How We Evaluated the Best Surrogacy Agencies
This comparison is based on publicly available agency information available in 2026, including agency websites, current program descriptions, and published statistics.
Six Factors, Not a Proprietary Score
Rather than creating a proprietary numerical score, we concentrated on six factors that intended parents can independently investigate:
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Agency size and operating style
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Agency-published success rates
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Variety of programs available
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Benefits of programs
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Agency-published surrogate return or repeat-journey figures
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A clearly identifiable area for which the agency is particularly known
Each factor is something an intended parent can check directly against an agency's own materials, rather than a rating that has to be taken on trust.
How We Classify Agency Size
The size labels used throughout this site — large/corporate, mid-size, boutique — are practical classifications based on publicly visible operating footprint and service model rather than official industry categories. Size itself is not treated as a measure of quality.
How to Interpret Surrogacy Agency Success Rates
Several agencies publish success rates indicating the percentage of intended parents or journeys that ultimately result in a baby. Others do not publish an equivalent statistic. The percentages in our comparison should be understood as agency-published figures, not directly standardized medical outcome statistics.
A success rate can be one of the first statistics an intended parent notices, but it can also be one of the easiest to misunderstand. The key issue is the denominator:
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Is the percentage calculated from everyone who signs with the agency?
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Only intended parents who already have embryos?
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Only those who complete at least one transfer?
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Does “success” mean pregnancy, live birth, or taking a baby home?
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Does the agency exclude journeys that are still underway?
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How many years of data are included?
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Has the methodology changed over time?
Those questions matter because the CDC's standardized ART reporting applies to fertility clinics, not to marketing statistics published independently by surrogacy agencies. CDC clinic data use defined measures and still require careful interpretation because success depends on patient and treatment factors.
Where an agency publishes a related but different statistic — a first-introduction match rate, a clinic approval rate, or a preterm-delivery rate — we note it as a process or medical indicator rather than substituting it for an overall success rate.
Agency-reported success rates can still be helpful. They simply should not be treated as identical measurements unless the underlying methodologies are also identical.
What a Surrogate Return Rate Can Tell Intended Parents
Repeat surrogate statistics provide a different type of information. Unlike a pregnancy or live-birth success rate, a return rate relates more closely to the surrogate side of the agency experience. A surrogate who voluntarily completes another journey may have had a positive enough experience to work with the agency again.
This is one reason figures such as Hatch's published 78% sibling-journey return rate and Giving Tree's 66% repeat-surrogate rate can be useful differentiators.
But definitions matter here too. Calculations may include sibling journeys, return journeys, or even referrals. Circle combines returning surrogates with referrals in its published 50%+ statistic. ConceiveAbilities describes 56% as the share of prior surrogates who want another journey rather than necessarily those who have already completed one. We report each figure alongside the agency's own framing and treat them as directional information rather than an apples-to-apples performance metric.
Where Figures Are Marked Unconfirmed
Where we could not identify a directly comparable published figure in an agency's public materials, the entry is marked “unconfirmed” or “not published” rather than estimated or substituted with a third-party number. This is a statement about what the agency publishes, not a judgement about the agency.
An Important Limitation
Agencies do not report every metric using standardized definitions. A 99% agency-reported success rate is not automatically equivalent to another agency's 99% figure. Likewise, one agency's fixed-cost program may include services another agency excludes.
Our goal is to make the differences easier to identify — and the questions intended parents should ask easier to see.
The numbering in our comparison organizes the list. It should not be interpreted as meaning that one agency will necessarily be the best fit for every intended parent.
Last reviewed: September 2026. Because surrogacy programs, pricing, and published statistics change, intended parents should always confirm current terms directly with an agency before signing an agreement.
This comparison is based on publicly available agency information in 2026. Program pricing, guarantees, and published metrics change — confirm current terms, eligibility requirements, and exclusions directly with each agency.