How Long Does It Take to Be Matched

If you ask any Intended Parent or Surrogate what part of the surrogacy journey they most look forward to, "the matching phase" will likely be one of the most common responses you hear. For all parties involved, matching is one of the most anticipated stages. However, depending on whether you are an Intended Parent or Surrogate, the answer to the question "how long does it take to be matched" will vary.

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The Surrogate Intake Process and Managing Expectations as an Intended Parents

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Welcome to Surrogacy Talk with me, your fabulous host and family building expert, Frank Golden. I'll be talking about surrogacy, IVF and making babies. Hi everyone! Frank Golden here, from Golden Surrogacy. And this is Surrogacy Talk. Before I get started, I would like to kindly ask that you please like and subscribe to Surrogacy Talk on YouTube and anywhere else that you consume your content. Also, don't forget to check out our fantastic blog at goldensurrogacy.com. Thank you so much for tuning in and for considering Golden Surrogacy your trusted source for surrogacy information. Hello, all of my Surrogate friends out there on this Surrogacy Talk I'm going to cover for you

how long does it take to match: 0:55

Surrogate addition. So frequently, Surrogates will be in online chat forums and providing help, which is fantastic. I love the surrogacy community for this, but frequently an Intended Parent will be in a chat forum and they'll ask how long does it take to match? And a Surrogate might chime in. You listening to this might chime in and say, well, it took weeks for me or it took days, or someone might say I was matched instantly. And the Intended Parents are often left wondering what the heck I was told by my agency that it's going to take months and it could take up to a year. So then there is a bit of confusion and disconnect and and then someone might eventually hop into the thread and explain what the scoop is. And so that's what I'd like to do for you. So we know that you know, as a Surrogate, you'll go through the application process with an agency, you'll have an interview. There are various components of record collection and prescreening, all of these wonderful things that agencies do, especially us here at Golden. I outlined them in one of our Surrogacy Talks, which I’ll linked to this one, and that process can take on average anywhere from 30 to 90 days. So we know that. And, you know, oftentimes it's it's faster. So for you out there as a Surrogate, matching can take a matter of weeks or days in some instances. However, I would err on the side of caution there and say more often than that, it is something that does take at least 60 days when done accurately. But that gets us back to the disconnect between the Surrogate matching process and why that is perceived as being much shorter than what the Intended Parents might experience. And there are a couple different reasons for that. They're always going to be more Intended Parents in the marketplace, let's say, looking for a qualified Surrogate than there are Surrogates with agencies. The only caveat there would be and this is something that you should also pay attention to, is if an agency says that they can match you instantly as an Intended Parent, that might mean that they're a newer agency, that they've taken the time to recruit and prescreen Surrogates first before building a clientele base. That would be the only exception. If you are out there and you are embarking upon your surrogacy journey with a well-established agency like Golden, I can assure you that there are more Intended Parents on a waitlist than there would be Surrogates ready to match. So it's not always a 1 to 1 ratio. Another factor would be Intended Parent criteria and matching preferences. So when an Intended Parent begins with an agency, they would go through an orientation process and go on what we call kind of a wait list. They provide us their criteria, and as Surrogates graduate out of our pre screening program, they're then presented with profiles and Intended Parents are presented with profiles and the agency tries to do a very good job at matching like minded individuals to have a fantastic journey together. But as I've stated, there are always more Intended Parents looking than Surrogates who graduate that pre screening process and so just as a matter of supply and demand or the numbers being what they are in terms of the ratios there, Intended Parents, the matching process for you out there is always going to take a little bit longer. And so that's why it is perceived to be so on the Surrogate side that a match can happen very quickly. But understanding that nuance is very important. I know for me personally as an Intended Parent, when I started the process, knowing this information would have been helpful for me to help set expectations when I started my journey. And I'll also link to this Surrogacy Talk where I dive into setting expectations as an Intended Parent and understanding what that means. So for you out there listening to this Surrogacy Talk is perspective Surrogate or a current Surrogate, understanding the nuance and understanding why for you matching was faster than than it will be for Intended Parents will help you ensure that you're putting accurate information out into the surrogacy community and that surrogacy in general is something where we can demystify some parts of the process so that everyone embarks upon their surrogacy journey in a well-informed way. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you think of any questions or you have any comments, perhaps future content ideas, please do get in touch. I would love to hear from you. I can be contacted at our Instagram handle, which is @Golden_Surrogacy, and once again, I am Frank Golden reminding all of you that Everyone Deserves a Family.