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Canadian Fertility Consulting - provider profile and satisfaction report

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www.fertilityconsultants.ca

Locations: Cobourg, Ontario, Canada
Contact: Robyn DaSilva OR Leia Swanberg
Email: Robyn@FertilityConsultants.ca OR leia@fertilityconsultants.ca
Phone: 613-439-8701


To find out if this provider participates in our Gay Parenting Assistance Program (GPAP), please see the summary table of our Directory.

Services:

  IVF clinic?
  Surrogacy agency?check12.png
  Egg donation?check12.png
  Law firm?


 

Year founded: 2007
Employees: 35


 


About Canadian Fertility Consultants:*

Canadian Fertility Consulting (CFC) is a full-service surrogacy agency dedicated to helping couples and individuals who have had difficulty or are unable to conceive and provide guidance and support while exploring alternative methods to building a family. We have the right people in place to make your dreams come true with our highly-trained and dedicated team. Our goal is to make the surrogacy process as stress-free and successful as possible. Canadian Fertility Consulting is dedicated to taking the confusion out of fertility choices. We care about our clients and pursue options to each individuals’ needs and only offer those with the best chance of success. By fostering relationships with leading fertility professionals around the world, we have built an extensive network of support for our clients.

* This description was provided by the service provider.

 


 


Ratings and reviews - from our Surveys

Disclaimer / terms of use


Surrogacy agency satisfaction - overall score (out of 10)

  Agency score
Overall
(7.18)
Count: 34
Not Applicable: 0

Agency experience

  Agency rating
Effective (contribution to the success of journey)
(7.40)
Count: 35
Not Applicable: 0
Responsive and supportive throughout journey
(6.31)
Count: 35
Not Applicable: 0
Surrogate screening and matching
(7.00)
Count: 35
Not Applicable: 0
Gay friendly and knowledgeable
(9.11)
Count: 35
Not Applicable: 0
Accommodation of international parents
(7.79)
Count: 33
Not Applicable: 0

