The first successful attempt at gestational surrogacy in 1985 created the opportunity for intended parents to choose an egg donor and a surrogate to have children. However, that opportunity was not available to same sex parents during the earlier years of its development. This made gay surrogacy nearly impossible.
In 1996, Growing Generations was founded with a specific focus: helping gay men become parents. Our founders worked to overcome hurdles and unique challenges faced by gay intended fathers—from navigating and changing legal systems that were designed to accommodate only “mom and dad” to educating doctors and other professionals about gay parenting. We were there every step of the way, educating and recruiting surrogates and egg donors excited to help gay men to become dads, helping our intended dads to talk to their kids and their support networks about surrogacy, and even creating solutions for HIV positive men to become biological fathers via surrogacy.
Times have changed since the nineties, with same sex couples able to grow their families through surrogacy with the proper support systems in place. We, at Growing Generations, were there from the beginning, paving the way for hundreds of gay men to create families through our surrogacy program.
OUR PROCESS: EGG DONORS
Growing Generations has an extensive egg donor program. We have egg donors from various backgrounds. We encourage you to view our donors and let them speak for themselves. If you have a friend or a family member offering to donate eggs, we have helped many families with “known” egg donors. We are happy to connect with your chosen donor, walk her through what to expect, and help coordinate each step of her screening and egg retrieval process.
OUR PROCESS: SURROGATES
At Growing Generations, it starts with a single step: completing our short online profile so we can match you with the ideal surrogate. Our entire surrogacy program often lasts from two to two and a half years. To ensure our matching process is successful, our surrogates undergo an intensive screening process which includes an extensive application, several rounds of interviews, a criminal background check, psychological evaluations, and a medical examination by an in vitro fertilization specialist. The medical examination includes drug, nicotine, and infectious disease screenings.
Once your surrogate is chosen and you are ready to move forward, we will notify your IVF doctor’s office that it’s time to try for pregnancy. If you have not chosen or are not yet working with an IVF clinic, we are happy to refer you to one within our network. You can expect the following benefits from our referred IVF clinics:
- Experienced medical professionals for screenings, egg retrievals, and embryo transfers.
- Using sperm from both male partners (if applicable) to have siblings from the same egg donor.
- Selecting which of your embryos is implanted into your surrogate.
- The ability for HIV-positive males to use their own sperm to become biological fathers.
Gay SURROGACY AND LEGAL SAFETY
Each state has laws regulating surrogacy. Some do not grant parental rights for same-sex couples while other states do not allow or recognize surrogacy contracts at all. We partnered with the International Reproductive Law Group for expert guidance and legal counsel. They offer:
- 100% success rate in getting you named as the legal parent(s) of your child(ren).
- Counsel on which states are surrogate-friendly and ideal for your situation.
- Assistance obtaining paternity judgments that name you as the legal parent of your child with. both parents’ names on the birth certificate – or just one name if you are single.
- Legal representation and assistance drafting your surrogate and/or egg donor contracts and family planning documents.
At Growing Generations, we pride ourselves with being there for you and your family every step of the way. Contact us to book your free consultation, financial analysis, or to answer any questions you have.
