Fertility & Surrogacy FAQ for Private Clients
Why is IMA ART based in Beverly Hills?
Beverly Hills places IMA ART in close proximity to several leading reproductive medicine practices and fertility clinics in Southern California.
That proximity has practical importance. It allows our principals to accompany clients and surrogates to important medical milestones when appropriate, maintain relationships with reproductive teams and remain physically connected to journeys taking place in Southern California.
For clients traveling to Beverly Hills for fertility treatment, surrogate screening or embryo transfer, IMA ART can also coordinate the practical requirements surrounding their time in California.
Does IMA ART only work with clients in Beverly Hills or Los Angeles?
No.
IMA ART is based in Beverly Hills, California, but works with private clients throughout the United States and internationally.
A client's location does not necessarily determine where every part of a fertility journey occurs. Depending upon the circumstances, a journey may involve specialists, fertility clinics, laboratories, attorneys, surrogates or other professionals located in different cities, states or countries.
IMA ART coordinates across those relationships while maintaining a central point of continuity for the client.
How does IMA ART coordinate reproductive law, psychology and insurance?
These disciplines can become integral to a fertility or surrogacy journey, particularly when gestational surrogacy, donor conception or international family building is involved.
IMA ART coordinates appropriately qualified professionals according to the requirements of the journey while maintaining continuity between their respective areas of responsibility.
Attorneys provide legal advice. Licensed psychologists and mental-health professionals provide psychological assessment and support. Insurance professionals advise upon applicable coverage. IMA ART helps ensure that these separate areas are considered and coordinated within the broader family-building journey.
Can IMA ART work with my existing Family Office or advisers?
Yes.
IMA ART can work directly with a private client or alongside an existing Family Office, attorney, wealth adviser or other trusted professional.
Our role is not to displace established advisory relationships. We provide specialist fertility and surrogacy knowledge within the broader advisory structure where appropriate, while coordinating directly with the reproductive professionals involved in the journey.
For families accustomed to governance across other areas of their affairs, this provides a way to bring similar continuity and oversight to family building.
Why doesn't IMA ART publish client testimonials or baby photographs?
Because we do not believe our clients' private fertility journeys should become our marketing material.
Fertility and surrogacy involve deeply personal medical, family and reproductive information. IMA ART therefore does not ask clients to publicly validate our work through testimonials, photographs or identifiable family stories.
Our approach to privacy is intentionally different: the families we represent remain private.
How does IMA ART protect client privacy?
Discretion is fundamental to the way IMA ART operates.
We do not publish client testimonials, case studies, baby photographs or personal fertility stories as marketing material.
Information is shared with professionals involved in a client's journey according to the requirements of the engagement and the services they are responsible for providing.
For clients whose circumstances require additional privacy considerations, these requirements can be discussed at the beginning of the engagement and incorporated into the way the journey is coordinated.
Privacy, Governance & International Families.
Can international intended parents pursue surrogacy through IMA ART?
Yes.
IMA ART works with intended parents based both within the United States and internationally.
International surrogacy can involve additional considerations surrounding reproductive law, parentage, citizenship, immigration, travel and the documentation required for a child to return home with the intended parents.
IMA ART coordinates the journey alongside appropriately qualified reproductive and immigration attorneys and other specialists where jurisdiction-specific expertise is required.
Does IMA ART remain involved throughout the surrogate pregnancy?
Yes.
IMA ART's role does not end after a successful match or embryo transfer.
We remain engaged throughout the pregnancy, maintaining continuity between intended parents, the surrogate and the professionals involved in the journey.
That involvement also extends to planning surrounding delivery and the period following birth, according to the requirements of the individual engagement.
What happens after a surrogate is selected?
Selection is the beginning of a much larger process.
Following mutual interest between intended parents and a potential surrogate, the journey typically progresses through required psychological and medical evaluations, background checks, home visit, legal representation and the gestational surrogacy agreement, insurance review, preparation for embryo transfer and ultimately the transfer itself.
If pregnancy is established, IMA ART remains involved throughout the pregnancy, coordinating with the surrogate, intended parents and relevant professionals while preparing for later milestones including legal parentage and birth planning.
How long does it take to match with a surrogate?
Surrogate matching timelines vary according to candidate availability, intended-parent preferences, medical requirements and the circumstances of the particular journey.
IMA ART continuously recruits potential gestational surrogates while limiting the number of private client engagements we accept. This allows us to pursue efficient matching without reducing the standards applied to surrogate selection.
Rather than promising a fixed timeline, we provide clients with a realistic assessment based upon their circumstances and the candidates available at that time.
How does IMA ART select and match gestational surrogates?
IMA ART approaches surrogate selection as considerably more than access to a profile.
Candidates undergo a multi-stage evaluation process that may include review of pregnancy and delivery history, medical records, background screening, references, psychological assessment, medical screening and other appropriate due diligence.
Our principals also personally engage with prospective surrogates. We want to understand the woman behind the profile—her motivations, circumstances, expectations, support system and views surrounding the journey.
Medical and psychological clearance ultimately remains with the appropriately qualified fertility clinic and mental-health professionals.
Surrogacy.
What is Fertility Governance™?
Fertility Governance is IMA ART's framework for bringing structure, continuity and informed decision-making to complex fertility and surrogacy journeys.
Assisted reproduction can involve physicians, embryologists, genetic specialists, reproductive attorneys, psychologists, insurance advisers, surrogates and other professionals. Each may be responsible for an important part of the process, but no single specialist necessarily oversees how every decision affects the journey as a whole.
Fertility Governance provides that broader continuity—helping identify dependencies, anticipate potential issues and coordinate decisions across the different stages and professionals involved.
