Post-match case management: steps and communication cadence

Matching gets the attention, but most of an agency's work happens after it: months of legal, medical and pregnancy steps involving two families, a clinic, two attorneys, an escrow company and a hospital. This is how case managers keep it on track, and how often each side should hear from you.

Short answer: After the match, a case manager runs the journey through four phases (legal and insurance, medical and transfer, pregnancy, and delivery and post-birth), each with a checklist of steps, owners and due dates. Communication follows a set cadence: at least weekly updates while contracts and medical clearance are in progress, an update after every key appointment and milestone during pregnancy, a check-in with the surrogate every week or two, and daily contact around the due date. Some moments always deserve a phone call rather than a message: a failed transfer, a loss, a complication, and the birth.

General information, not medical advice. Medical eligibility and screening decisions belong to the IVF clinic and qualified medical and mental health professionals. Agencies coordinate; clinicians decide.

The four phases after the match

1. Legal and insurance

Attorneys retained for each side, the gestational carrier agreement drafted, negotiated and signed, escrow funded, the surrogate's insurance reviewed and any policies bought, and legal clearance sent to the clinic. This phase is where matches most often stall, because each step waits on someone outside the agency. See the legal process from the agency's side.

2. Medical and transfer

Clinic screening and clearance (if not already done), the psychological evaluation, the medication calendar, monitoring appointments, travel for the transfer, the transfer itself, and the pregnancy (beta) tests. The surrogate needs her medications on time and clear instructions; the intended parents want news the same day.

3. Pregnancy

Early ultrasounds at the clinic, release to her OB, prenatal appointments, any testing agreed in the contract, monthly compensation and reimbursements from escrow, the parentage filing, and the birth and hospital plan. This is the longest phase and the easiest to under-manage, because nothing seems urgent.

4. Delivery and post-birth

The hospital informed and the parentage paperwork in place before the due date, travel for the intended parents, the birth, the birth certificate, any travel documents for international parents, the surrogate's recovery, final payments and the close of escrow, and a follow-up with the surrogate weeks later.

A communication cadence

Agree the cadence with both sides at the start of the match, write it down, and keep it, even when the update is “nothing new this week”. A sample to adapt:

Who gives medical news is worth agreeing in advance. Many matches agree that the surrogate tells the intended parents herself after appointments, with the case manager copied, but the clinic gives transfer and test results according to its own process.

The moments that need a call

• A transfer that did not result in a pregnancy, or a loss at any stage. Call both sides separately first.
• A complication, a hospital admission or bed rest.
• A disagreement between the surrogate and the intended parents.
• Anything that changes the plan: a new clinic date, a change in insurance, a travel problem.
• The birth.

Have a mental health professional you can refer either side to after a loss or a difficult moment.

The group conversation

Most matches have a shared conversation between the surrogate, the intended parents and the case manager, alongside private threads with each side. Keep the case manager in the group, so nothing important is agreed without the agency knowing, and so a new team member can read the history. Keep sensitive or difficult topics for private conversations first.

Hand-offs and coverage

Case managers take holidays, get sick and leave. A journey that lives in one person's inbox and memory breaks when they do. Keep every step, message, note and document on the match record, so a colleague can pick it up in an afternoon, and name a backup for every match, especially around the due date. See staffing and caseloads.

A match kickoff checklist

The first week after both sides say yes sets the tone for the rest. A short kickoff list:

1. Congratulate both sides, and confirm who their case manager and backup are.
2. Agree the communication cadence and channels with each side, in writing.
3. Introduce attorneys and start the contract.
4. Confirm the escrow company and the funding timeline.
5. Start the insurance review.
6. Share clinic contacts and the expected screening steps.
7. Set up the shared conversation and check both sides can use their portal.
8. Put every known date on the calendar.

How SurroHub helps

In SurroHub the match is its own profile, so everything after the match lives in one place both families and your team can follow.

• Match profiles. Both sides on one page: status from introduction to birth, both families' contacts, a shared checklist, documents and the group conversation.
• Journey workflows. Start from a ready-made match journey or your own: every step has an owner and a due date; tick one and the next starts, messages go out on their own, and late steps are flagged before anyone has to ask.
• Calendar and reminders. Appointments, medications and deadlines with automatic text reminders the day before and the day of.
• Portals for both sides. Surrogates and intended parents see milestones, documents and messages in their own portal, in their own language.
• Notes, to-dos and history. Dated internal notes, assigned follow-ups, and a full activity history so a colleague can step in.
• Surro suggests the next step. The built-in AI assistant reads incoming messages and offers a to-do, booking, event, note or reply in one tap.

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

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