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The Group Guide
Connecting people to community
Client and Family Education
What to know about

Surrogacy Support Groups

These groups bring together gestational carriers, traditional surrogates, and intended parents navigating one of the most legally, emotionally, and relationally complex family-building paths. Surrogacy creates a triadic arrangement with its own distinctive features, often spanning jurisdictions, cultures, and distance when arrangements cross borders. For carriers, carrying and delivering a baby they will not parent is psychologically distinctive. For intended parents, awaiting a child carried by someone else brings a particular anticipatory anxiety and complex feelings about control and trust. Groups address each role's specific dimensions, and the two are usually served best in separate spaces.

Who it's for, and who it's not

A fit for carriers and intended parents at any stage of an arrangement.
Separate groups per role are usually more useful than combined ones.
Failed arrangements or legal disputes may call for a specialist therapist too.

What it's for

Carriers: the experience of carrying, the handover, and integration after birth.
Intended parents: limited control, the surrogate relationship, legal processes.
Both: the relational dynamics and emotional dimensions of this pathway.
What to expect
1Primarily online, fitting the schedules and distances of active arrangements.
2Often organized by stage: matched and active vs. early or postpartum.
3Agency and clinic groups run monthly or biweekly, 60 to 90 minutes.

No trials of these groups exist; the surrounding evidence supports them.

A review of 47 studies across 12 countries found surrogacy is largely satisfactory for both parties, with challenges around international, legal, and boundary issues.1
Peer support reliably delivers shared experience, normalization, and belonging for people outside mainstream social scripts.2
Making the most of it
Beyond the script. Others won't project motives onto a carrier's choice.
A particular anticipation. Parenthood through a pregnancy you don't carry.
Role-specific peers. The understanding that comes only from the same seat.
Questions to ask before you join
1Is it for my role (carrier or intended parent), or mixed?
2Is it organized by stage of the journey?
3Does it address international or cross-border arrangements?

Ready to find a group?

Browse 2,000+ therapy and support groups in all 50 states.

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In crisis? Call or text 988 (US Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 24/7).

The Group Guide is a directory, not a clinic. This handout is general education, not medical or mental health advice. Listings are written by group leaders and are not endorsements. Confirm details, cost, and fit with any group you contact. Sources on page 2.

The Group Guide
Connecting people to community
Client and Family Education

Sources

Surrogacy Support Groups · references keyed to the numbers on page 1.

1Kneebone, E., Beilby, K., & Hammarberg, K. Experiences of surrogates and intended parents of surrogacy arrangements: a systematic review. Reproductive BioMedicine Online (2022), 45(4), 815–830.

2Lyons, N., Cooper, C., & Lloyd-Evans, B. A systematic review and meta-analysis of group peer support interventions for people experiencing mental health conditions. BMC Psychiatry (2021), 21(1), Article 315.

In crisis? Call or text 988 (US Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 24/7).

The Group Guide is a directory, not a clinic. This handout is general education, not medical or mental health advice. Listings are written by group leaders and are not endorsements. Confirm details, cost, and fit with any group you contact.