The Future of Surrogacy

In our newest episode of The Future of Surrogacy, I sat down with Korbet Annis of Vital Cells. I had met Korbett at the latest SEEDS conference and walked into the conversation assuming stem cell banking was basically the same as cord blood banking. I was very wrong.

So many of you spend a tremendous amount of time educating intended parents before delivery, so we wanted to make sure you also know the difference between the two.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why cord blood banking and newborn stem cell banking are not the same thing
• What agencies should know before intended parents start asking questions
• The unique legal and logistical considerations when a baby is born through surrogacy
• How agencies can easily introduce this topic into their intended parent journey without adding more work to their team

As surrogacy professionals, you don't have to become stem cell experts. But as the guide for intended parents, you want to make sure they know what options exist before delivery—because once the opportunity passes, it's gone forever.

If your agency is always looking for ways to provide a better experience and better education for intended parents, I think you'll find this conversation fascinating.

On a personal note, my unexpected takeaway from this episode was learning about the potential role stem cells may play in reducing inflammation for adults as well. I rabbit-holed after the recording and wanted to share two articles I found helpful: NIH/PubMed + Duke Health.

Florida's new surrogacy law goes into effect July 1, and while the final legislation is far narrower than originally proposed, this episode is an important listen for agencies, attorneys, and other professionals working in assisted reproduction.

Florida attorney Karen Persis, who helped lead the legal opposition to the bill, joins us to explain what happened behind the scenes, what ultimately became law, and why the legislative effort should serve as a wake-up call for the broader surrogacy community.

In this episode, you'll learn:

•  What actually passed and who is impacted beginning July 1 —and where lawmakers got it wrong. 
•  Why Florida may be a preview of similar legislation in other states. 
•  What agencies and attorneys should be watching as lawmakers prepare for the 2027 legislative session. 

Even if you don't practice in Florida, this conversation offers valuable insight into how surrogacy legislation is evolving across the U.S. and why education and advocacy from industry professionals will be more important than ever.

Adrienne Black, President of SEEDS (Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy), shares a candid perspective on ethics, industry standards, and the future of accountability in surrogacy.

What is changing in the surrogacy industry in 2026?

In this episode of The Future of Surrogacy, Adrienne Black—President of SEEDS and owner of Heart to Hands Surrogacy—breaks down how the industry is evolving, where ethical standards are tightening, and what still needs to change.

With nearly a decade of industry insight and personal experience as a surrogate, Adrienne brings a direct, principled perspective on what it means to operate responsibly in a rapidly growing and increasingly scrutinized field.

What role does SEEDS play in surrogacy standards and regulation?

Adrienne explains how SEEDS is working to elevate professional standards across agencies, attorneys, and clinics—while navigating the tension between guidance and enforcement...The conversation explores:

• Whether SEEDS should move toward regulatory authority 
• The risks of both under-regulation and over-regulation 
• Why SEEDS is hiring a full-time Operations Manager to help facilitate the day-to-day 

What are the biggest ethical challenges in surrogacy today?

This episode tackles some of the most debated issues in modern surrogacy, including:

•  Compensation structures and ethical boundaries 
•  Paid advertising and recruitment of surrogates 
•  The gap between stated standards and enforced behavior 

Adrienne also addresses her reputation for holding high ethical standards—and why, when you boil it down, ethics is really about ensuring safety for everyone involved.

In this episode of The Future of Surrogacy, Erin Quick is joined by Simbe co-founders Billie Simmons (CEO) and Shraddha Jain (CTO) to discuss major changes affecting surrogacy agencies—from ad platform crackdowns and CAPI tracking to AI-driven discovery and AEO websites—and what Simbe is building next.

Advertising platforms are tightening policies and flagging surrogacy-related campaigns more aggressively. Tracking gaps are affecting ad performance. And discovery is increasingly happening through AI systems and large language models, not just traditional search. That means agency websites now need to do two things well:

 • emotionally convert intended parents and surrogate candidates
 • structurally communicate clear answers that AI systems can interpret and surface

We break down what agencies should understand about CAPI (Conversion API), AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), and AI-driven discovery, and how these changes affect surrogate recruitment and intended parent inquiries.

We also share a surprising engagement insight: when surrogate candidates are given the choice to communicate with Riley via text or web chat, continuation and conversion rates increase significantly compared to forcing a single communication channel.

Finally, we walk through the next major capabilities being developed within the Simbe platform.

Medical Records Integrations
Connecting with multiple surrogacy medical record providers to reduce delays, improve visibility, and simplify how agencies track medical clearance.

One-Off Recruiting Campaigns
Targeted campaigns that allow agencies to run state-specific, seasonal or special surrogate recruitment pushes.

