The Surrogate Labor and Delivery Process  

As a surrogate, you will know what to expect from the surrogacy hospital experience ahead of time with the help and support of your surrogacy professional. 

• You will have a hospital plan detailing your surrogate hospital stay  
• The surrogate maternity hospital experience is relatively straightforward  
• Your surrogacy professional will support you through the entire surrogate delivery process  

Before continuing this guide to the surrogacy hospital experience, know that you can always speak to a surrogacy professional to get more information on surrogate labor and delivery by completing this online form.  

Being a surrogate and carrying a baby for someone else means your surrogacy hospital experience will be slightly different from a traditional pregnancy.  

Let’s start with what happens before it’s time for surrogate gestational delivery.  

Before Your Surrogacy Hospital Stay  

Early in the surrogacy process, you and your professional will create a hospital plan to address your preferences for the surrogate labor and delivery experience.  

Your preferences will factor into the matching process, and you will discuss what you need during your hospital stay with the intended parents when drafting your legal contract.  

Some of the details surrounding your surrogacy hospital stay will include:  

• The hospital you will deliver at  
• Additional assistance in the surrogate delivery room  
• Preferences for who is allowed in the surrogate delivery room  
• Who will cut the cord and hold the baby first  
• Whether the intended parents want you to breastfeed after birth  
• Financial compensation  
• Whether you will have delivery pictures taken  
• And more  

Your surrogacy professional will discuss details of the legal contract and, more specifically, the surrogacy hospital experience before agreeing to anything with the intended parents.  

During the third trimester, your professional will begin coordinating with your OB-GYN to create a delivery plan to meet the expectations you and the intended parents have.  

You will know every detail of your surrogate hospital stay before you arrive to help eliminate surprises.  

In the event of early delivery, your surrogacy professional will help you prepare a surrogate hospital bag and everything you’ll need to take with you to the hospital.  

You can get more information on hospital surrogacy policy, your surrogate hospital bag and the steps you’ll take before labor and delivery by completing this online form.  

A professional is ready to provide you with answers to all of your important surrogacy hospital questions.  

Your Surrogacy Hospital Experience is Relatively Straightforward  

Despite the lengthy surrogacy journey that included a complete screening, physical examinations, the surrogacy medical process and pregnancy, your hospital stay is surprisingly straightforward.  

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, you will successfully deliver the baby and watch your intended family hold their child for the first time. It’s the life-changing moment everyone has waited for and something everyone involved will cherish forever.  

So, what can you expect during your surrogate hospital stay?  

Five Things to Expect at the Surrogacy Maternity Hospital  

Because you have pre-determined many of the details regarding your surrogacy hospital stay well ahead of labor and delivery, you’ll essentially know what will occur.  

Here are some additional details to know and anticipate for your surrogacy hospital stay. 

1. Most of the Legal Paperwork is Complete in Advance  

While you’re focused on the pregnancy and now labor and delivery, the necessary coordination for legal paperwork is being handled in the background.  

The intended parents’ attorney contacts the hospital for paperwork on their end, while your surrogacy professional sends your birth plan to the hospital to make everyone aware of your wishes.  

You can get more information about the legal process of surrogacy by filling out this form to connect with a surrogacy professional.  

You can also check out this guide to the importance of working with an experienced surrogacy attorney.  

2. Intended Parents are Taken Care of  

Your surrogacy agency works with your hospital of choice to arrange accommodations for the intended parents.   

You will have a separate room and likely will place the intended parents nearby while still respecting your desired privacy.  

3. Identifying Wristbands  

Like most deliveries, both you and the intended parents get identifying wristbands while at the surrogacy hospital.   

Like in adoption, hospitals use wristbands as way to keep track of everyone involved in your surrogacy journey.  

4. Providing the Hospital with Your Surrogacy Information  

To make the surrogate delivery process as smooth as possible, your professional coordinates and communicates with most if not all of the hospital staff in the delivery wing about your gestational surrogacy.  

It’s important that everyone is aware of your incredible journey and both you and the intended parents are appropriately addressed, and no one is excluded.  

You can also potentially put a sign on your door or in your room to let everyone know you’re a proud gestational surrogate.   

5. The Baby is Already Insured Under the Intended Parents  

As a surrogate, you never have to worry about medical expenses. The intended parents cover all medical costs, and they have already made arrangements to add the baby to their insurance policy.  

The Surrogacy Process after Delivery  

Depending on where you live, some states require you to complete a few post-birth legal steps. Your surrogacy attorney will guide you through those if necessary.  

As a general statement, however, your focus should be on your recovery.  

It’s possible that you’ve decided to pump for the intended parents and baby, and you will have made that decision when drafting your legal contract.  

Because of surrogacy’s straightforward nature after labor and surrogacy delivery, once discharged, you can refocus your attention on getting back into the swing of your life and the interests and activities you didn’t have time for as a surrogate.  

You can also move forward knowing you share a lifelong bond with the intended parents and continue to build whatever relationship you feel is appropriate moving forward.  

Remember, you can always get more information on the surrogate hospital stay and the surrogacy process after delivery by taking this link to our online contact form.  

The answers to your important surrogacy questions are just a click away!