What is GoStork?

GoStork is the first marketplace where fertility patients find, compare and connect directly with top fertility providers across the US. We bring together detailed, curated information about fertility providers, unprecedented transparency (especially around costs), innovative technology and easy-to-use design, to help you navigate the fertility industry far more easily than ever before. GoStork was created by an intended parent who, like so many others, experienced countless hours of research and confusion when he began his journey. His goal was to make the process simpler and more transparent for many others. 

Our mission is to provide inclusive, trusted access to affordable fertility care. We support you by offering more choices, and providing greater access – all while saving you a great deal of work and stress at such an important time in your life.

 

How it works: 

To start, we have gathered and vetted top providers from across the US for inclusion on our unique platform and created detailed profiles for each. All profiles include the providers’ most important criteria – significantly distilling the many hours of research one would have to do on many different websites into one simple yet comprehensive location. To access our marketplace, you’ll first answer a few simple questions about your preferences, then we’ll sort our list of providers by those that best match your needs. The next step is to select your favorites and, for surrogacy agencies and egg donors, compare them side-by-side with just one click, eliminating the large manual spreadsheets so many intended parents create. You can then quickly and easily connect with those you’re interested in by messaging them through our chat feature or by directly scheduling a call through our booking system! GoStork works independently from any agency, clinic, or loan provider.

See more details about what we offer intended parents and fertility patients below!

 

What does GoStork offer?

GoStork offers access to over 10,000 egg donors from many different egg donor agencies, over 60 of the top surrogacy agencies in the US, 26 top fertility clinics, across 107 sites and 20+ states (and growing quickly), as well as the ability to apply for fertility loans – all in one free platform. Our users can view comprehensive information about each provider and egg donor and filter them by personal preferences. Most importantly, for the fertility consumer looking at fertility clinics, they can view success rates and outcomes of prior patients pursuing a similar fertility journey. All outcomes are taken from the US’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published medical database. 

For surrogacy agencies, our first-of-its-kind comparison tool facilitates a side-by-side/point-by-point view of each agencies’ services, costs, the time it takes to match with a gestational carrier, the number of babies born through their program, and much more. As navigating the many decisions around choosing your providers can be overwhelming, we offer a concierge service to help support you. You can schedule a call with a GoStork Concierge for a personalized, one-on-one conversation to get answers to any questions you may have as you start your journey. We’re also happy to help you navigate the many options GoStork offers within our platform, and to think through your next steps as you compare options and connect with different providers. The concierge service is free for those searching for surrogacy agencies and fertility clinics and part of Premium Membership for those accessing the egg donor database (more on this below). Schedule a call here. 

Once you’ve identified your favorites, GoStork makes it easy to start a completely commitment-free chat directly with any provider and book an initial appointment at a time convenient for you through the platform itself – with a unique HIPAA-compliant chat tool and a proprietary booking system. As we’re integrated with the calendars of all providers on our platform, scheduling through GoStork adds your meeting to both your calendar and theirs. We also make it easy to reschedule as needed.

Below is a brief overview of the types of providers on our platform and the details you can view for each: 

Egg Donors (from many different Egg Donor Agencies)

What is Egg Donation? Egg donation is a process where a woman (the egg donor) donates her eggs for use in fertility treatments. Egg donation involves in vitro fertilization technology, with the eggs being fertilized in a laboratory setting or frozen for later use. 

GoStork offers more than 10,000 egg donors from various egg donor agencies – and we are continuously expanding. With GoStork Premium, you can filter egg donors by your preferred attributes to find your ideal options, compare them side by side to make a more informed decision, and easily connect with the egg donor’s agency to take the next steps.