Can I use IMA ART if I already have frozen eggs, sperm or embryos?
Yes.
Many clients come to IMA ART after eggs, sperm or embryos have already been cryopreserved.
We begin by understanding where the reproductive material is stored, what treatment has already occurred and what the intended next stage of the journey will be. Where necessary, we coordinate with fertility clinics, laboratories, cryogenic transportation providers and other specialists involved in moving the journey forward.
Can IMA ART coordinate egg donation, sperm donation and embryo creation?
Yes.
Where donor conception forms part of a client's family-building strategy, IMA ART can coordinate the different professionals and organizations involved in egg donation, sperm donation, embryo creation, genetic testing and related planning.
The precise structure of the journey depends upon the client's circumstances and the medical, legal and jurisdictional requirements involved.
Can IMA ART help me select an IVF clinic or reproductive endocrinologist?
Yes.
The appropriate fertility clinic or reproductive physician depends upon the client's circumstances, medical history, reproductive objectives, geography and the particular expertise a journey may require.
IMA ART can assist clients in evaluating potential clinics and specialists, coordinating consultations and second opinions, and maintaining communication as treatment progresses.
We can also work with a fertility clinic or physician a client has already selected.
Does IMA ART provide fertility treatment or medical advice?
No. IMA ART is not an IVF clinic and does not diagnose medical conditions or provide fertility treatment.
Medical diagnosis, clinical recommendations and treatment remain the responsibility of the reproductive endocrinologist, fertility clinic and other appropriately licensed medical professionals.
IMA ART's role is to provide independent coordination, advocacy and continuity around the medical journey—helping clients understand what is happening, prepare for what comes next and coordinate the professionals and practical considerations surrounding their care.
Fertility & IVF.
Can I engage IMA ART if my fertility journey has already begun?
Yes.
Clients do not need to begin their fertility journey with IMA ART. We can become involved after IVF has commenced, after embryos have been created, when donor conception is being considered, when surrogacy becomes necessary or when an existing journey has become increasingly complex.
Our first step is to understand what has already occurred, which professionals are involved and what decisions or challenges remain.
Does IMA ART limit the number of private clients it accepts?
Yes.
IMA ART is intentionally structured around a limited number of engagements rather than a high-volume model.
Limiting engagements allows our principals to know the circumstances surrounding each journey, remain accessible to clients and maintain continuity across the professionals and decisions involved.
Will I work directly with IMA ART's principals?
Yes.
IMA ART deliberately limits the number of engagements we accept so that our principals, Michelle Tang and Ron Sonnenberg, can remain personally involved throughout each client relationship.
That involvement begins with understanding the client's circumstances and continues through important decisions, specialist coordination and significant milestones during the journey.
For clients undergoing treatment or surrogacy-related medical procedures in Beverly Hills and Southern California, our principals can also be physically present at important appointments and milestones when appropriate.
How is IMA ART different from a traditional fertility concierge or surrogacy agency?
Traditional fertility concierge services often concentrate on convenience surrounding treatment, while surrogacy agencies typically focus upon recruiting, matching and coordinating gestational surrogates.
IMA ART's role can extend across the broader family-building journey.
We coordinate the medical, legal, psychological, insurance, surrogacy and practical considerations that may intersect throughout fertility treatment and family building. Our principals remain personally involved, providing continuity as the journey moves between specialists, decisions and different stages.
This is also the foundation of IMA ART's approach to Fertility Governance™: considering individual decisions within the context of the journey as a whole rather than allowing each component to develop independently.
What does IMA ART Fertility do?
IMA ART provides private fertility and surrogacy advisory, coordination and stewardship for individuals and families navigating assisted reproduction.
Depending upon the journey, our involvement may encompass IVF coordination, embryo planning, donor conception, surrogate selection and matching, reproductive law, psychological support, insurance, pregnancy coordination and birth planning.
Rather than requiring clients to independently manage multiple professionals and organizations, IMA ART provides a central point of continuity across the journey. Medical, legal and other licensed professionals remain responsible for their respective areas of expertise.
Working With IMA ART
Fertility and surrogacy journeys can involve a series of interconnected medical, legal, psychological, financial and personal decisions. For private clients, the challenge is often not simply finding qualified professionals, but ensuring that the many people, decisions and stages involved remain coordinated throughout the journey.
IMA ART Fertility is an independent fertility and surrogacy advisory based in Beverly Hills, California. We work with private clients throughout the United States and internationally, providing continuity, coordination and principal-led stewardship across fertility, IVF and gestational surrogacy.
The questions below address how IMA ART works, the role we play and what prospective clients can expect from an engagement.
Begin Your Private Fertility Journey.
Every fertility and surrogacy journey begins from a different place.
You may be considering IVF for the first time, already have embryos, require donor conception, be exploring gestational surrogacy or need greater coordination around a journey already underway.
An initial private consultation allows IMA ART's principals to understand your circumstances, answer your questions candidly and determine whether our approach is appropriate for your family.
Discover more about becoming a parent
Begin Your Private Fertility Journey.
Every fertility journey begins with different circumstances, priorities and decisions. IMA ART works privately with individuals and families seeking dedicated oversight of IVF, embryo planning, fertility preservation, donor conception and fertility journeys that may ultimately involve surrogacy.
Our involvement begins with understanding where you are today, what you hope to achieve and which medical or other professionals may already be involved. From there, we can determine where IMA ART's coordination, personal involvement and broader fertility oversight can add value to your journey.
IMA ART Fertility is based in Beverly Hills, California, and works with private clients throughout the United States and internationally.
