A.

Agency Agreement – A contract between intended parents and a surrogacy agency, outlining the services, expectations, and fees. This agreement ensures clarity and protects all parties involved. Read more about surrogacy agencies here.

Anonymous Donor – A donor who provides eggs, sperm, or embryos without revealing their identity. Anonymous donors typically remain unknown to the recipients and resulting child.

Artificial Insemination – A fertility treatment where sperm is inserted directly into a woman’s uterus or cervix to achieve pregnancy, often used in simpler fertility cases or traditional surrogacy.

Assisted Hatching – A technique used in IVF to help an embryo hatch from its outer shell, improving its chances of implantation.

Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) – A range of medical procedures used to treat infertility or help individuals achieve pregnancy. ART includes in vitro fertilization (IVF), egg donation, embryo transfer, and more.

B.

Birth Certificate Amendment – The legal process of updating a birth certificate to reflect the intended parents as the legal parents of a child born through surrogacy (if no pre-birth order was completed).

Birth Order – A court order that establishes legal parentage for the intended parents. This can be a pre-birth order, issued before the baby is born, or a post-birth order, issued after birth. Read more about pre-birth orders here .

Blastocyst – An embryo that has developed for five to six days after fertilization and is ready for implantation. Transferring a blastocyst during IVF often improves success rates.

Breastfeeding Agreement – An arrangement in surrogacy where the surrogate agrees to provide breast milk to the intended parents after birth, either through direct breastfeeding, or expressed (pumped) milk.

C.

Compensation Agreement – A part of the surrogacy contract that outlines the financial compensation a surrogate will receive for her services. Compensation typically covers base pay, expenses, and additional fees for certain milestones or complications.

Cryopreservation – The process of freezing and storing eggs, sperm, or embryos for future use. Cryopreservation is commonly used in fertility treatments to preserve reproductive material.

Cycle Monitoring – A series of blood tests and ultrasounds used to track hormone levels and the development of eggs during an IVF cycle.

D.

Donor Agreement – A legal contract between the donor and intended parents that clarifies the donor’s rights and responsibilities. This agreement ensures that there are no future claims to parentage from the donor. Read more about donor agreements here .

Double Donation – When both the egg and sperm used to create an embryo come from donors, rather than from the intended parents.

DNA Testing – Often used in surrogacy to confirm biological parentage after birth. This can be required to establish citizenship for international intended parents.

E.

Egg Donor – A woman who donated her eggs for use in fertility treatments. Egg donors can be known to the intended parents, or they can remain anonymous.

Embryo Transfer – The process of transferring an embryo into a woman’s uterus to achieve preganncy. This is a critical step in the IVF process.

Embryologoy Lab – A specialized fertility within a fertility clinic where embryos are created, cultured, and evaluated.

Exclusive Matching – An arrangement where a surrogate is matched with only one set of intended parents, ensuring personalized focus and commitment.

F.

Fertility Clinic – A medical facility specializing in diagnosing and treating infertility, as well as performing ART procedures, such as IVF and embryo transfers.

Full-Service Agency – A surrogacy agency that offers a comprehensive scop of services, often including surrogate matching, legal coordination, medical support, and counseling.

G.

Gamete – A reproductive cell, either sperm or egg, that combines during fertilization to form an embryo.

Gestational Carrier (GC) – Also known as a gestational surrogate, a woman who carries and delivers a baby for intended parents. The GC has no genetic connection to the child, as the embryo is created using the intended parents’ or donors’ genetic material.

Gestational Surrogacy – The most common form of surrogacy, where the surrogate carries a child created from the genetic material of the intended parents or donors, without any genetic link to the surrogate.

Genetic Testing – Testing performed on embryos during IVF to screen for genetic conditions or chromosomal abnormalities.

H.

Health Screening – A series of medical tests for surrogates and donors to ensure that they are physically and mentally prepared for the surrogacy process.

HIPAA – The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which protects the privacy and confidentiality of medical information. Your attorneys and your surrogacy agency may request a HIPAA release to ensure that they have access to the medical information relating to your surrogacy journey.