The following egg donor criteria can be viewed on GoStork:

• Personal Background – age, height, hair and eye color, ethnicity, education level, and more
• Medical Background – you have the opportunity to know a good deal about family health, family history and genetic background of your donor as well as her own reproductive history. Some background and information is optional-only for the donor to provide and therefore might vary from donor to donor and be a valuable comparison feature for you on GoStork.
• Photos – several large photos of the donors and, with many, also videos introducing themselves
• Costs – Total costs and a detailed cost breakdown. No other platform makes all costs transparent for you, upfront – this reducing confusion, saves you time and can even save you money
• GoStork also enables intended parents to filter search results by any of the above criteria. 

Learn more about the egg donation process and the costs involved in our Resources center.

Surrogacy Agencies

What is Surrogacy? Surrogacy is a method of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) where a woman (known as a ‘surrogate’ or ‘gestational carrier’) carries a pregnancy for an individual or couple. The embryo is created through in vitro fertilization (IVF) by the intended parents, either through their own egg and sperm or through donor egg or sperm.

A surrogacy agency provides a broad range of services for both intended parents and prospective gestational carriers, aiming to make the surrogacy experience as straightforward and stress-free as possible. They match intended parents with gestational carriers as well as help ensure that the whole process is completed safely and in line with all legal requirements.

Services offered by surrogacy agencies vary from agency to agency. This depends on whether they are a one-stop shop for everything surrogacy-related or offer partial services. Generally, though, surrogacy agencies provide matching of the gestational carrier and intended parents, review and screening services, coordination with surrogacy attorneys, and counseling services.

GoStork offers access to 60 top surrogacy agencies in the US – and we are continuously expanding. Each surrogacy agency profile includes the following: 

• Year the agency was founded
• Number of babies born through the program
• Average time it takes to match parents with a gestational carrier
• Average time from contract-signing to baby’s birth
• Whether the service is offered to LGBTQ+ or international intended parents
• An introduction to the agency team
• Number of families per coordinator
• Services offered by the agency
• The carrier screening process
• Total costs and detailed cost breakdowns
• Reviews and Ratings
• Agency policies

For surrogacy agencies, one can filter by all the above criteria, as well as the:

• Agency’s location
• Total cost of the surrogacy journey
• Specific services offered, including case management, counseling and support, billing management, escrow management, in-house attorney, establishing parental rights, and fertility loans
• Specific elements of the carrier screening process, including criminal background check, psychological screening, social worker screening, insurance review and medical records review

Our first-of-its-kind comparison tool then facilitates a side-by-side/point-by-point view of each agency’s offerings, costs, number of babies born, and much more.

Learn more about the surrogacy process and the costs involved in our Resources center.

Fertility Clinics 

A Reproductive Medicine fertility or IVF Clinic supports couples or individuals on their journey to parenthood when pregnancy is difficult to achieve. IVF stands for In Vitro Fertilization, a procedure in which the egg and sperm are combined in a laboratory setting. The resulting embryo(s) are then directly placed in the uterus.

Fertility clinics differ in the services they offer. Limited-service fertility clinics offer a select number of treatment options, such as Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) and Monitoring. Full-service clinics offer a full range of services that includes pre-IVF solutions, IVF, preimplantation genetic testing, fertility preservation, donor programs, and Gynecologic surgery.

GoStork’s Fertility Clinic Marketplace allows you to sort by, and view the following criteria:

• Services offered
• Number of babies born
• Number of IVF cycles completed
• Number of embryo transfers using one’s own eggs
• Number of embryo transfers using donated eggs
• Number of embryo transfers using a gestational carrier
• Number of egg freezing cycles
• Costs 
• Success rates – noting that we automatically share the most relevant success rates to you based on your answers in the registration process. As an example, if you’re 38 and using your own eggs, we will show you success rates as applicable to your case; if you’re the same age, but using donor eggs, then you’ll see success rates adapted to that scenario. These are then set against the national average for your personal criteria, giving you a better idea of where the clinic stands. 

Learn more about the IVF process, costs, and how to navigate your journey in our Resources center.

