The hard questions, answered straight.

You know your money is safe when it is not in the agency's possession.

If funds are in independent escrow, they remain yours under the escrow agreement and are released on the contract schedule or returned, regardless of what happens to the agency.

With PLS, the time from signed agreement to an accepted match has averaged about nine months [CONFIRM], and our target for 2027 is six months or fewer.

Any single success rate is misleading.

Yes, and she chooses you.

Before embryo transfer a surrogate may withdraw; after transfer the gestational carrier agreement governs, and in Illinois she has no parental rights to the child.

About [X]% of transfers do not result in a clinical pregnancy [cite SART by age group].

Early pregnancy loss occurs in roughly 10 to 20 percent of recognized pregnancies [cite ACOG].

Because most of the work happens before a match: recruiting, screening, physician record review, and the hours of a nurse and two case managers.

Guarantees are priced in.

The risk is not size.

Because the task is reading records, not delivering babies.

Yes to all three.

As much as you both agree to.

Only if her own policy excludes surrogate pregnancies.

In Illinois, intended parents who meet the Gestational Surrogacy Act's requirements are the legal parents at birth and are named on the original birth certificate; the process is an attorney certification, not a court hearing [CONFIRM with counsel].

Because it is the market rate for a 15-month commitment that includes injections, medical risk, lost work and a pregnancy, and because below-market pay lengthens your wait.

Yes.

We do not employ the psychologist, the attorney or the escrow agent, so none of them answers to us.

Your gestational carrier agreement and your clinic's embryo disposition consent both address this, and your attorney will walk you through the options before signing.

Yes, for what you have done.

Usually yes, with one or two prior cesareans and an uncomplicated recovery.

Current PLS criteria exclude candidates currently taking antidepressants [CONFIRM], and most clinics require 6 to 12 months off medication with your prescriber's support.

No.

The pregnancy risks you already know from your own births, plus the medication side effects of a frozen embryo transfer cycle (bloating, mood changes, injection-site soreness) and a slightly higher rate of certain complications in IVF pregnancies [cite].

The intended parents, through escrow.

There is no definitive IRS ruling.

No.

Your contract is with the intended parents, not the agency, and your compensation is in an independent escrow account, so the money continues to be paid.

You cannot be forced to undergo any procedure; the law protects your bodily autonomy.

Yes, PLS accepts candidates to age 43, and clinics evaluate candidates over 40 case by case with a closer look at blood pressure, prior pregnancy complications and uterine health.

You can apply once you have stopped breastfeeding and resumed regular cycles; most clinics require at least 6 months after a vaginal birth and 12 months after a cesarean before an embryo transfer, so applying 6 to 9 months after delivery lines up with the screening timeline.

No.

Then you do not match.

Yes, within limits the contract and your OB set: no travel in the last trimester without agreement, no activities the OB restricts, and some contracts limit travel to states with unfavorable surrogacy law.

Because the contract governs your body, your compensation and a year of your life, and the parents' lawyer represents the parents.

That you understand the process, that your support system is real, that you can handle the relationship and the possible outcomes, and that you are not under financial or family pressure.

Usually one.

A case manager who has been a surrogate and is reachable after hours; six consultations with a registered dietitian; mental-health support from an independent counselor; a nurse, Nancy, who interviewed you; a physician who read your records; and a team that rebooked a stranded surrogate's hotel, car and flight at night.

Yes, and experienced surrogates are matched fastest.