Home Study – A background check and evaluation process required in some states for intended parents seeking to finalize parentage through adoption or surrogacy.

Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) – A hormone detected in pregnancy tests. HCG levels are closely monitored after embryo transfer to confirm pregnancy.

I.

Intended Parents (IPs) – Individuals or couples who use surrogacy or ART to build their family. They may be heterosexual, same-sex, or single parents.

Independent Surrogacy – Surrogacy without the involvement of an agency, where intended parents and surrogates work directly with one-another and their legal and medical teams.

J.

Judicial Determination – A court decision regarding legal parentage, typically involving the issuance of a birth-order for intended parents.

K.

Known Donor – A donor whose identity is known to the intended parents. This can be a family member, friend, or acquaintance who agrees to donate sperm, eggs, or embryos.

L.

Legal Clearance – Confirmation from attorneys that all legal agreements and requirements have been met, allowing the surrogacy process to proceed.

Lifestyle Clause – A provision in the surrogacy agreement specifying lifestyle choices the surrogate agrees to follow during the pregnancy, such as dietary restrictions, travel limitations, and avoiding high-risk activities.

M.

Matching Process – The process of pairing intended parents with a surrogate or donor. This is done through agencies and typically involves thorough screening and compatibility assessments.

Multiples Fee – Additional compensation paid to the surrogate if she becomes pregnant with twins or triplets.

N.

Non-Genetic Parent – An intended parent who has no genetic connection to the child, such as in cases involving sperm or egg donation.

Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) – A blood test used during pregnancy to screen for chromosomal abnormalities.

Neonatal Care – Specialized care provided to newborns, especially those born prematurely or with health complications.

O.

Oocyte – The medical term for a female egg cell. Oocytes are retrieved during IVF for fertilization.

Ovulation Induction – A fertility treatment that uses medications to stimulate the ovaries to release eggs, increasing the chances of fertilization.

P.

Parental Rights – The legal recognition of an individual’s status as a parent. This is established through birth orders, adoptions, or court proceedings.

Post-Birth Order – A court order issued after the birth of a child, confirming the intended parents as the legal parents.

Pre-Birth Order – A court order issued prior to the birth of a child, confirming the intended parents as the legal parents.

Preimplantation Genetic Testing (PGT) – Genetic testing performed on embryos before implantation to screen for specific genetic disorders or chromosomal abnormalities.

R.

Reciprocal IVF – A family-building option for same-sex female couples, where one partner provides the eggs and the other carries the pregnancy.

Reproductive Endocrinologist – A fertility specialist trained in diagnosing and treating reproductive health issues and performing ART procedures.

S.

Second-Parent Adoption – A legal process that allows a non-biological parent in a same-sex couple to adopt their partner’s biological child and establish legal parentage.

Shared Donor Cycle – An egg donation arrangement where multiple intended parents share eggs from the same donor, reducing costs.

Surrogacy Agency – An agency that provides services to surrogates and intended parents, often including surrogate matching, financial management of escrow accounts for surrogacy payment, and matching with legal service providers.

Surrogacy Agreement – A legally binding contract between the surrogate and intended parents that outlines all terms of the surrogacy journey, including compensation, medical decisions, and responsibilities.

T.

Traditional Surrogacy  – A surrogacy arrangement where the surrogate is also the genetic mother of the child, as her egg is used in conception. This differs from gestational surrogacy, and is not legal in many states.

Termination Clause – A provision in the surrogacy agreement that addresses circumstances under which the pregnancy may bet terminated, such as for medical reasons.

U.

Umbilical Cord Blood Banking – The collection and storage of a baby’s umbilical cord blood, which contains valuable stem cells that can be used in future medical treatments.

V.

Viability – The point in pregnancy when a fetus can survive outside the womb, usually around 24 weeks of gestation.

W.

Waiver of Parental Rights – A legal document signed by a donor or surrogate relinquishing any claim to parentage.

Z.

Zygote – A fertilized egg cell that forms after sperm and egg combine, marking the earliest stage of embryo development.