Singles
Straight Couples
Gay Couples
Lesbian Couples
Sperm Donor
Own Embryos
External Egg Donor
Since 2003
Eligible IPs
Pre-birth Court Orders
US Citizenship
Dual citizenship
Birth Certificate
About Surrogacy in Texas
The state of Texas (with Dallas / Fort Worth as a major metropolis) is a favourable location for surrogates to deliver. This is due to the Texas Family Code. Please view the legal section below for more information on this. Surrogacy in Texas is available to foreign Intended Parents, provided they are married man and woman, married same-sex couple, or single man or woman. The birth certificate will recognize the intended parent(s) and only the names of the IPs will appear on the birth certificates.
We work with Simple Surrogacy or Surrogacy Solutions for introducing you to surrogates and Egg Donor Solutions for egg donors. Our preferred attorneys in Texas are Lauren Gaydos Duffer (“LGD”) who have extensive experience in ART law. In Texas a surrogate is often described as a Gestational Carrier, because she has no genetic link with the child, which distinguishes her from a “traditional surrogate”. All women applying to be a gestational carrier are rigorously screened to assess their psychological, uterine and basic overall health. They also undergo credit and criminal checks. Simple Surrogacy has worked extensively with Fort Worth Fertility our preferred clinic in Texas.
IPs will complete a profile and biography and a FaceTime or Skype video conference will be held with representatives of each of Fort Worth Fertility, Simple Surrogacy and LGD, before they are matched with a surrogate. A case manager from the agency and clinic will be assigned to your case for the duration of your journey.
Throughout your journey all communication with the clinic, agency, lawyers or other service providers in Texas will be copied to us and to IPT Law. If you have a medical issue then you will direct your email to the relevant clinic staff but copy us. If you have a question concerning administration, travel, legal issues or financial matters then you will address your email to us and we will engage with the relevant service provider in Texas as appropriate. We will be the project managers for your journey.
When a payment falls due the Texas service provider will send an invoice to us for your attention. We will first validate that the instalment is payable under the contract and if so pass it on to you for payment. You will make the payment by international bank transfer or credit card and send a copy of the remittance advice to us and the service provider.
At around month 7 of the pregnancy we will start talking to you about your travel plans and IPT Law will prepare your citizenship and passport applications and prepare the first draft of the surrogate mother’s affidavit. We will send the draft affidavit to Simple Surrogacy and LGD lawyers so they can provide it to the surrogate mother for her review.
At this time we will assist you and LGD in completing the validation process (obtaining a pre-birth order) so as to clearly establish your parentage and ensure a birth certificate will issue that shows only the IP or IPs name(s). IPT Law will lodge your Australian citizenship application, application for DNA testing and forward the completed passport application to you for your lodgement. You will be given detailed and complete instructions on how to prepare all documentation and the steps you must take. The Australian Embassy in Washington DC is responsible for all citizenship applications made for children born in Texas and in our experience the applications are taking up to 4 weeks to finalise. It will be quicker for you to apply for a US passport and then an electronic tourist visa for your child so that you can return to Australia about 3 weeks after their birth. We and the Texas lawyers will assist you with the documentation to obtain the US Passport.
Upon your return to Australia we will meet with you to ensure everything has been completed and then IPT Law will assist you to complete the Family Court application for parenting orders.
Step-By-Step
- IPs complete a profile and bio and undertake blood tests and sperm analysis (as applicable)
- IPs provide identity documents and AFP Police check to IPT Law
- IPs sign agreements with all the service providers
- IPs review surrogate mother profiles and are introduced to a potential surrogate
- IPs and surrogate continue communicating until all are happy to proceed
- Surrogate completes medical screening and given the go ahead
- Gestational Carrier Agreement negotiated (with our guidance and advice) and signed
- If applicable egg/sperm donor selected and agreement signed
- IPs provide their sperm or eggs to clinic
- IPs provide clear instructions to the clinic on embryo transfer protocols
- Surrogate mother receives medical preparation and medication
- Coordination of egg donor and surrogate for a Fresh Embryo Transfer
- Throughout the pregnancy we are on call to discuss any issues of any nature that may arise
- In the final month of pregnancy the doctor will advise a tentative delivery date
- We assist you with your travel planning and preparation
- Prior to birth the Illinois lawyers and IPT Law will assist you in obtaining a parentage declaration and birth certificate by completing certification forms
- US Passport obtained and applications for IPs home country citizenship and passport lodged
A summary of Surrogacy in Texas
Price
Legal Certainty
Availability of Surrogates
Babies Delivered
Years Experience
Success Rate
In 2014 Fort Worth Fertility achieved a pregnancy success rate of 68% for Fresh Embryo Transfers using egg donors.
About Fort Worth Fertility
Surrogacy in the United States is well-developed, and there are many IVF clinics that provide surrogacy services. For the State of Texas we have decided to work with Dr. Robert Kaufmann and his team at Fort Worth Fertility in Fort Worth (“FWF”) because of the reputation of Dr Kaufmann, FWF’s pregnancy success rates and the broad scope of services they offer.
The center provides a broad range of state of the art medical services to optimize the chance of success. Its pregnancy success rates consistently rank among the highest in the country.
There are a range of options available to intended parents at FWF. The IPs have the option of transferring one or two embryos. They also have the option to split eggs from one egg donor, fertilizing half of the eggs with sperm from each of the IPs in cases of same sex male parents.
