Bring up the subject of surrogacy costs and you’ll likely get a few shocked looks… You’re paying how much? Are you buying a house, too? That’s pretty much the reaction we got from people who knew little about the surrogacy process. In this article, we’ll break down the cost of surrogacy. And share our insider tips on how to save at least a little money. And who doesn’t love saving money?
Surrogacy Costs: Pulling Off The Band-Aid: How Much Are We Talking?
How much are we talking for surrogacy? That was the first question I had when my husband suggested we start our own family.
In short, you can expect to pay anywhere from $120,000 to $200,000+ US dollars. Sure, doing surrogacy overseas is a lot cheaper. But between the ever-changing international laws as well as COVID, international surrogacy can get complicated. And if you’re gay, there are even more things to consider based on the country’s tolerance. Also, if you have a full-time job, getting that time off to take an international trip can be challenging. It’s not like you can get your baby via Amazon!
One of the challenging aspects of the surrogacy process is understanding what the costs are going to be through the different steps. Will it be an all in one agency or will you do it the way we did and work with three different agencies.
The Surrogacy Process: Doing It With An All-In-One Agency Or Separate Ones?
When we began our journey, we initially thought there was only one organization to work with and they would do it all – the surrogacy agency. Then we realized that some surrogacy agencies only found surrogates, some found surrogates and egg donors. Still you would need a fertility clinic to create the embryos and implant them in the surrogate. We then realized some fertility clinics also provided egg donors that they had prescreened. This means there wasn’t truly an all in one agency, but that we would have to work with either two or three organizations.
Trying to compare costs from one organization to another was tough if you just looked at the final number they quoted. Not every estimate included the same things. The egg donor agency might include costs from the fertility clinic and the surrogacy agency could include costs for an egg donor and/or aspects of the fertility clinic. The costs of an egg donor can vary, as well as a surrogate. The services offered by a surrogacy agency could also be different (e.g., very bare bones or a more generous one with the surrogate being provided massage therapy). Even the fertility agency could have different costs such as how many embryos were included in the base price, the number of transfer attempts, and storage of viable embryos. Look at the line items to make sure you have a true apples to apples comparison.
A resource that we found very helpful was Donor Concierge. They have the latest information on typical egg and surrogacy costs, and if you want a little extra help finding the perfect match they will do this for a fee. If you weren’t interested in perusing profiles, they could provide you a list of curated ones throughout the country.
What Are the Major Costs Associated With The Surrogacy Process: A Blow-By-Blow Breakdown Of Surrogacy Costs
Based on our research, we felt we could get the best outcome by approaching the surrogacy in three steps. First finding the fertility clinic, then picking an egg donor and finally selecting the surrogate. For more details, check out our 3 step approach on how to do surrogacy including all the pros and cons. As you think through your journey, see the estimate by each step:
- Fertility Clinic – ~$20K to $50K
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- This should include fees such as the cost of creating the embryo, transferring the embryo to a surrogate, ad hoc tests, egg donor medications, pregnancy medications, early pregnancy monitoring (if not done by your surrogate’s OBGYN), and costs for an additional sperm provider (if you have two sperm providers).
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- Egg Donor Agency – ~$15K to $35K
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- This should include egg donor agency fees, travel (for the egg donor), egg donor compensation, egg donor psychological screening, egg donor insurance, egg donor expenses, and legal fees to make the contracts.
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- Surrogacy Agency – ~$70K to $140K
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- This should include surrogacy agency fees, surrogate compensation, legal/escrow fees, and surrogate insurance.
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Wrapping It Up On Surrogacy Costs:
In the end, we’re happy that we did the 3 step approach since it gave us a little more control over the surrogacy process as well as helped save some money along the way. After all, these dads still need some money to have fun spoiling our little babies (oh, and MAYBE ourselves every so often!). Interested in learning more about surrogacy? Check out all our coverage on how to approach the surrogacy process. Feeling overwhelmed by having kids? Trust me, I know where you’re coming from. Check out our 3 step approach on how to do surrogacy including all the pros and cons. Finally, afraid you’ll have no life after kids? Read our feature stories on how you can incorporate kids into your busy travels.
