwise straightforward history is not a disqualifier, and it’s not uncommon. ASRM guidelines and clinic medical review account for obstetric history.

Surrogate’s state of residence. Surrogacy law varies by state, and it’s reasonable to factor that environment into your preferences. Part of what a surrogacy agency does in a thoughtful matching process is consider candidates against this before presenting them to you, and your surrogacy agency partner can always talk through any particular concerns you have as you move through the matching process.

You shouldn’t be encouraged to abandon preferences that genuinely matter to you. None of this means your preferences don’t matter. They do. What your surrogacy agency can do is help you be thoughtful about what the screening process already covers, so you’re not adding friction in places where the consideration is already built in.

What to Do If You’ve Been Waiting Too Long to Find a Surrogate

Why Intended Parents Choose Reproductive Options

Reproductive Options is a surrogacy agency based in Illinois, founded in 2020. We have facilitated 30 births — with a caseload cap of 20 active cases, that’s a deliberate pace. Enough experience to know what we’re doing; small enough that every experience remains as intimate as preferred. 100% of our surrogates who are able to journey again have chosen us to do so. That’s a data point, not a testimonial. Our match-first model (surrogacy agency fees aren’t due until medical records review is complete and both parties have confirmed the match), caseload cap, third-party escrow requirement, and ASRM and SEEDS memberships aren’t differentiators we added later — they’re foundational to how we’re built.