Surrogacy Program
At Olive we help couples and individuals who require a surrogate to help them have a child. A surrogate is also called a gestational carrier (GC). The GC carries and delivers a child for a couple or person, called the intended parents. Traditional surrogacy is when the surrogate has also used her egg to create the child - we do not do traditional surrogate at Olive. At Olive we do gestational surrogacy, where the surrogate has not used her egg and is therefore not related to the child she is carrying. We help people with surrogacy who do not have a uterus (e.g. same-sex male couples) or women who have a medical reason for surrogacy (e.g. repeated failed IVF embryo transfers, cancer, hysterectomy, medical contraindication to pregnancy, uterine scarring, etc).
In Canada payment of a GC for surrogacy is prohibited, though her expenses can be reimbursed.
In order to become a GC at Olive, the GC must:
- Have had uncomplicated pregnancy and delivery (born at term)
- Be a non-smoker under 40 years of age
- Have a BMI under 35
- Be healthy
A gestational carrier can be someone known to the intended parents or someone they get to know through an agency. Here is a list of agencies to consider:
Anu Fertility
https://anufertility.com/
Canadian Fertility Consultants
https://fertilityconsultants.ca
Canadian Surrogacy Community
https://surrogacycommunity.ca/
Canada Surrogacy Options
https://www.canadiansurrogacyoptions.com/
Extraordinary Conceptions
https://www.extraconceptions.com/
Ja Surrogacy
https://www.jasurrogacy.com/
Once a gestational carrier is identified, they are screened to be sure they are healthy and psychologically ready for the process. If the screen is reassuring, then a legal contract is completed and an embryo transfer is performed. The screening process and legal both take approximately one month to complete, then the embryo transfer takes 2-3 weeks.
The cost is approximately: $5000 GC screening, $8000 legal contract, plus $3000 for the embryo transfer. The cost of IVF is in addition to this as embryo need to be created prior to embarking on surrogacy.
To get started reach out to our surrogacy nurse coordinator at donorandsurrogacy@olivefertility.com