In the Spotlight: Omega Family Global

In a nutshell. Compassion, professionalism, transparency, and reliability, and personalized support throughout the journey.

Owner and founder. Frederick Gaston

Our team of experts has many years of experience in the industry. Understanding that surrogacy starts with building relationships - agency with intended parents, agency with surrogate, intended parents to surrogate, all parties to IVF Center, etc. - is key to keeping the journey personal and fulfilling. We are committed to working with our intended parents and surrogates to ensure they all have the greatest level of success.

The cohesion amongst team members and a true commitment to help families grow through surrogacy are what makes our operations run smoothly. 

As professionals working in this industry, we believe that first and foremost you have to care. You have to care about the people involved. The parents, the surrogates and the babies. It is vital to remember that though it is a process, it is all about people.

Professionalism, competence and follow through are also extremely important to use. Good intentions and a golden heart will only get you part of the way there. Resiliency and attention to detail are must haves. As surrogacy professionals, it is important to provide complete information and guidance to intended parents and surrogates alike, so that they can make the decisions necessary to have the journey they are looking for. 

The support that we provide to intended parents and surrogates is always customized to the needs of the individuals and case collectively.

The story

As a lawyer, our Founder Frederick Gaston represented many agencies for business matters and transitioned into counseling for intended parents and gestational carriers. He became aware of the complexities and frustrations of the surrogacy process. As a result, he co-founded the agency to address these issues.

Our surrogacy advisor, Tracy Armato, started as a surrogate for four families. She began her career in the surrogacy industry as a case manager and has assisted thousands of cases through the years. She also has an active role in surrogate support, which has allowed her to develop close relationships with hundreds of surrogates.

Our Tips

From our experience, intended parents are advised to:

• Work with an agency that is responsive to their needs.
• Have a clear understanding of the process and where they stand at all times.
• Keep an open mind when choosing their surrogate

So, find the agency that will work with you at whatever pace is comfortable for you. With that being said, if you are planning to form embryos using your own eggs and sperm, OFG recommends embryo formation before choosing a surrogate, or having everything ready to create your embryos the moment you’ve chosen your surrogate. This will allow your timeline to move along more quickly.

A surrogacy journey demands a lot of decision making that requires research, meaningful conversations and careful consideration. Not all decisions can be made quickly, no matter how eager the intended parents may be. The time it takes intended parents to make the decisions determines the pace of their surrogacy timeline.

Basically, an agency is the intended parents’ best friend, taking care of all of their needs. An agency follows established prescreening steps to protect intended parents from an unqualified surrogate. Many surrogates who are looking for an independent journey choose it because they can’t get approved by an agency. The agency provides intended parents with information that will help them make decisions and keep the process moving along, and it ensures timely completion of all legal and medical steps for the birth of their child. 

There are so many pieces and moving parts to a surrogacy journey. Trust us to help you along in your journey. We have been here before. We have worked with many intended parents who tried to go without an agency to save time or money. Moving forward without an agency is overwhelming and risky. It ALWAYS ends up taking more time and money than using an agency.

Finally, intended parents should know that due to COVID, everything is moving more slowly now: travel, embryo formation, screening and matching. There is certainly a lull as intended parents and gestational carriers evaluate timing for moving forward and comfort levels in the ever-changing environment. Plus, international intended parents are very hesitant due to travel restrictions.

Medical services, such as IVF clinics, OB offices and hospitals, have become extremely cautious, more so than before COVID, while at the same time intended parents are concerned about the influence COVID may have on the developing pregnancy. 

One specific change that has occurred is that IVF centers no longer have full waiting rooms. The IVF centers are now scheduling appointments according to how many exam rooms they have to avoid having patients waiting to be seen. In addition, the IVF centers and OB offices have had to limit the number of people in exam rooms with the surrogate. This can limit some of the involvement the intended parents may otherwise have wanted.

Inspiring Anecdotes

All journeys are unique and all are special, but we all remember one case in particular simply for the amazing amount of work that was involved, which included two intended parents, two sperm donors, two egg donors, two surrogates and after about three years, one baby!

We have supported thousands of cases over the years. We’ve had parents who have survived cancer, illness and accidents, parents who had unusual circumstances and parents who suffered from unexplained infertility. It is heartbreaking to hear stories about people who cannot fulfill their desire to have a baby and it is so gratifying to find solutions that enable intended parents to finally bring their baby home. 

Present and Future

We’d like to provide the smoothest surrogacy journey in the industry: few bumps, no surprises. We’d also like to see our intended parents coming from a variety of international locations. It’s motivating to meet parents from all over the world.

We love watching our agency grow, knowing that there is no one-size-fits-all for surrogacy journeys. 

We will continue to be a leader in the industry, providing personal care with every case. Our agency maintains relationships with a diverse community of intended parents - international, domestic, same-sex couples, heterosexual couples, single fathers, single mothers and more - as we help their families grow. 

Finally, we will continue to provide personal services that make surrogacy a positive experience for everyone. The surrogacy industry is evolving every day, and Omega Family Global adapts to these changes smoothly.  We look forward to helping new families grow through safe, secure, and successful surrogacies.