Human Override in Riley
Case managers can pause Riley, step in, and then restart Riley.

Structured Intended Parent (IP) Flows
Use Riley to answer IP questions, and onboard them – including document signature workflows.

Key Topics in This Episode

• Why surrogacy agencies are seeing increased ad platform scrutiny
• What CAPI (Conversion API) is and why it matters for surrogate recruitment ads
• Why agency websites must now work for both humans and AI search
• How AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) affects how intended parents find agencies
• What we’re learning about surrogate engagement and communication choice
• The next phase of the Simbe platform for surrogacy agencies

The surrogacy industry is at an inflection point. In today’s media environment, a single negative surrogacy story—often involving a bad actor or isolated failure—can quickly spiral into national headlines, public mistrust, and real legislative consequences. In this episode of The Future of Surrogacy, we explore how negative press in surrogacy can evolve into policy risk and what agencies, advocates, and leaders can do to prevent that momentum from shaping regulation.

We’re joined by crisis communications and long-term narrative experts, Lori Ruggiero and Rob Ford, from 5WPR, to break down how industries ranging from tech to sports to food safety have faced similar moments—and what surrogacy can learn from their successes and missteps. Together, we unpack how perception is formed, how media narratives gain traction, and why reactive PR is no longer enough in a fragmented, fast-moving news cycle.

Our conversation goes beyond crisis response. It’s about proactive reputation strategy for the surrogacy field—before journalists call, before policymakers draft bills, and before misinformation hardens into “truth.”

This episode makes the case for groundwork: monitoring narratives, aligning messaging across the industry, preparing leaders for media engagement, and investing in grassroots storytelling that reflects the ethical, responsible family-building journeys that are the norm.

In this episode of The Future of Surrogacy, we speak with Sarah Paige, CEO of ART Risk Solutions, about one of the most misunderstood—and most critical—components of modern surrogacy: insurance.

The conversation breaks down how surrogacy insurance has evolved, and how insurance - when handled proactively -  becomes a true competitive advantage. Sarah outlines what she considers a “top-shelf” insurance package for surrogacy agencies, and makes the case for reviewing insurance before matching, not after—when options are already limited and costs are higher.

The episode also covers:
• Red-flag insurance requests and shortcuts that often backfire
• The possibility of using data analytics & technology to hit open enrollment windows.
• How ACA volatility and shortened open enrollment windows affect surrogacy planning -- and why you should be preparing for an EVEN SHORTER open enrollment window in 2026: Nov 1-Dec 15
• How smart agencies are using insurance planning as a competitive advantage

This episode is essential listening for surrogacy agencies that want to understand how best to dial in insurance for surrogacy journeys.

In this episode, we speak with Julie Egor from Predoc about one of the most persistent challenges facing surrogacy agencies today: surrogacy medical records.

For many surrogacy agencies, medical records are the single biggest bottleneck in the surrogacy process—driving up costs, and extending timelines (and increasing stress/anxiety). Julie explains why surrogacy medical records often take so long to retrieve and how surrogacy agencies, like Alcea, improve outcomes when surrogacy medical records are complete, accurate, and delivered in a format that clinicians can quickly interpret and trust. 

Julie also discusses how healthcare technology and AI can responsibly support surrogacy agencies—not by replacing human review, but by accelerating surrogacy medical record retrieval, organizing complex histories, and ensuring nothing critical is missed. And how Predoc is doing this for less, and how their surrogacy record retrieval and analysis turnaround times are often <5 days. When surrogacy medical records are treated as foundational healthcare, surrogacy agencies can reduce delays, lower costs, and move families forward with greater confidence.

Bonus: PreDoc offers every surrogacy agency a risk-free trial, allowing agencies to use Predoc to pull medical records for one surrogate at no cost. Feel free to reach out directly to Julie to take advantage of this: [email protected]

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As we close out the year, we’re doing something a little different.

Throughout 2025, we spoke with some of the most respected voices in surrogacy, law, technology, and agency leadership. At the end of every conversation, we asked the same final question:

“If you had a magic wand, what would you change?”

This episode is a special year-end compilation of those answers. When you hear them back-to-back, clear patterns begin to emerge—shared concerns, shared hopes, and a collective vision for how the surrogacy industry can become safer, more transparent, and more human-centered.

This short montage captures what surrogacy professionals actually want to change—and what may shape the next chapter of the industry as we head into 2026.

