Compass Family Journeys is a for-profit surrogacy and egg donation agency founded in 2022 and led by founder and CEO Karen Schafer, who the agency says brings roughly seven years of professional experience in third-party reproduction. It is a small, relatively new organization with a corporate office in Meridian, Idaho and a second location in Flagstaff, Arizona, and it works with intended parents and gestational carriers across the United States.
The agency describes itself as guided by education and empowerment, with open communication between all parties as its organizing principle. According to its website, it offers two paths: a full-service program called Anchor, which includes matching and support through the journey, and Course, a guided independent option for intended parents and surrogates who want to manage more of the process themselves with the agency's help. Compass Family Journeys also facilitates known egg donation, meaning arrangements in which the intended parents and donor are identified to one another rather than matched anonymously.
Intended parents served include LGBTQ+ families. The agency says it participates in Men Having Babies' Gay Parenting Assistance Program, in both GPAP I and GPAP II tiers, as well as the organization's Members Benefits Program, and it is listed in the Men Having Babies Surrogacy Advisor directory.
Surrogate applicants must be U.S. citizens, and the program does not work with surrogates living outside the country. Compass Family Journeys publishes its program fees on its website. Its eligibility requirements for gestational carriers, including age, pregnancy history, residency and lifestyle criteria, along with fee figures, appear in the tables below.
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I positively and without reservation recommend Compass Family Journeys as a surrogacy agency, and it's because of their help we are now parents to a living child. My husband and I have a medical need for surrogacy and consulted with many agencies before selecting Compass; in fact, Compass was one of the first agencies with whom we spoke and their approach to the surrogacy process remained a benchmark to which we held consults with everyone else - and ultimately is why we ended up with them when we were ready to take the next steps. From the beginning, Karen was professional, courteous, and highly informative, and it was clear (and continues to be) that she is tremendously committed to ethical and reputable surrogacy practices. The Compass team combined has decades of experience in the industry. They also have a favorable reputation in the professional surrogacy industry and Karen holds a leadership position with the SEEDS Board. After having been subject to significant medical trauma it was hard to give the full trust and responsibility over to Karen and Compass for our surrogacy, but very quickly Karen demonstrated she was on top of every moving part and piece. She did all the homework and communication with IFI regarding insurance and other coverages. She provided roadmaps and updates to the process when needed, as well as comprehensive materials at different stages for both intended parents and gestational carrier. Compass also provided thoughtful support for our gestational carrier at different stages of the process, including some cute swag, which was appreciated according to our GC. As wonderful as Compass is generally speaking, the truth is they are also highly competent during challenging times, too. When we experienced a few bumps at different times, Karen handled them promptly and efficiently, reducing and limiting the burden to us. Months after our child was born, I reached out to Karen to ask if she could help us get some of the records from pregnancy because I was running into roadblocks despite having signed HIPAA releases from our GC, and not only did Karen say, "Leave it to me," she had the records for us within a couple of weeks. When Compass says, "Don't worry, we've got this," they really mean it. I honestly can't recommend them more highly!
View on Google (opens in a new tab)Surrogacy is one of the most emotionally complex, logistically intense journeys a family can take on. The number of moving pieces (like legal, medical, emotional, financial) is staggering. We went into it with excitement and a healthy dose of fear. What we didn't expect was to feel completely taken care of from day one. Angie Arend at Compass Family Journeys was extraordinary. Every detail was handled before we even knew to ask about it. Every appointment, every milestone, every document was managed with precision and warmth that never felt transactional. She treated our journey like it was her own journey. For something this personal, this permanent, you want a team that gets it. Compass gets it. We have our family because of the people at Compass Family Journeys. Thank you Angie and team!
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Base compensation
Not published — ask the agency
Requirements change — confirm with the agency before applying.
See which agencies fit youCompass Family Journeys accepts gestational surrogates between 21 and 44 years old.
Compass Family Journeys requires surrogates to have a BMI of 35 or lower.
Yes. Compass Family Journeys requires surrogates to have had at least 1 prior pregnancy.
Yes. Compass Family Journeys requires surrogates to be raising at least one child of their own.
No. Compass Family Journeys requires surrogates to be non-smokers.
Compass Family Journeys's citizenship or residency requirement for surrogates: Must be a US citizen.
Yes. Compass Family Journeys does not accept surrogates who live in: Louisiana, Nebraska.