Fertility Financing 

To further support you on your journey, you can also apply for fertility loans through GoStork, and find out if you prequalify in minutes. All you have to do is answer a few, simple questions – then if participating lenders approve the loan and you decide to take it, your funds are deposited into your account within a few days (in some cases within as little as 24 hours). 

GoStork works with LoanGlide to enable intended parents to apply for fertility loans. LoanGlide is a point of service financing solution that works with multiple lenders to provide you with an affordable way to break your big expenses into simple monthly payments.

 

How do I apply for a fertility loan?

Applying for a fertility loan is quick and easy and you can start right on our homepage – here’s the process: 

1. Provide your information, including the loan amount requested. You’ll receive a pre-approval decision instantly
2. If you get pre-approved, you’ll get a range from one to multiple offers to choose from. Each offer includes information on the origination fee, the monthly payment, APR and repayment years. Checking your offers will not impact your credit score.
3. Review the terms and securely e-sign the agreement
4. Participating lenders review your application. If you are approved by the lender of your choice, you will have funds deposited directly into your account within a few days (in some cases, as quickly as within 24 hours)

Will filling out this application impact my credit score?

No, as mentioned above, filling out the application to check your rates does not impact your credit score. A hard credit check is only performed once you have finalized and e-signed your loan application. 

How much are my monthly payments? 

With rates as low as 3.99% (though ranging from 2.49% to 35.97%) and terms as long as 12 years, your monthly payments are affordable. 

When will I know if I have pre-qualified for a loan?

Pre-qualification for a loan is essentially instant. For most applicants, it takes less than 2 minutes to find out if they pre-qualify or if they do not. 

How much does it cost to use GoStork?

GoStork’s fertility clinic and surrogacy agency marketplace is 100% FREE to use, including our one-on-one concierge service to help support your search and answer your questions. There are two plans available for the egg donor database: Free and Premium ($99/month). The information and transparency we provide in each marketplace and the egg donor database actually helps you save money. Clear cost breakdowns for all providers, the in-depth information that is unique to GoStork’s platform and is provided upfront, and the ability to compare, enables you to make more informed decisions about which providers to move forward with, if your goal is to save money.

 

What are all the important terms I need to be aware of related to the fertility industry?

The fertility industry can be overwhelming, especially when it comes to the many technical terms and creative acronyms involved. To help out with this, we’ve created a helpful list of some of the more common terms one usually comes across.

First things first:

Infertility: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) define infertility as not being able to get pregnant after one year (or longer) of unprotected sex. As female fertility declines with age, the time limit goes down to 6 months for women over 35. One in eight couples in the US experience difficulty getting pregnant. Infertility is not just a female problem. While one-third of infertility cases are attributed to the female partner, a third are attributed to the male, and another third is made up of a combination of problems in both partners, or is unexplained. On a global level, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 15% of reproductive aged couples are affected by infertility. 

Assisted Reproduction Technology: ART is the term used to describe medical fertility procedures, such as IVF, in which the fertilization of oocytes (eggs) occurs in a laboratory setting. The CDC defines ART as “all fertility treatments in which either eggs or embryos are handled”. ART procedures involve the surgical removal of eggs from the ovaries, combining them with sperm in the laboratory, and then transferring the embryo to the patient, the gestational carrier, or a partner, in the case of Reciprocal IVF. Embryos can also be cryopreserved (frozen and stored) for a later transfer. 

In-Vitro Fertilization: IVF involves the combination of an egg with sperm in a laboratory setting. There are five main steps to this procedure: 

1. Stimulation (to boost egg production)
2. Egg retrieval
3. Insemination and fertilization
4. Embryo culture (monitoring of the embryo to ensure its growing well – procedures that check for genetic disorders can be offered at this stage)
5. Embryo transfer

Learn more about IVF in our article The IVF Process: A Step by Step Guide

Third Party Reproduction: When someone other than the individual or couple that will raise the child is involved in the reproductive process. This includes pregnancy through donated eggs, sperm, or embryos, as well as gestational carrier arrangements where the pregnancy is carried by someone other than the parents who will raise the child.

