Screening intended parents: a guide for surrogacy agencies

Surrogates go through months of screening. Intended parents, historically, much less. That gap has drawn public attention, and more agencies now screen both sides. This is how to do it in a way that is consistent, lawful and respectful.

Short answer: Agencies increasingly screen intended parents as well as surrogates: verifying identity with government ID, running criminal background checks (with written consent, through a reputable screening company, following the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and state rules), confirming readiness (embryos, clinic and funding for escrow), and recommending or requiring a consultation with a mental health professional. The agency should write its policy down, apply it to every family the same way, tell surrogates what was checked, and get legal advice on what it may lawfully consider.

General information, not legal advice. Surrogacy and donation law differs by state and country and changes often. Agencies should work with an experienced assisted reproduction attorney, and every surrogate, donor and intended parent should have independent legal counsel.

Why screen intended parents

A surrogate agrees to carry a child for people she may have met a handful of times. She, and the child, deserve to know those people are who they say they are and are ready for the journey. Surrogacy is not adoption: in most places there is no home study or child welfare review built into the process, so the screening that happens is largely what the agency, the clinic and the attorneys choose to do. Recent public cases have pushed the industry to ask whether that is enough, and ASRM guidance for practices using gestational carriers already recommends psychological evaluation and counselling for intended parents as well as carriers.

Screening also protects the agency. A match that falls apart late because of something that could have been checked at intake costs everyone time, money and trust.

What agencies verify

• Identity: government-issued ID for each intended parent, matched to the names on the agreement.
• Criminal background: through a reputable screening company, for each intended parent and, in some programs, other adults who will live with the child.
• Readiness: a letter or confirmation from their IVF clinic, embryo status, and confirmation they can fund escrow when matched.
• Psychological consultation: a session with a mental health professional experienced in third-party reproduction, covering expectations, the relationship with the surrogate, and how they will talk to their child about their story.
• Legal readiness: their own attorney, and, for international parents, advice on parentage and citizenship in their home country.

How to run background checks properly

Background checks are regulated. In the United States, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) governs consumer reports from screening companies, and many states add their own rules. In general terms, that usually means:

• Use a reputable, FCRA-compliant screening company rather than informal searches.
• Get written consent from each person before you request a report, with a clear disclosure of what will be checked.
• If you decline someone based on the report, follow the required notice steps, which give the person a copy of the report and a chance to dispute errors.
• Keep reports confidential, share them only with people who need them, and store them securely.

Have an attorney review your consent forms and your decision policy. This is exactly the kind of process where the details matter and differ by state.

Fairness and consistency

Write your policy before you need it: what you check, for whom, which results lead to a conversation and which to a decline, and who decides. Apply it to every family the same way, regardless of marital status, sexual orientation, nationality or any other characteristic. Inconsistent screening is both unfair and a legal risk. Tell intended parents about the policy at the consultation, so it is part of your process rather than a surprise.

What to tell the surrogate

Surrogates should know what your agency checked about the families whose profiles they read. Many agencies simply state in the surrogate's materials that all intended parents complete identity verification, a background check and a counselling session. Where a result is relevant to her decision, your policy (and your attorney) should say what may be shared and how. Never pass a raw report around by email.

A sample screening policy outline

A one-page policy, reviewed by your attorney, might cover:

1. Scope: which checks apply to every intended parent, and whether other adults in the home are included.
2. Timing: before profiles are shared with surrogates, so no surrogate reads a profile of a family who has not been checked.
3. Consent: the forms used and who keeps them.
4. Vendor: the screening company used.
5. Review: who reads results, and which results lead to a conversation, a pause or a decline.
6. Notice: the steps followed if a result leads to a decline.
7. Disclosure: what surrogates are told about the screening.
8. Storage and retention: where reports are kept, who can see them, and when they are destroyed.

Share the policy with intended parents at the consultation. Most families welcome it: it tells them the agency takes everyone's safety seriously, including their own.

How SurroHub helps

SurroHub keeps intended parent screening on the family's own record, with the documents and consents in one place.

• A screening checklist for every family. Add ID, background check consent, clinic letter and counselling as workflow steps with owners and due dates; late steps are flagged.
• Documents stored on the profile. Upload reports and consents as internal documents only your team sees, or have families upload ID from their portal.
• Consent forms by e-sign. Send background check consents and agreements from templates and collect signatures on any device.
• Role-based access and a full activity history. Decide who on the team can see what, and see who viewed a profile and what changed. Your data is protected, private, and HIPAA compliant.
• Private details stay private. Embryo, clinic and donor details on an intended parent's profile never reach surrogates or share links.

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, Recommendations for practices using gestational carriers (2022); Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Fair Credit Reporting Act.

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