US Surrogacy Pathway
What is our US Surrogacy Pathway?
Our US Surrogacy Pathway is a trusted service offering tailored professional care throughout your US surrogacy journey. As leading UK surrogacy experts, we work with intended parents who are based in the UK or British living overseas.
We manage the US surrogacy process for you, helping you choose the most proven US surrogacy professionals, pulling the strings together, and providing guidance and care if challenges arise along the way.
We work jointly with our sibling organisation NGA Law throughout, giving you top tier UK legal support and representation in your UK parental order application.
Below, we explain the steps of our US Surrogacy Pathway. If you would prefer to speak to someone about how we can help, then please get in touch.
Why trust Brilliant Beginnings and NGA Law?
Founded in 2013 as a sibling organisation to NGA Law, Brilliant Beginnings has been creating families through US surrogacy for over a decade. We are independent and impartial, offering personal advice to our clients based on our experience, relationships and ongoing research.
NGA Law has worked at the forefront of international surrogacy and helped shape UK surrogacy law since the very first international surrogacy case in 2008. Able to provide everything you need from a UK legal perspective, you have the comfort of working with the established leaders in the field.
Together we are committed to enabling safe and ethical US surrogacy, and to helping you avoid pitfalls to ensure that your US surrogacy journey runs as smoothly as possible.
Comprehensive support throughout your US surrogacy journey
Our unique tailored personal service will steer you safely through US surrogacy. We will coordinate, move things along, solve practical problems, provide reassurance and support your decision-making at every step.
You will have a dedicated Brilliant Beginnings Client Manager, and access to all the expertise in our team.
UK legal support throughout from the UK’s leading surrogacy lawyers
The NGA Law team will work seamlessly with you and your Client Manager, making comprehensive UK legal support an integral part of the surrogacy process, including:
- UK legal advice
- Coordination with your US attorney
- Specialist wills
- Help bringing your baby home to the UK
- Legal representation in your High Court parental order application.
From our families created through US surrogacy
Thank you all at Brilliant Beginnings, who guided and supported me so well through what turned out to be a truly wonderful American surrogacy.
Single dad through US surrogacy
A huge thank you for all your invaluable help and advice, for being with us every step of the way and helping us bring our daughter into the world. What an amazing journey it’s been!
Different-sex parents through US surrogacy
We have a great team now. We like and trust all of you a huge amount. Thanks for being there.
Dads through US surrogacy
Your support and involvement in this process are greatly valued.
Single dad through US surrogacy
I have a friend who would like to go through the journey we did. I shared with her our wonderful experience with you and your team, and how safe and guided we felt.
Mother through US surrogacy
Thank you as always for all your help and support – it’s been invaluable and is much appreciated.
Parents through US surrogacy
Just wanted to say thank you for all your support for my surrogacy journey – the most complex part is building professional ties and it’s your support in managing this as well as the processes that has been invaluable. It is NOT an overstatement to say that I could not have managed this remotely without you.
Single dad through US surrogacy
Thank you as always for all your help and support – it’s been invaluable and is much appreciated.
Parents through US surrogacy
Ready to get started?
Get in touch to have a chat about US surrogacy, to complete an application form for our US Surrogacy Pathway or to arrange a Surrogacy Consultation.
The steps of our US Surrogacy Pathway
Step 1.
Getting started
The first step is to decide that the US is the right surrogacy option for you. If you haven’t reached a settled decision then we would suggest a Surrogacy Consultation. In this meeting, we can explain all the surrogacy options available to you, in the UK and internationally, and/or discuss US surrogacy with you in more detail.
If you have settled on a US surrogacy journey, you can complete our application form to get started.
From there, we will arrange a face-to-face meeting with you to talk through the whole process, to help you budget and to explore your preferences and expectations..
Step 2.
Choosing your US professional partners and getting UK legal advice
We will help you to choose the right US professional partners through tailored personal advice. For US surrogacy, you will need:
- a surrogacy agency – to screen and support your surrogate and match you
- a US fertility clinic – for your IVF treatment
- a US attorney – for your surrogacy agreement and to make you your child’s legal parent(s) under US law.