Agency recommendation rate

Value Percent  
Yes 85.3%
No 14.7%
 
Statistics
Total Responses 34
Average 0.9

Agency reviews and comments

Response
(2016, International parents) This agency isn't as hands on as American agencies tend to be. The surrogate had to do a lot of the research herself into finding local monitoring clinics, etc. Also, it should be noted that the owner is having legal problems, but this didn't impact our journey at all. The agency is very well-intentioned though, despite the fact they're not always as hands-on as they could be.
(2017, International parents) Canadian Fertility Consultants was professional and efficient. Even when our first match fell through due to failed transfer, we waited for only a few months for a re-match.
(2017, International parents) Nous sommes très satisfaits de l'agence. Le contact passe très bien (mieux en Anglais qu'en Français). Match très rapide et concluant. Peu de communication pendant le parcours mais dés que nous avions besoin d'un conseil ou d'une aide, ils étaient là pour nous écouter. Fort présent également pour notre surrogate. Envois réguliers de gift box aux futurs parents et à la surrogate. L'agence a également organisé une journée « sacred intended parents retreat » à Paris. Nous avons passé une agréable journée en compagnie d'autres futurs parents lgbt avec qui nous gardons de bons contacts.
(2017, International parents) Yes good journey with happy communication. Robyn is great! Thank you.
(2017, International parents) agence réactive en cas de difficultés; support des parents d'intention et des femmes porteuses très intense .
(2017, USA parents) A great deal of our success was due to the hard work and care of Leia Swanberg and the team at Canadian Fertility Consultants. Leia clearly runs the business as a mission driven organization. She cares a great deal about ensuring a positive experience for both the intended parents as well as the surrogates. She cares - she really cares! Our journey wasn't always smooth, but ultimately it ended up successful. We had to alter some of our expectations as well as behaviors to ensure that we were aligned with the agency policies. While not always convenient, in hindsight they made sense and we are happy to have made the effort. A big applause for Leia and her team. We'd recommend them happily.
(2017, USA parents) CFC was great with matching us quickly with an amazing surrogate. They were very friendly and knowledgeable. They however did not help our surrogate understand the process or help her navigate some other issues. They pride themselves on supporting the surrogate but our surrogate did not feel that support when she asked. I also reached out to them on behalf of our surrogate but did not receive the answers we were looking for. We were basically on our own with this journey. Luckily we researched everything and received wonderful help from the fertility clinic. CFC did handle the surrogate reimbursement but was also very bad at returning phone calls about the reimbursements. They often blamed unreturned phone calls on their phone system. CFC definitely has the ability to recruit surrogates and match intended parents which I guess is the ultimate goal of surrogacy.
(2018, International parents) CFC was recommended by a friend who underwent the process before me. It was hard to let go and trust someone from another country, but Leah made me feel very at home and relaxed in this process. Knowing a friend who did it first really helped to calm my nerves. I am so happy I worked with CFC on this journey. Each step of the way they cared for me and my surrogate 'E'.
(2018, USA Parents) They have lots of turn over in case workers which is frustrating and also lots of rematching when surrogates back out. Most their communication is via automated emails so once you get pregnant all their support via email is very impersonal. They matched us with a great surrogate (after a failed match) but once that was done, we were basically on our own. During matching, you need to regularly communicate with them to stay relevant and on their radars.
(2018, USA parents) Canadian Fertility Consultants was instrumental to the success of our journey. They matched us with our lovely surrogate and the match ended in a successful journey for us with a singleton birth: a baby boy. Although we signed up to work with CFC, we did not communicate with the agency much after we embarked on our journey with our surrogate for a number of reasons. First, we discovered early on that they were not as responsive as we'd like them to be. Second, they were going through some major personnel changes in their organization, which resulted in slower response times. Finally, our amazing surrogate is a Type A person and coordinated everything, including appointments, shots/meds needed, etc. All in all, we would recommend CFC to others who need a little bit of handholding; however, for us, we practically completed our journey without any hand holding.
(2019, International Parents) Le parcours avec CFC a été compliqué. Nous avons rapidement payé les honoraires à CFC puisque nous avons matché très rapidement avec une surrogate. Malheureusement, la surrogate a décidé d'arrêter et la nous avons dû attendre un an et demi avant d'avoir un nouveau match. On n'a pas reçu de nouveau profil pendant plusieurs mois et nous avons du nous plaindre et menacer de partir avant d'en recevoir des nouveaux qui ne menaient à rien. Jusqu'au jours où nous avons trouver la bonne surrogate.
(2019, International parents) CFC has guided us through the matching process, by proposing multiple strategies to find surrogates (for example: making bio movies). Our case specialists and IP support team was frequently following-up with us, to make sure everything was still on track, and the communication with our surrogate was going well. Although the wait time was a bit longer than initially anticipated, we were matched within 6 months. The CFC team was stand-by to resolve any issues we've encountered (such as payment issues, medical questions or issues etc),
(2019, International parents) Our Surrogacy Agency is the one that really kick started our journey and guided us every step of the way. They were always there for any guidance and support that we needed from them - a call away, an email away. Prior to this, we were totally lost and didn't even know where to look:). We did have a few bumps here and there along the way, but misunderstandings that were easily cleared with open communication and honesty.
(2019, International parents) The turnover of staff is a bit sad, coz we really bonded with staff who decided to leave this agency
(2019, International parents) We had an extremely poor experience with CFC, unfortunately. Their customer care was non-existent and if we had questions and they did respond they often did so in a surly, combative and extremely defensive way. This was due to Leah Swanberg, who was very difficult to deal with and is the reason we would not use CFC again. They were not clear about issues around money and payments to surrogates and when we queried this she became hostile and threatening. We are pleased she appeared to have the surrogates best interests at heart - this is why we used the agency - but she treated us an anxious, international, intended parents as if we were just money and not people. We tried to use Egg Helpers for an egg donor but this proved impossible. Their screenings appeared to be non-existent, and again the customer service was appalling. We are pleased and grateful in that we have a beautiful baby boy now but the journey was made needlessly difficult at times by a poor and unprofessional service.
(2019, International parents) שודכנו בפעם הראשונה מהר מאוד אך ללא סינון וישר אחרי הבדיקה במרפאה החליטה שזה גדול עליה ,הסוכנות די התעלמה ושמה אותנו על המתנה של חצי שנה וגם אז שיקרו לנו לאורך כל הזמן .שודכנו עם פונדקאית מדהימה אך ללא מסמכים (לא אזרחית קנדית)הסוכנות שיקרה לנו ואמרה שיש לה תשבות קבע (קיבלה רק אחרי חצי שנה אשרת עבודה) למזלנו היה לנו קשר טוב איתה ובניגוד לסוכנות נתנו לה המון אמון .
(2019, USA Parents) CFC is very good at finding surrogates that match our ideals. They were very supportive throughout our journey and always willing to lend a helping hand.
(2020, USA parents) We used CFC in Canada and would recommend them. We found a wonderful surrogate who was a perfect match for us, and we were matched very quickly. CFC was effective in helping pave the way for us to successfully have a child. However, we did need to do more follow up on our own than we would have experienced at some of the more expensive agencies, such as those based in the US. Communication was okay when we needed it but not strong throughout the process; I don't think we heard much from CFC other than occasional check-ins.
(2020, USA parents) We used Canadian Fertility Consulting [CFC] for our journey. We had a great experience with Leia and team. We felt like part of a family and they were very helpful in guiding us through, what can be a long and time consuming process. Our son was born during COVID, in a different country than our residence, and they helped us navigate all of that. Thank you Leia and team -- we appreciate you all.
(2021, USA parents) We did not have a successful journey with CFC because of their spectacular incompetence and mendacity. I notice that they seem to no longer be working with MHB, and that is a very good thing for MHB. We were routinely mislead, met with truly remarkable levels of ineptitude, and even berated with yelling and obscenities by CFC's leader Leah Swanberg. While we have ended up with a beautiful baby boy, we did so after moving to independent surrogacy, and we lost approximately two years because of CFC's willful failures. I cannot warn people _against_ this agency enough!

