Family Building for LGBTQ+ Dads-to-Be

#1 Choose Fertility Clinic

Your clinic is where three key elements of this process will come together to grow your family: you, your egg donor, and your surrogate. Trusting your providers and feeling connected with their medical expertise, philosophy, and communication is important to the long-term success of your journey. 

#2 Consultation & Testing

The initial consultation is where you get to ask all your questions and get a first impression of how the practice responds to your concerns and demonstrates their competency. Your doctor will then recommend specific fertility testing for you and your partner (if applicable) to get started.

#3 Select Egg Donor

Choosing an egg donor is a little bit like online dating. You will sift through profiles, baby pictures, and even videos made by the donors to pick out the traits you most value and hope will be passed on to your baby. After all, your egg donor is contributing 50% of your future child’s genetic makeup!

#4 Match with Surrogate

When it comes to choosing a gestational carrier (surrogate), you have a few choices. One option is choosing a friend or relative as your gestational carrier. The most common choice is working with a surrogacy agency, which offers dads-to-be expert help navigating this complex relationship. Illume Fertility works with trusted agencies throughout the U.S. and can help find the right one for you.

#5 Begin IVF Cycle

Your sperm is healthy and you’ve picked your egg donor—now it’s time to create embryos! The IVF process will combine your sperm with your donor’s egg and then transfer the resulting embryo into your gestational carrier's uterus. It sounds simple when reduced to a single sentence, but this is quite a complex process involved that can require patience and dedication from dads-to-be.

#6 Pregnancy & Birth

The most exciting part! You're finally expecting a baby. Following a successful embryo transfer, your Illume Fertility doctor will closely monitor your gestational carrier's progress through her local clinic until 8-10 weeks of pregnancy. After that time, your gestational carrier will be discharged to her personal OB/GYN’s care, and around nine months later, you will finally welcome your long-awaited baby!

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