Egg donor agency vs. surrogacy agency: how operations differ

Many agencies run both programs, and many surrogacy agencies are thinking about adding egg donation, or the reverse. The two share clients and a lot of vocabulary, but day to day they are different businesses. Here is how.

Short answer: A surrogacy program is a long, relationship-heavy journey (often well over a year) built around matching one surrogate with one family, with legal contracts, escrow, insurance, pregnancy and delivery. An egg donor program is a shorter, higher-volume, database-driven process: recruiting many younger applicants, building a searchable database of polished donor profiles, letting intended parents choose, and coordinating a cycle of a few months through retrieval. Agencies that run both need one system where a family can be matched with a donor and a surrogate, but separate stages, applications, criteria and messaging for each program.

Side by side

Recruiting

Surrogate recruiting looks for a smaller group: mothers with healthy pregnancy histories, stable homes and support, often reached through referrals and stories from past surrogates. Egg donor recruiting reaches a younger, larger audience that compares programs quickly, and many applicants will not qualify, so the application has to sort quickly and the follow-up has to be fast. See recruiting surrogates and recruiting egg donors.

Screening

Surrogate screening centres on pregnancy and delivery history, records, the household and background checks, then psychological and clinic screening after a match. Egg donor screening centres on age, health, detailed family and genetic history and the profile, with the clinic's medical, genetic, infectious disease and psychological screening after she is chosen. See surrogate screening and egg donor screening.

Matching

Surrogacy matching is mutual: both sides read profiles, meet, and decide. The coordinator's judgment matters a great deal. Egg donor matching is usually choice by intended parents from a database, so profile quality, search and availability (holds, double bookings) matter most. See egg donor matching.

Journey length and intensity

A surrogacy case manager carries fewer journeys for longer, with intense periods around the contract, the transfer and the birth. An egg donor coordinator carries more cycles at once, each short, with intense weeks around stimulation and retrieval. That affects staffing: the same person can do both, but the rhythms differ. See staffing and caseloads.

Running both programs

• One family, two journeys. Intended parents who need a donor and a surrogate are one client. Their donor cycle and the surrogate's transfer need to fit together, or embryos wait frozen until the surrogate is ready.
• Separate applications and criteria. Donor and surrogate applications ask different questions and flag different answers.
• Separate stages and messages. A donor's pipeline and a surrogate's are different; automated messages should be too.
• One system. If the programs live in different tools, the combined match lives in neither.
• Cross-referrals. Some donors later become surrogates, and families who used a donor may return for a sibling. Keep everyone on file.

Adding a second program: a checklist

1. Decide the criteria for the new program, with your medical and legal advisers.
2. Write the application and its qualifying questions.
3. Map the stages and the steps in each.
4. Prepare agreements with an attorney experienced in that program.
5. Build relationships with the clinics, attorneys and mental health professionals the program depends on.
6. Plan recruiting: channels, messaging and budget for a different audience.
7. Assign ownership: who coordinates the new program, and who covers them.
8. Tell your existing clients. Intended parents already with you are often the first to use it.

Money and agreements

Surrogacy finances run through an escrow account over many months: compensation, monthly allowances, reimbursements and milestone payments, each with its own trigger. Egg donor compensation is usually simpler, typically paid after the retrieval or in a small number of stages agreed in the donor agreement, with travel and expenses reimbursed. Both should be set by the parties' attorneys and paid as the agreement specifies. See compensation and escrow tracking.

Communication rhythm

A surrogate and her intended parents talk for a year or more and often stay in touch for life, so the agency's role is to set the cadence and support the relationship. Egg donor communication is concentrated: frequent, precise reminders during the few weeks of stimulation and monitoring, then a check-in after the retrieval. In anonymous programs the agency is often the only channel between the donor and the family, which makes it responsible for keeping identities private in every message.

How SurroHub helps

SurroHub runs egg donation and surrogacy in one surrogacy and egg donor agency platform, with each program set up its own way.

• Four profile types. Surrogates, intended parents, egg donors and matches, each with its own stages, sub-steps and checklist.
• Separate applications. Surrogate, egg donor and intended parent forms, each with its own questions and flags; donor forms require photos, social media and education.
• Matches that include a donor. One match can join intended parents, an egg donor and a surrogate.
• Profile sharing for both. Intended parents browse the surrogates and donors you share with them in their portal.
• Three portals. Branded surrogate, intended parent and egg donor portals.
• Journeys for repeat participants. A surrogate or donor who comes back starts a new journey with its own documents, checklist and status, while earlier journeys stay on her profile.

Want the facts in one place? SurroHub by the numbers: what it is, who built it, and what agencies run on it today.

Sources: ASRM, Guidance regarding gamete and embryo donation; ASRM, Recommendations for practices using gestational carriers (2022).

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