Fertility clinic used

Value Percent   Count
San Diego Fertility Center (SDFC) 35.3%
12
Other 26.5%
9
CReATe Fertility Centre 23.5%
8
ORM Fertility 5.9%
2
Fertility Center of Las Vegas 2.9%
1
Pacific Fertility Center - San Francisco 2.9%
1
ReproMed 2.9%
1
  Totals 34
Statistics
Total Responses 34

Other clinic

CountResponse
1 Create
7 Create Fertility
1 Create fertility Center (Toronto)



Journey statistics for service provider

Overall cost of surrogacy journey

Value Percent   Count
$30,000 - $49,000 2.9%
1
$50,000 - $69,000 8.6%
3
$70,000 - $89,000 25.7%
9
$90,000 - $109,000 37.1%
13
$110,000 - $129,000 14.3%
5
$130,000 - $149,000 2.9%
1
$150,000 - $169,000 8.6%
3
  Totals 35
Statistics
Total Responses 35
Average 98.9

Number of IVF / IUI cycles done until journey resulted in a birth

Value Percent   Count
One 58.8%
20
Two 32.4%
11
Three 8.8%
3
  Totals 34
Statistics
Total Responses 34
Average 1.5

Length of journey from signup to birth (months)

Value Percent   Count
13-15 months 17.1%
6
16-18 months 22.9%
8
19-21 months 8.6%
3
22-24 months 22.9%
8
25-27 months 2.9%
1
28-30 months 2.9%
1
31-33 months 5.7%
2
34-36 months 8.6%
3
More than 3 years 8.6%
3
  Totals 35
Statistics
Total Responses 35
Average 23.1

Known / Anonymous egg donation

Value Percent   Count
Unknown 41.2%
14
Known 55.9%
19
Other 2.9%
1
  Totals 34
Statistics
Total Responses 34
Responses "Other" Count
Left Blank 34
Anonymous , she may be willing to meet the children if contacted via the lawyers 1

Egg donation source

Value Percent   Count
Family or friend 5.9%
2
Surrogacy agency 5.9%
2
Independent Egg donation agency 55.9%
19
Fertility clinic 32.4%
11
  Totals 34
Statistics
Total Responses 34



Demographics / family makeup

Gay / straight

Value Percent   Count
LGBT 97.0%
32
Straight 3.0%
1
  Totals 33
Statistics
Total Responses 33

Countries

Value Percent   Count
Canada 28.6%
10
United States 22.9%
8
France 20.0%
7
United Kingdom 14.3%
5
Israel 5.7%
2
Belgium 2.9%
1
Netherlands 2.9%
1
Spain 2.9%
1
  Totals 35
Statistics
Total Responses 35