Two natural miscarriages, one missed miscarriage, and a failed embryo transfer later, I spent more than half a year researching overseas options. When you choose the surrogacy route, the scariest thing isn’t the cost—it’s not knowing what actually determines the success rate. Here’s everything I learned from my homework.
The 5 Items I Checked Line by Line in My Surrogate’s Screening Report
IVF surrogacy success in Thailand depends far less on you than on your surrogate. Once I received the profile of a potential match, I focused on: age (the clinic requires 21–32; mine was 27), prior delivery history (at least one full-term vaginal birth), BMI (hers was 22), endometrial thickness (needs to reach 8mm or more before transfer), and whether she passed the psychological evaluation. One profile looked great on paper, but she had two previous preterm births—I passed immediately. Honestly, agencies won’t highlight these red flags for you. You have to ask for the details yourself.
My Husband and I Both Did SMA Genetic Screening—Nobody Reminded Me
Before signing the contract, the clinic required both partners to complete genetic disease screening, and SMA (spinal muscular atrophy) is one of the mandatory tests. I turned out to be a silent carrier; my husband isn’t, so our future child is safe. If both partners are carriers, you’d need PGT testing on embryos through third-generation IVF, which adds roughly a month to the cycle and tens of thousands of baht in extra costs. I later found out many agencies simply assume you won’t test, then scramble to fix problems after the fact. One immediately actionable tip: get SMA, thalassemia, and Fragile X testing done before starting your cycle, and bring the reports to Thailand—it saves one blood draw and two weeks of waiting.
Fresh vs Frozen Embryo Transfer: We Chose Frozen
I assumed a fresh transfer would be faster and cheaper—just transfer during the surrogate’s stimulation cycle. But my consultant showed me data: in surrogate programs, frozen embryo transfers actually achieve implantation rates about 5–10 percentage points higher than fresh, because you can wait until the surrogate’s lining is properly prepared, avoiding the hormonal swings of the egg retrieval cycle. The trade-off is one freezing fee and about a month of waiting. I did the math: roughly 15,000 baht more for a better shot at implantation—worth it. That said, if the surrogate’s lining meets the target that month and her hormones are stable, a fresh transfer is still negotiable. Don’t treat it as a one-size-fits-all rule.
Same Country, Same Clinics—Why Some Families Succeed on the First Try and Others Need Three
Among the cases I came across, families who succeeded on their first transfer shared common habits: embryos were grown to blastocyst stage and screened with PGT-A, so only euploid embryos went to the surrogate; the surrogate’s uterine environment was evaluated before transfer (hysteroscopy or 3D ultrasound); and after transfer, medication was followed strictly per instructions—no self-adjusting doses. I know a 38-year-old woman who transferred unscreened embryos on her first attempt and failed. On her second cycle, she did blastocyst culture and PGT-A, which identified 2 normal embryos—and the very first transfer worked. She waited an extra 40 days and avoided the biggest detour of all.
If you’re considering surrogacy in Thailand, my advice is simple: complete genetic screening for both partners (including SMA) first, then review surrogate profiles; always grow embryos to blastocyst with PGT-A screening; and let your doctor decide the transfer approach based on the surrogate’s lining, with frozen transfer as the default. Surrogacy success isn’t luck—it’s locking down every controllable step before you start.