About Us | Great Beginnings Surrogacy

Our Commitment to You

Led by a doctor. Not just advised by one.

Great Beginnings Surrogacy Services is one of the very few agencies in the country owned and operated by a Board Certified Reproductive Endocrinologist. Samuel Wood, MD, PhD, MBA, MA, understands your medical journey at the deepest level — not as a case manager reading from a script, but as a specialist whose entire career has been devoted to reproductive health.

Fertility and surrogacy expert Dr. Wood and his extraordinary team operate in San Diego, California, at one of the top surrogacy agencies in the United States, offering the highest quality services to clients worldwide.

Meet Dr. Wood →

🏥

Physician-Owned Agency

Direct medical leadership from a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist

Why Great Beginnings

How Does Surrogacy Work?

Navigating the array of family-planning choices can feel overwhelming, but we're here to make it easier. If you're considering surrogacy as your path to parenthood, our team is dedicated to walking you through the process with care and clarity, ensuring you feel supported every step of the journey.

As a surrogacy agency, we help you throughout the entire process — answering questions, coordinating legal requirements, and finding a surrogate who is the right fit for your unique situation. Great Beginnings specializes in gestational surrogacy, where a woman carries a child with no biological connection to her, on behalf of the intended parent(s).

Reproductive Technology

Gestational surrogacy relies on in vitro fertilization (IVF): a woman's eggs are retrieved once mature, then fertilized outside the body using sperm from a partner or donor. In gestational surrogacy, the eggs and/or sperm of the intended parent(s) — or donors — are used to create the embryo, which is then transferred into the surrogate. Because the gestational surrogate's own eggs are never used, she carries no genetic connection to the baby.

Gestational Surrogates: Our Requirements

Choosing a surrogate is a highly selective process. Every gestational surrogate is thoroughly vetted and screened to give the pregnancy the best possible chance of being healthy and complication-free — protecting both surrogate and baby. See our full surrogate requirements for the specific criteria we screen for.

Legal Protections

In surrogacy, intended parents and their surrogate are protected by a legal contract known as a pre-birth order — it establishes that the child belongs to the intended parents, protects their parental rights, and specifies which medical costs the intended parents are responsible for, including how unpredictable circumstances (such as multiple embryos or birth complications) will be handled.

This pre-birth order is drafted with the help of independent legal counsel — each party has their own attorney, so both intended parents and surrogates are properly represented. Working with an agency that already has access to experienced surrogacy attorneys reduces cost and takes the stress out of the legal side of the process.

Who Can Use Surrogacy?

Surrogacy is a family-building option for anyone. Same-sex couples hoping for a biological child, individuals and couples of any marital status facing infertility, and LGBTQIA+ intended parents are all great candidates. Great Beginnings works with anyone ready to build their family — we'll walk you through every step to make sure your journey is right for you.

Why Choose Great Beginnings?

Deciding to go with a surrogacy agency is a hard decision to make. We know that the steps to getting here may not have been the happiest or the easiest. Great Beginnings is here to bring you the best surrogacy agency you can find. We will walk you through each step and allow you to feel comfortable every step of the way. Your family doesn't need to be put on hold any longer.

Choosing the right surrogacy agency can prove difficult. Great Beginnings Surrogacy knows Intended Parents often have been through challenging and distressing experiences before turning to us for surrogacy. Our mission is to exceed their expectations by providing the best possible professional guidance and unwavering support to make their surrogacy journey run as smoothly as possible.

Great Beginnings Surrogacy prides itself on being LGBTQIA+ friendly. Our team welcomes anyone who longs for their own family, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity. We specialize in gestational surrogacy, where a healthy woman carries a child on behalf of the Intended Mother(s) or Father(s) with no genetic link to the baby she carries for them.

Great Beginnings Surrogacy encourages our clients to learn as much as they can about the process. When you are ready, the team swings into action, mobilizing all our resources to make parenthood a reality, starting with the most careful selection of your surrogate.

Thanks to Great Beginnings Surrogacy, the joy of having a family no longer needs to be on hold. Call our office today to schedule a complimentary consultation.

Led By a Doctor. It's What We Do.