St. Albans City sits in Vermont's Franklin County, roughly 35 miles north of Burlington and less than an hour from the Canadian border. Vermont Surrogacy Network, LLC (VSN) has operated from this small city since its founding, drawing intended parents from across New England, the United States, and abroad. VSN is not a fertility clinic and does not operate an IVF laboratory. It is a surrogacy coordination agency: its role is to recruit, screen, and match gestational carriers with intended parents, then guide both parties through the legal, medical, and emotional steps of the journey. Families pursuing surrogacy as a path to parenthood who want a relationship-focused alternative to large national agencies will find VSN to be a distinctive option. The agency describes itself as the first matching organization based in Vermont, tailored to families seeking personalized gestational surrogacy support.
Staff and Leadership
Vermont Surrogacy Network was founded by Jes (listed publicly by first name across VSN's blog and client-facing materials), who brings firsthand experience to the role — VSN's own blog identifies her as a former gestational surrogate. That background shapes the agency's philosophy: Jes built VSN with the understanding that both intended parents and surrogates benefit from working with people who have navigated the process themselves rather than only studied it professionally.
Shanna serves as a Case Manager at VSN. In a blog post reflecting on her first five months with the organization, she described the day-to-day work of supporting families through matching, medical coordination, and the emotional contours of a surrogacy journey. Case managers at VSN function as primary points of contact for both surrogates and intended parents throughout the process.
The public website does not list additional staff credentials or full surnames for all team members, which is not unusual for a small agency where client relationships are managed personally. Prospective clients are encouraged to schedule a consultation to meet the team and ask questions directly before committing to a match program.
Services
Vermont Surrogacy Network offers coordination services for gestational surrogacy — meaning the surrogate carries an embryo created from the intended parents' or donors' genetic material, with no genetic connection to the carrier. The agency does not provide IVF services in-house. Medical procedures, including embryo creation and transfer, are performed at partner fertility clinics; VSN has noted access to Burlington-area medical facilities for surrogates and intended parents in New England.
Core services include:
- Surrogate recruitment and screening — VSN recruits gestational carriers primarily from Vermont and New England, focusing on community-rooted candidates.
- Intended parent intake and matching — The agency accepts families from anywhere in the United States and internationally; same-sex couples and single parents are welcome.
- Match coordination — VSN manages introductions and the relationship-building period that precedes a formal match agreement.
- Legal coordination support — VSN guides clients to appropriate reproductive attorneys; Vermont's legal environment is generally favorable to gestational surrogacy.
- Medical coordination — The agency synchronizes the surrogate's schedule and screenings with the intended parents' chosen fertility clinic.
- Ongoing case management — VSN case managers remain in contact with both parties from match through delivery.
- Compassionate Carry program — Two lower-cost support packages for intended parents who want core coordination at a reduced agency fee.
The Surrogacy Process
A gestational surrogacy journey with Vermont Surrogacy Network follows a structured path from initial consultation through postpartum follow-up.
Intended parents begin with a consultation where VSN learns the family's background, goals, and fertility history. International families and those who have already completed IVF elsewhere are common applicants. After intake, families enter the matching pool.
Surrogate applicants submit an application and go through screening covering health history, background review, and an assessment of personal support systems — a factor agencies consistently cite as critical to a successful carry. VSN's New England focus means intended parents often meet surrogates in person.
Once a match is proposed, VSN facilitates introductions and a relationship-building period before either party commits. Legal contracts follow via independent reproductive attorneys. Vermont's surrogate-friendly legal framework allows intended parents to secure a pre-birth order establishing parentage before delivery. Medical synchronization with the fertility clinic completes the pre-transfer phase, and VSN coordinates communication among all parties throughout the pregnancy.
Patient and Surrogate Experience
VSN publishes video testimonials and written surrogate journey stories on its blog. One intended parent testimonial on the homepage describes being diagnosed with depleted ovarian reserve at 39 and finding VSN to be a source of "hope and results" — calling theirs "one of the more difficult cases." Surrogate accounts from carriers named Morgan, Elizabeth, and Brooke describe the agency's approach as empowering. Elizabeth's story, titled "A Calling of the Heart," highlights the emotional significance of the connection VSN facilitates between surrogates and families.
Staff-authored blog posts reinforce this tone: Shanna's reflection on her first months at VSN describes an organization where the work is treated as genuinely meaningful rather than administrative case processing.
Costs and Financing
Vermont Surrogacy Network does not publish a comprehensive fee schedule on its public website, which is typical for surrogacy agencies. Total gestational surrogacy costs include agency fees, surrogate base compensation, medical and pregnancy-related expenses, legal fees for both parties, psychological screening, fertility clinic fees, and escrow management. In the United States, all-in surrogacy journeys commonly range from $80,000 to $150,000 or more depending on these variables.
VSN's Compassionate Carry program offers two tiered support packages for intended parents at a lower price point, reflecting the agency's stated mission of being "ethical, affordable, and supportive." Vermont's favorable surrogacy laws can also reduce legal friction and associated costs compared to more restrictive states. Surrogate compensation and agency fees are typically held in a licensed escrow account, providing financial transparency for all parties. Prospective intended parents should request a detailed cost breakdown during their initial consultation.
Considering At-Home Insemination?
Not every fertility journey begins in a clinic. At-home intracervical insemination (ICI) is a lower-cost, private option that suits patients with no known fertility diagnosis — including single parents by choice, same-sex couples, and people who want to try a few cycles before committing to clinical treatment.
At-home insemination kits like those from MakeAMom come with step-by-step instructions designed for donor or partner sperm. Kits are a one-time purchase that can be reused until conception succeeds, require no clinic visit, and arrive in plain, discreet packaging. Many patients use them as a first step while working toward a fertility consultation — or alongside ovulation tracking while they wait for an appointment slot.
If you have a known fertility diagnosis, have been trying for 12 months without success (six months if you're over 35), or your physician has already recommended IUI or IVF, a board-certified reproductive endocrinologist is the right next step.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is Vermont Surrogacy Network a fertility clinic or a surrogacy agency? VSN is a surrogacy coordination agency, not a fertility clinic. It does not perform IVF, egg retrieval, or embryo creation in-house. Intended parents work with a separate fertility clinic for the medical side of their journey; VSN handles matching, legal coordination support, and case management. Burlington-area clinics are accessible to New England clients.
Q: Does VSN accept international intended parents? Yes. Vermont Surrogacy Network explicitly welcomes intended parents from anywhere in the world, not just Vermont or New England. International clients should be prepared to work with attorneys who have experience in cross-border surrogacy arrangements, as the legal recognition of parentage in the intended parents' home country is a separate matter from U.S.-based agreements.
Q: What is the Compassionate Carry program? Compassionate Carry is VSN's name for a set of lower-cost support packages available to intended parents. The agency offers two distinct options under this program. Specific pricing and what each package includes is best obtained directly from VSN during a consultation, as the structure may be updated over time.
Q: Does Vermont have favorable surrogacy laws? Vermont is generally considered a surrogate-friendly state. It permits gestational surrogacy agreements and allows intended parents to establish legal parentage through a pre-birth order before the child is born — a significant practical advantage that reduces legal complexity at delivery. Prospective clients should confirm current legal requirements with a licensed Vermont reproductive attorney, as laws can change.