Egg donation: Through egg donation, a donor chosen by the intended parents provides her eggs to create an embryo. The egg donor receives medication to develop multiple eggs in one cycle. These are retrieved, evaluated, and used in IVF. The resulting embryo is then transferred to the intended mother’s or a gestational carrier’s uterus. You can read more about this process in our helpful article Egg Donation 101.

Surrogacy: A method of assisted reproductive technology where a woman (the gestational carrier) carries a pregnancy for an individual or a couple. All surrogacy terms are explained in more depth in our article Surrogacy 101– a great resource to refer to!

 

Parties, Individuals and Entities

Intended Parent(s): The person or persons who want to become parents and are seeking the assistance of assisted reproductive technology (such as surrogacy, donor conception, and/or IVF) to do so. GoStork was built by an intended parent to support many other intended parents around the world on their journeys!

Surrogacy Agency: Surrogacy agencies assist intended parents by providing expertise throughout the surrogacy journey, providing all (or a selection of) the services required. 

Egg Donor: A woman who donates her eggs or oocytes for use in fertility treatments. Check out our article How to Choose an Egg Donor – a helpful resource as you begin your process.

Sperm Donor: A man who donates his sperm for use in artificial insemination or other fertility treatments.

Fertility Clinic: Medical clinics that assist individuals and couples to become parents, when pregnancy cannot be achieved naturally. Clinics apply diagnostic tests and medical treatments to achieve conception and pregnancy. Here’s more about How to Choose an IVF Clinic from our Resources center.

Surrogacy (or Fertility) Attorney:  Surrogacy attorneys are essential for ensuring that the rights of both the gestational carrier and the intended parents are protected. They draft the surrogacy contract, help intended parents understand local surrogacy laws and regulations, ensure that the process is completed in a legal manner, and establish intended parents’ parental rights. Experienced surrogacy attorneys can often also help with contracts related to egg donation and other family-building legal documents, including guardianship documents, estate planning portfolios, power of attorneys, and wills. You can learn more about this in our interview on surrogacy law.  

 

Process and Procedures

Matching: The process of finding an ideal gestational carrier or egg donor for intended parents, and pairing them with intended parents who match the gestational carrier’s preferences.

Artificial Insemination: A procedure in which sperm are inserted directly in a woman’s cervix, fallopian tubes, or uterus.

Ovulation Induction: The use of hormonal therapy to stimulate egg production. Medication is prescribed to women who do not ovulate on their own, or to increase the number of eggs reaching maturity in a single cycle. Treatment improves the quality and quantity of eggs, which may enhance pregnancy rates.

Egg Retrieval: The egg donor or intended mother undergoes an egg retrieval procedure, following a combination of hormonal medications given to stimulate the development of multiple eggs within the ovary. This hopefully leads to the retrieval of multiple viable eggs.

Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI): Sperm and eggs are retrieved from partners or donors, and a single sperm is injected directly into an egg. ICSI bypasses the stage where the sperm has to naturally penetrate the egg. The fertilized egg is then implanted in the uterus.

Blastocyst: The stage of embryo development at around 5 days following the fertilization of an egg.

Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Aneuploidies (PGT-A): Previously known as preimplantation genetic screening (PGS), PGT-A provides information on the embryo’s genetic health, specifically the number of chromosomes, to help select the best embryo for transfer and improve the chances of a successful pregnancy.

Preimplantation Genetic Testing for Monogenic disorders (PGT-M): Formerly known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD), PGT-M tests for inherited disorders caused by mutations in a single gene, such as cystic fibrosis or Huntington’s disease.

Embryo Transfer: Once an egg fertilizes and starts cell division, the resulting embryo is transferred into the gestational carrier or mother’s uterus. Transfers can be done using a fresh embryo or a frozen embryo from an earlier cycle. 

Check out our Resources center for more insight into IVF, Egg Donation and Surrogacy.