Featuring insights from:

• Crystal Rosburg, CEO, All Love Surrogacy
• Caitlyn Devine, Executive Director, Center for Surrogate Parenting (CSP)
• Kim Surratt, Founder, Surratt Law
• Billie Simmons, CEO, Simbe
• Karen Estrada, Program Director, Gestacy
• Angela Hartshorn, Board Member, SEEDS
• Jim Vandagrift, COO, Heart to Hands Surrogacy
• Shraddha Jain, Chief Technology Officer, Simbe
• Jenn Mathews, “The SEO Goddess,” Adobe
• Sheriann G. Hicks, Founder, Hicks Law Group
• Adam Winder, President & CEO, SeedTrust

Whether you’re an agency professional, attorney, or technologist, this episode offers a rare, unfiltered look at the changes industry leaders believe matter most.

Listen to this special compilation to hear—directly from the experts—what they would change if they had a magic wand, and where the future of surrogacy may be headed next.

Note: This episode was recorded only hours after it was confirmed that an agency-held escrow had engaged in fraudulent activity.

In this episode, Erin Quick sits down with Adam Winder, one of the earliest innovators in surrogacy technology and the President & CEO behind SeedTrust, a financial platform built for escrow services in third-party reproduction; Orchid, a journey-management platform; and Adam has been deeply involved in medical-record collection through Gather.

In this conversation, Erin and Adam explore how surrogacy has changed, where technology has accelerated progress, and why education, regulation, and transparency are essential for the industry’s next stage of growth. Adam shares his transition from banking into surrogacy, the emotional connections that shaped his work, and the challenges he sees as the field becomes more complex and digitized.

They unpack the new SEEDS $10M bonding requirement, the differences between attorney-held, agency-held, and third-party escrow models, and the growing importance of cybersecurity (and cyber insurance!).

This episode is both a reflection on how far the surrogacy escrow field has come — and a preview of where it’s going next.

Key Takeaways

• The surrogacy industry has grown dramatically over the last decade, increasing the need for secure, transparent systems in escrow.
• Technology now plays a central role in improving efficiency, preventing fraud, and strengthening trust.
• Education is critical for intended parents and surrogates to make informed, safe decisions around escrow.
• There is a strong need for standardized practices, ethics, and financial oversight in surrogacy escrow.
• Insurance, bonding, and cybersecurity are core components of modern escrow protection.
• Regulation across escrow and surrogacy operations is both inevitable and necessary.
• The emotional dimension of surrogacy is often overlooked in business conversations.
• A badge, accreditation, or standards framework could help identify trustworthy industry providers.

Chapters

00:00 — Introduction to Surrogacy and Current Landscape
 02:13 — The Journey from Banking to Surrogacy
 04:15 — Growth and Evolution of the Surrogacy Industry
 05:48 — Technology’s Role in Surrogacy
 08:20 — Understanding Escrow Models in Surrogacy
 10:22 — The Importance of Third-Party Providers
 12:28 — Challenges with Attorney- and Agency-Held Escrow
 14:59 — The Need for Education in Surrogacy Escrow
 17:25 — Establishing Standards for Escrow Providers
 24:28 — Understanding Insurance and Bonding in Escrow
 28:10 — The Importance of Due Diligence and Risk Management
 31:20 — Navigating Internal and External Threats
 35:37 — The Role of Standards and Accountability
 38:51 — The Future of Regulation in Surrogacy and Escrow
 40:14 — Embracing Technology and Innovation
 44:51 — A Vision for a Better Surrogacy Experience

Strong agency–attorney partnerships are an essential part of an ethical, efficient, and emotionally smooth surrogacy journey.

In this episode, Sheriann G. Hicks, founder of Hicks Law Group in Georgia, shares the legal insights and on-the-ground realities every surrogacy agency needs to understand to strengthen collaboration with attorneys. From when to loop in an attorney (hint: she recommends getting counsel involved around 15 weeks of the GC’s pregnancy!), how agencies can prevent avoidable delays with one simple question, and how to streamline parentage proceedings – Sheriann outlines the practical steps that make a dramatic difference.

This episode is a must-listen for agency owners, case managers, and anyone working day-to-day in gestational carrier programs, offering both validation and constructive direction. You'll walk away with clear, actionable guidance you can implement immediately.

About Our Guest: Sheriann G. Hicks, Esq.

Sherriann H. Hicks, founder of The Hicks Law Group in Georgia, and a nationally recognized expert in assisted reproduction and surrogacy law. Since being admitted to practice in 1995, Sherriann has dedicated her career to helping intended parents, and gestational carriers navigate the complex legal landscape. She is a Fellow and past President of the Academy of Adoption and Assisted Reproduction Attorneys (AAAA) and past President of the Georgia Council of Adoption Lawyers. 

🔗 Website: https://www.hickslawgroup.com

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