Meet Zach French of The Surrogacy Foundation

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zach French.

Hi Zach, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Our surrogacy journey began in February 2020 when my wife Alexandra was diagnosed with breast cancer at a young age. Initially, her doctors thought we could have children naturally, but after discovering a second type of cancer that was hormone-positive, her medical team recommended surrogacy if we wanted to expand our family. Fortunately, our oncologist had the foresight to ensure we created embryos before starting treatment.
After Alexandra completed treatment and was declared cancer-free, we knew surrogacy was our path to parenthood. Going through that journey opened our eyes to how expensive and convoluted the process was, operating behind closed doors with little support or transparency. But what really struck us was the realization that not everyone has the family and community support we were blessed with during both Alexandra’s cancer journey and our surrogacy process.
The idea for the foundation came when our agency recommended we speak with an organization about support groups. Alexandra came home that day and started researching, quickly realizing there weren’t many organizations providing impactful financial support for surrogacy. That’s when it clicked, we were going to start an organization that gave grants for the full-cost of a surrogacy journey.
We started small, originally as the Gift of Surrogacy Foundation, helping one family at a time. After raising money for our first grant, I took a position as Vice President at SeedTrust, the largest independent escrow provider in the surrogacy space, where I ran their legal and sales teams. This role was invaluable – escrow sits right in the middle of every surrogacy transaction and involves every party in the process, so I rapidly expanded both my knowledge of the industry and my network.
I also volunteered for the conference committee and served as emcee for the Society for Ethics in Egg Donation and Surrogacy (SEEDS) conference, which further deepened my connections within the industry. By the time we held our second annual fundraiser, we’d raised $220,000 (up from $160,000 in 2023) with a huge increase in industry attendees. The overwhelming encouragement from surrogacy professionals to take our mission national convinced me it was time to leave my VP role at SeedTrust and focus on the foundation full-time.
That transition coincided with our rebrand to The Surrogacy Foundation in 2024, reflecting our expanded mission to propel surrogacy into the mainstream. Today, having already raised $770,000 and awarded $230,000 in grants, we’re working toward aspirations to scale much larger.
Those aspirations mean we need clear vision: In a world where everyone deserves a family, surrogacy is stuck in the past. The Surrogacy Foundation will propel surrogacy into the mainstream. We will do this by serving the unmet needs of modern day donors in a way that not only does good, it feels good. We will provide help at every step of the journey, celebrating the magic and building a village of supporters to help.
Also we need to clearly articulate the problem of accessibility. Surrogacy is (1)Too Expensive; (2) Too Complex; (3)Stigmatized. Now is the time because infertility is on the rise (currently 1 in 6) due to increasing incidence of medical conditions like cancer in young people, a growing LGBTQ+ community who want to grow their family, and a culture shift to having children later in life. To tackle the financial barrier, we provide a $100,000 grant and pro bono services to cover an entire journey (we’ve given 2 so far), and plan to launch another grant later this year. To make it more approachable we are building technology-enabled education in the form a surrogacy chatbot that anyone can access anywhere and any time. To tackle stigma we are sharing more of the magic stories behind surrogacy like ours and whenever the industry needs someone to stand up for families in need we are there to support with grants, education and support.
Thanks to the amazing support of our village of professionals, especially our Founding and Visionary Partners who committed over $270,000 over the past year we are in a position to grow this organization and achieve our vision.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not smooth. Surrogacy carries a significant stigma, many people still see it as an option only for the wealthy, not everyday families. We constantly battle misconceptions and the perception that it’s a “last resort” rather than a viable family-building option.
The industry itself presents challenges. It’s rife with bad actors and fraud due to lack of regulation, which feeds into the stigma that surrogacy is unethical or too risky. When we faced the SEAM crisis this year, an unprecedented industry challenge, we had to quickly pivot to provide emergency relief grants, demonstrating our commitment to being stewards of surrogacy in both celebration and crisis.
There’s also the complexity of category creation. We’re the first true philanthropic nonprofit focused solely on surrogacy, so we’re essentially creating a new category of giving. Each grant takes one to two years to complete and costs around $100,000, which is contrarian to typical nonprofit best practices. We’ve had to develop creative ways to connect donors with their impact while maintaining rigorous grant processes.
Even with the help of our grants, our inaugural grantees still haven’t realized their ultimate dream of a baby 1.5 years after receiving the grant. This is an unpredictable process but we remain committed to providing a village of support to get them there.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
The Surrogacy Foundation is designed specifically for the modern donor who wants to feel good, not just do good. We understand that nonprofits aren’t just about charity, they’re about creating meaningful connections and experiences for supporters.
What sets us apart:
We celebrate the journey, not just the destination. Instead of asking for one-size-fits-all donations, we help people understand and experience the magic of surrogacy by celebrating each milestone along the way. By breaking down the process and connecting donors to these meaningful moments, they can see exactly where their money goes, understand why each step matters, and truly feel the impact of their support in helping create families.
We’re not your grandparents’ nonprofit. Our brand is modern, transparent, and designed for the next generation of donors. We believe in being professional yet fun, creating memorable experiences that build long-term relationships.
We provide support every step of the way. We don’t just write checks. Born from personal experience, we guide intended parents emotionally and financially through the entire process. We bring the village, because yes, it takes a village.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success for us has multiple dimensions. In the immediate term, it’s helping as many families as possible through surrogacy when they thought it might be out of reach. We’re already on track with our fundraising goals and have awarded six grants.
Medium-term success is scaling our national grant program and raising $1-1.5 million over the next year while maintaining over 90% donor retention. We want to be the trusted education resource for surrogacy and the go-to organization for the entire industry.
But ultimate success is cultural transformation. I want surrogacy to be accepted, celebrated, and part of mainstream conversation rather than stuck in the past, misunderstood, and stigmatized. Success is when intended parents consider surrogacy earlier in their family-building journey, when donors feel confident and excited about supporting these families, and when we’ve built a movement that brings surrogacy to the forefront of national conversation.
Success is measured not just in dollars raised or families helped, but in changing hearts and minds about what family-building can look like in the 21st century. When surrogacy becomes as accepted and understood as IVF is today, we’ll know we’ve succeeded in our mission to propel surrogacy into the mainstream.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.thesurrogacyfoundation.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesurrogacyfoundation/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesurrogacyfoundation
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-surrogacy-foundation/