We will make recommendations from our extensive research, work with you to put together a shortlist, be part of your initial calls or meetings with them, and help you decide who to work with. During this selection process we are working only for you – we do not accept referral fees and have no retainers or financial arrangements with US professionals.
From there you will have a legal review meeting with NGA Law to clearly understand the UK legal process. We will help you understand how UK law fits together with the secure legal framework in the USA including:
- how to bring your child home after the birth,
- what you need to do to secure your legal parenthood in the UK as well as the USA, and
- how to manage the limbo period in between.
If you are British living overseas or have other nationalities, we will also connect you with other appropriate lawyers to advise on nationality and parentage issues in the other countries with which you are connected.
Step 3.
Creating your embryos
We will help you arrange fertility treatment for the conception of your child, working with you and your professional partners.
Depending on your personal situation we can help you:
- choose your egg donor,
- deposit or export your sperm,
- create embryos in the US, or
- export embryos you have already created.
Step 4.
Match and legal set-up
When your US agency finds you a surrogate we will help you consider whether the match is right for you.
From there we will ensure the US legal process runs smoothly, coordinating with your US attorney to put your gestational surrogacy agreement in place.
You will have further legal advice from the NGA Law team, who will also help you put in place specialist wills to protect your family, as well as any other necessary documentation.
Step 5.
Embryo transfer and pregnancy
We will support you through the steps of transferring your embryos, celebrating with you if you are successful and helping you regroup and support any decision-making you need to make if not.
Surrogacy journeys do not always go entirely to plan, but we will be there to care for you and to support you no matter what happens.
Step 6.
Preparing to welcome your child, and getting you home safely
Once your pregnancy is established, your Client Manager will help you prepare for the birth in the US.
The NGA Law team will advise you on travel/immigration and provide confirmation to your employer of your eligibility for surrogacy leave.
We’ll be on hand as you take your flight out and celebrate with you when your baby arrives!
After the birth, we will support you with heading home, including providing a letter to help you at border control if you are returning to the UK immediately or at a later stage (if you live overseas).
Step 7.
Securing your UK legal status
NGA Law will represent you in your parental order application to the High Court, with a choice between two levels of service:
- Premium pathway – NGA Law will manage all aspects of the court process from start to finish, as well as managing the applications for your child’s UK birth certificate and UK passport.
- Basic pathway – NGA Law will represent you in your parental order application with lighter-touch support, working in tandem with you to navigate the court process.
Costs of US Surrogacy
A healthy overall budget for US surrogacy is currently £250,000 to £320,000, and our professional and legal fees are included within this.
We offer two options: our Premium Pathway and our Basic Pathway.
Our Premium Pathway
Our end-to-end professional service, with NGA Law’s premium legal representation for your parental order.
£15,000 plus VAT (Brilliant Beginnings) + £29,000 (NGA Law)
Our Basic Pathway
Our end-to-end professional service, with NGA Law’s basic legal representation for your parental order.
£15,000 plus VAT (Brilliant Beginnings) + £16,000 (NGA Law)
Our fee payments are staged
When you sign up: £10,000 plus VAT (Brilliant Beginnings) and £5,000 plus VAT (NGA Law)
When you are matched: £5,000 plus VAT (Brilliant Beginnings)
On your 20 week scan: £4,000 plus VAT (NGA Law)
On birth: £20,000 plus VAT (NGA Law) over 5 monthly instalments on our premium pathway, or £7,000 plus VAT (NGA Law) over 2 monthly instalments on our basic pathway
In addition to our fees you will need to pay for your US agency fees, US surrogate/donor compensation, fertility treatment costs, US health insurance, US legal costs and personal travel and accommodation. We will help you to budget as part of our service.
Ready to sign up?
Fill in our contact form, send us an email or give us a call to get started on your US surrogacy journey.
Need more information?
Surrogacy in the US
Find out more about how surrogacy in the US works, the advantages and practicalities.
Surrogacy Consultation
Find out more about what is covered in our Surrogacy Consultations.