Searching for a surrogate: advice

I can't tell you how many HUNDREDS of hours surrogate seeking. For anyone out there who is just starting the process I have this advice: First, start with friends and family. See if anyone is

1. Willing

2. Medically clear (had a least 1 uncomplicated pregnancy)

3. has medical insurance with no exceptions (see other blog post for details).

4. Has fees that you can afford.

When I was just starting the process I spent countless hours emailing people who were willing and medically clear. We'd discuss all sorts of things like labor and delivery, amount of communication during pregnancy, etc.. Then, weeks later I'd find out that they wanted $60K for the surrogacy, or that they did not have insurance coverage. So all of the lovely chat was wasted time. I finally learned.
Advice: Don't discuss anything at all until you have verified all 4 of the above requirements. Most people wouldn't offer to be a surrogate unless they had had previous uncomplicated pregnancies. So the first thing you want to ask them is their fees and if they have insurance coverage with no exclusions. Don't be tempted to discuss things with them until these are confirmed as ok.

Here is a brief history of my lined-up surrogates:
1. Friend of mine in my church congregation. Bailed when she found out the church's stance on surrogacy (understandable and ok with me). Lost about $4K
2. aquaintance of my sister in NM. Bailed when she found another couple who was willing to pay more.
3. Husband's cousin's wife. Found out that she didn't have insurance coverage
4. LDS person I found through the internet. Bailed because she got back together with an ex-fiance.
5. (same girl as #2) Increased her prices on me by $9K less than 12 hours after I sent her the confirmation of her and her husband's flights out for the first appointments. Said the changes were non-negotiable. I obviously couldn't trust her so I bailed and lost $800 on the plane tickets.
6. Current surrogate. Told me me had insurance back in march but did not give me any proof of it until June (already $4K in to the process) which made me extremely nervous but it turned out ok.