I didn't know the parents prior to the surrogacy.
I thought about egg donation but didn't like the thought of it.
So my thoughts strayed to surrogacy.
I did a shit-ton of research. I met IPs and surrogates. I read and read and read. Books. Articles. Forums. I went through it with my husband piece by piece.
Once I knew I wanted to do it I got in touch with COTS and surrogacy UK. I spoke with them at length (they are the ones that put me in touch with the IPs and surros).
I joined COTS and then things get started, they send you profiles of parents and you choose one set to work with.
In the meantime I was on the Facebook groups. I matched independently in the end via the groups with John and Anne (not their real names). We spent a long time (9 months) 'dating' as couples, if that makes sense?
Then they joined COTS too once we officially matched so that they could see us through the process. Most importantly they provide the agreement (like a contract but not enforceable) and sit down with you all and take you through it step by step. It throws up issues you
Might not have though of such as abortion, expenses, contact, the birth etc etc.
These days (old gimmer alert) surrogates match Uber quickly and this is a massive mistake, I believe. They also don't think about agreements etc. I think this is because they are on this pink cloud of happiness and they don't want practicalities to bring them down (can you spot I'm a lawyer?!).
So I didn't start out doing it for friends but in the end that's exactly what happened.
We're seeing them all next week actually and I cannot wait.