Introducing our Guatemalan Program!!

Health-care costs in the United States are continually rising and insurance often does not cover infertility treatments such as IVF procedures nor egg donation. Surrogacy is often beyond the financial reach of many people particularly in these times of global financial crisis. Many sanctions which have been instituted in the adoption process in the United States and abroad such as country closings, general instability, and prohibitive travel requirements have left many loving and nurturing families without the capability of experiencing the joyful gift of parenthood.

Our Guatemalan Program is designed to provide couples and individuals who are not able to achieve parenthood by offering excellent fertility and surrogacy services at substantially lower costs. We have a highly experienced full service team here and in Guatemala headed up by lawyers who have partnered for many years in international adoption. By having offices located in the United States and Guatemala, our communication lines between the US and the Guatemala will bestow you with peace of mind that you are receiving the most efficient and professional services available. Both offices are committed to providing you with care, protection, guidance and support through this journey. Our teams in the U.S. and Guatemala include lawyers, licensed psychologists, social workers, and top notch fertility clinics.

The idea of deciding to pursue surrogacy in a foreign country may at first seem intimidating; however, medical tourism is a fast growing industry. With excellent medical care available abroad and substantial cost savings people across the globe are now seeking treatment outside their home countries. Our Guatemalan program offers excellent fertility clinics with well-trained, fully bilingual staff (English and Spanish). Our experienced local program staff lead by an attorney will assist you every step of the way upon arrival in Guatemala and throughout your stay with the goal of making your experience a memorable, rewarding and joyful journey to parenthood.

Guatemala is a beautiful country located in Central America bordering Mexico, Honduras, and El Salvador, and Belize and coasts on the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean and is just a two and a half hour flight from Miami! Flying to Guatemala can be easier and faster than flying between states in the U.S.

Why This Program Offers A Great Opportunity for Surrogates

Our promises and services do not only extend to our clients but also to our surrogate mothers who are extraordinary women who bring to you the gift of life. We truly believe that surrogate mothers must receive great respect and be treated with dignity in recognition for the considerable time and effort they devote to this effort. Surrogates are provided excellent compensation, professional counseling, and educational workshops before during and after the process. Our licensed psychologist will hold monthly group counseling sessions for surrogates. In addition, educational workshops will be held in which topics include:

• General Informational Sessions on Surrogacy
• Infertility Issues
• In Vitro Fertilization Preparation and Medical Procedure
• Health and Nutrition During Pregnancy
• The Delivery and Post-Delivery Process

Surrogate mothers enjoy the special joy that giving the gift of life bestows and with the excellent compensation that they receive, they can realize their own dreams.

Why Advocates for Surrogacy?

Standards of Excellence – We follow standards set forth by American Society of Reproductive
Medicine (ASRM) for Surrogates and Egg Donors, as follows:

Egg Donors must:

• Be between 19 and 32 years of age
• Be a nonsmoker
• Be within normal weight range
• Be healthy and free of communicable diseases
• Undergo a formal, written psychological assessment and clinical interview with a licensed psychologist

Surrogates must:

• Be between 21 and 39 years of age
• Be a nonsmoker
• Be within normal weight range
• Be healthy and free of communicable diseases
• Have given birth to at least one child
• Not have any complicated pregnancies and/or births
• Undergo a written psychological assessment and interview with a licensed psychologist
• Undergo a criminal background check

Experience - Our U.S. and Guatemalan teams worked together for many years in international adoption and developed one of the best adoption programs in Guatemala due to our attention to detail, legal expertise, and careful counseling of birth mothers. International adoption required dedicated teamwork and careful selection and oversight of foster mothers who cared for our children during the legal process. The day to day logistics of managing an adoption program and surrogacy program are quite similar - we have been able to easily transition from the careful oversight we exercised over our foster mothers to the careful oversight of surrogates that this program requires.

Ethics – Ethics is of critical importance to our US and Guatemalan teams. We value our reputations and we value the extraordinary gift that our surrogate mothers give to our families. We provide our surrogates with compensation that recognizes the extraordinary contribution they make to a family to bring a life into this world. Both our US and Guatemalan attorneys are women and believe that international surrogacy can be accomplished with dignity, respect, and result in a win-win for families needing surrogacy to build their families and for the surrogates who provide these services.

Dignity – The Executive Director in the U.S., an attorney, and our attorney in Guatemala, both women, have created a program whose mission is to help families in need of surrogacy to realize their dreams of having a family while never losing sight of the incredible gift that a surrogate gives to these families. We provide education, counseling, excellent compensation, and medical and life insurance coverage during the process.

Service – We provide a full range of services to ensure that your journey to parenthood will be a positive and joyful experience which include:

• Initial coordination and medical review by fertility clinic in Guatemala.
  
  
• Surrogate Screening: Extensive application including background of surrogate and family history. Medical, criminal background, and psychological screening of surrogates.
  
  
• Egg Donor Screening: Extensive application including background of donor and family history. Medical and psychological screening of surrogates.
  
  
• Drafting of Contract between Surrogate and Intended Parents. Our Director in the U.S. will repare an agreement between you and the surrogate outlining the issues particular to your situation such as: the number of embryos to be transferred and multiple birth provisions. Our attorney in Guatemala will consult with your proposed surrogate, assuring that her expectations are addressed and dealt with in the wording of your agreement. The surrogate will then review the contract with her own, independent legal counsel. Once all parties are in agreement and the contract is consummated, we can proceed rapidly with the arrangements to begin the treatment cycle. Informed consent is obtained from all parties, and the treatment course begins.
  
  
• Coordination of Cycle Synchronization between Intended Mother and Surrogate or Egg Donor and Surrogate
  
  
• Schedule IVF and Embryo Transfer
  
  
• Coordination of travel by Intended Parent(s) to and within Guatemala including accommodations
  
  
• Arrange for and manage escrowed funds, monitor and authorize disbursements.
  
  
• Process payments to surrogate for fees, prescription medications, and contractually allowable expenses.
  
  
• Schedule all doctor appointments for surrogate
  
  
• Communication with Intended Parents and Surrogate throughout process, provide medical updates, results of special procedures such as ultrasound or amniocentesis results
  
  
• Arrange birth certificate
  
  
• Legal representation by U.S. attorney before US Embassy for U.S. passport application process for child/ren