FWF is conveniently located approximately 30 minutes from Dallas / Fort Worth International Airport. For Australians, there are direct flights to DFW. In general, the medical and legal aspects of the process can be streamlined and take just a few days, allowing intended parents to have time to enjoy the cultural and environmental attractions of Texas.
We offer a total package service that includes cooperation with an Arlington (mid way between Dallas and Fort Worth) based law firm specializing in ART law together with a Dallas based surrogacy agency and the option of working with a range of external egg donor agencies.
One of the first steps in starting your journey is having a Skype call with Dr Kaufmann so you can ask him any questions that you may have.
In most cases you can expect to have an FET approximately 3 months after you commence your journey with us.
FWF offers, and recommends PGS which involves an embryo biopsy on Day 5 and results within 24 hours so that a fresh Day 6 embryo transfer can still be achieved.
Generally, FWF will be responsible for monitoring the surrogate for the first 12 weeks of her pregnancy after which responsibility will be passed to her local obstetrician and/or midwife who will be agreed upon in advance and noted in the Gestational Carrier Agreement.
FWF performs hundreds of successful FET cycles annually and this number, together with the number of surrogacy cases, continues to grow.
Dr. Robert Kaufmann
Practice Director
Dr. Kaufmann has also been very active in medical literature. He has published 50 articles, abstracts and book chapters on various topics such as in-vitro fertilization, blastocyst culturing and cryopreservation and donor egg donation and preimplantation genetic diagnosis.
He has a real passion and drive to help his patient achieve their drams to become parents. He understands the hardship and struggle that comes with infertility treatments. He and his wife have been through it themselves and have had two successful in vitro fertilizations. This experience has truly intensified his desire to help others by providing them personalized and compassionate infertility treatments.
Dr. Kaufman`s work, drive and compassion have not gone unnoticed. In 2005 and 2013, Fort Worth Magazine honoured him as one of “Fort Worth, TX Top Docs”. In 2007 and 2013 he was considered as a Top Doctor in America for gynaecology and obstetrics.
Why We Recommend Fort Worth Fertility
- Good pregnancy success rates
- Perform single and two embryo transfers
- PGS performed
- Qualifications of medical director – board certified
- Extensive experience in IVF generally and surrogacy and egg donor programs specifically
- Competitive pricing and tailored surrogacy package options
- Clinical experience and growing numbers of transfers
- Reasonable pricing for the US market
- Convenience of an affordable international destination in Texas
The Cost of Surrogacy in Texas
We have worked with the team of professionals in Fort Worth, Texas to come up with some very competitively priced packages for surrogacy in Texas. At Global Surrogacy we will discuss your particular circumstances with you and then provide you with a total package price estimate set out in a spreadsheet that includes a payment schedule. The total price includes all fees payable to the surrogate, egg donors, Australian and US lawyers, agencies and the Clinic and our fees.
The approximate total price for surrogacy in Texas is USD $xxx,000 if you use an egg donor or USD $xxx,000 if you use your own embryos. Working with our US team members we have come up with a mechanism to ship embryos into Texas.
There is a price list for optional additional services (eg: PGS) and contingencies (eg: twins). This basic package price includes 1 Fresh embryo transfer and unlimited subsequent frozen transfers from the firs egg donor cycle. A package price including unlimited egg donor retrievals and transfers is also available for an additional USD $12,000 approx.
This total price includes:
- All agency fees for surrogates and egg donors;
- All necessary health insurance policies for surrogate mother and child;
- All surrogate compensation and anticipated expenses for a routine pregnancy;
- All medical fees payable to the Clinic for IVF services and first trimester monitoring;
- All legal fees payable to Texas lawyers for agreements and parentage orders;
- All legal fees payable to IPT Law for services including the initial parts of parentage orders in Australia;
- The project management fee for Global Surrogacy.
Surrogacy Law in Texas
An Overview of Surrogacy Laws in Texas
The laws in respect of surrogacy in Texas are very supportive of surrogacy arrangements.
Surrogacy in Texas can be accessed by foreign IPs whether they be a married man and woman, married same-sex couple, single man or single woman. The law will recognize the IP or IPs as the parents of the child(ren) and only the names of the IPs will appear on the birth certificates. The children will also automatically, as a matter of law, attain US citizenship and are therefore entitled to a US passport.
In Texas the IPs will by law be the parents and appear on the birth certificate even if they have no genetic link to the child.
Egg splitting, whereby each of a gay couple fertilizes half the harvested eggs from an egg donor with the intention of transferring one embryo from each of them, is permitted in Texas.
Provided pre-birth order is obtained from the Courts prior to the birth of the child then a birth certificate reflecting the IPs names will be available within about 3-5 days of the birth of the child.
The relevant law in Texas is the Uniform Parentage Act Chapter 160 Texas Family Code (“UPA”)
Information about the Uniform Parentage Act
The Gestational Surrogacy Agreement must be signed by all parties 14 days prior to the embryo transfer.
The GC Agreement is validated by a Court making a pre-birth order confirming the validity of the Gestational Surrogacy Agreement and parentage of the child.
The child will be a US Citizen and obtain a US passport. It is strongly recommended that the child depart the USA on its US passport.
There is no difference in the law, as it applies to married heterosexual couples, in the State of Texas.
The birth certificates can list the names of one or both intended parents, regardless of gender or sexual orientation. The certificate is normally issued within 3 – 5 days of the child’s birth.