8 Questions Every Intended Parent Should Ask a Surrogacy Agency

Beginning a surrogacy journey is one of the most important decisions you’ll ever make, and the agency you choose will play a huge role in how smooth, ethical, and supportive your experience feels. Asking the right questions in your first meeting with an agency can help you uncover whether they’re the right fit for your family. Here are eight key questions every Intended Parent (IP) should ask during their interview—along with what best practices look like and how Roots Surrogacy approaches each one.

1. How long have you been in business, and how many babies have been born through your agency?

Longevity and proven experience matter. An agency with years of operation and hundreds of successful journeys demonstrates stability and reliability. At Roots, we’ve been building families since 2015, with over 500 babies born through our program.

2. How many cases does each case manager handle at one time?

Case managers are the heartbeat of your journey. If they’re overextended, you risk delayed responses and less personalized care. Best practice is keeping caseloads manageable—so every surrogate and IP feels fully supported. At Roots, our case managers typically handle no more than 25 cases at a time, ensuring a high-touch, responsive experience. At Roots, we have a 5 touch point system where every case is touched AT LEAST 5 times per week, at a bare minimum, to make sure that all clients and ancillary services are being managed with timeliness and efficiency.

3. Who owns the agency? Do they have private equity or venture capital backing?

Ownership matters. Agencies backed by outside investors may be driven more by profit margins than by the quality of care. Ask about ownership transparency and whether the agency is privately run. Roots is independently owned and operated by women—no outside investors, no profit-first motives. Just ethical, client-focused care.

4. Do you use in-house or third-party professionals for escrow and legal counsel?

Best practice is to have independent escrow accounts and independent legal counsel for all parties. This ensures financial transparency and avoids conflicts of interest. At Roots, we partner with licensed, third-party escrow providers and refer our clients to experienced reproductive attorneys for independent representation.

5. How often have you worked with my clinic?

Collaboration between agency and clinic can streamline the process and prevent costly mistakes. If the agency is already familiar with your clinic’s staff and protocols, that’s a strong advantage. Roots works seamlessly with dozens of leading clinics across the U.S., adapting to each clinic’s requirements.

6. Who performs insurance reviews for your surrogates?

Insurance is one of the most complex aspects of surrogacy. Best practice is to use a specialized, independent insurance professional. At Roots, we work with leading surrogacy insurance experts at ART RISK to ensure surrogate policies are vetted and cost-effective for intended parents.

7. Do you conduct background checks, and if so, how?

This is non-negotiable. Every surrogate and partner should undergo thorough background checks, ideally by a licensed private investigator rather than just a database search. At Roots, we work with a licensed private professional investigator who calls every county that the surrogate has ever lived or worked in. We find out criminal arrests and convictions, litigation, bankruptcy, divorce and any other legal action that has happened in that county.

8. What is your stance on “social surrogacy”?

Social surrogacy refers to choosing a surrogate for reasons other than medical necessity. At Roots, we believed in informed consent and transparent communication are the keys to successful surrogacy journeys. If there are reasons outside the normative “medical necessity”, we are happy to support those parents or parent in starting or growitn their family through surrogacy. We are not the get keepers to access your future family; we are in the space to help facilitate informed decisons, thoughtful communication and a connective and efficient path forward.