Episode 9 — Our Team: Taking This Journey With You: Meet Jenn, Our Intended Parent Intake & Matching Coordinator

Kayla introduces listeners to Jenn, Reproductive Options' Intended Parent Intake and Matching Coordinator, who brings a perspective the rest of the team doesn't have: she's walked the intended-parent path herself, matching with an egg donor after facing diminished ovarian reserve. That lived experience shapes how she leads intended parents through what she calls a process built on both "operational rigor and emotional grounding" — because by the time most people reach surrogacy, they've already been through years of failed cycles, loss, and exhaustion.

Jenn walks through what actually happens on the intended-parent side from the very first intake form: a consultation call to figure out which candidate qualities really matter versus an unrealistic wishlist pulled from clinic guidelines, ASRM standards, Facebook groups, and well-meaning friends all at once; clinic pre-approval of a surrogate's medical records before any match call happens, so nobody's time gets wasted; and full transparency on cost, with an itemized breakdown that includes contingencies most agencies bury or omit entirely, like C-section fees, multiple transfer costs, or a split-twins pregnancy. Kayla and Jenn are candid about why RO deliberately estimates costs on the higher end rather than the lower end many competitors use to look more attractive upfront — the goal is never handing intended parents a surprise bill at the end of the journey.

The conversation also busts a common myth: intended parents often assume they need a surrogate based in California, but Jenn explains that plenty of other states, Illinois and Missouri among them, are just as surrogacy-friendly, and RO evaluates pre-birth order feasibility for each intended parent's specific situation nationwide. They also cover why RO doesn't run a waitlist the way many agencies do, some stretching six to eighteen months or longer: capped caseloads mean intended parents are only onboarded once there's real matching capacity, rather than being strung along with deposits and unqualified candidates just to feel like progress is happening.

In this episode:

• What the intended-parent intake and matching process actually looks like, step by step
• Why RO intentionally estimates costs high instead of low, and what's usually hidden in a lower quote elsewhere
• The California myth, and which other states are quietly great for surrogacy
• Why RO doesn't run an intended-parent waitlist, and what that protects you from
• Why having a team member with her own intended-parent journey changes how that side of the process feels

Coming up next in the Our Team series: the extended professionals who hold every journey together from the outside — escrow, attorneys, clinics, and mental health support.