Cost of Surrogacy - In-depth Breakdown
One of the biggest questions asked as it relates to surrogacy is, "How much does surrogacy cost?" We get asked this question more than we can count, so we wanted to give you and inside scoop into what our process cost us, so those that are planning a journey or simply want to prepare for one, know what it entails and what to prepare for. We decided to go with an agency, so we will have agency costs for both the donor and surrogacy components. Not everyone uses an agency, but for us, it was exactly what we needed, a sort-of "hand holding" arrangement to guide us along the way and help resolve any issues that may arise. We had no idea how to do this without one, and our agency was spectacular, highly recommended and we created a bond with them, which will be lifelong. Our journey took place within the United States, in the State of Florida, so keep that in mind when using our figures as reference. Not all journeys are alike, and some states may be cheaper, while others may be more expensive so consider that as well when creating your own budget. Without further adieu, here are our numbers...
Egg Donor Component - Total Spend $ 17,365
Breakdown:
Agency Fee: $ 6,500
Egg Donor Fee: $ 8,500 (This fee will range depending on experience (proven record of past donations and amount of eggs donated), certain characteristics people may want (such as schooling level, origin, genetics), and many more options.
Parent/Donor Agreement (Legal): $ 800
Donor Insurance: $ 315
Donor Travel Expenses: $ 600 (usually only if they are not local to IVF clinic and need to travel)
Escrow Management Fee: $ 300 (Must use an escrow company to disburse any and all funds to donor- Most donors are anonymous so this preserves that arrangement).
Psychological Testing: $ 350
Medications Component - Total Spend $ 6,241
This includes all medications given to egg donor for egg stimulation and medications for surrogate, which consists of a series of shots they must take for several weeks before and during pregnancy. Medications can vary greatly depending on the donor and surrogate. We've seen this go up to $10k.
In-vitro Fertilization (IVF) Component - Total Spend $ 32,606
Breakdown:
Egg donor portion: $ 4,450 - Includes stimulation visits and egg retrieval
Genetic Screening: $ 420 - Intended parents
Surrogate portion: $ 20,700 - Includes embryology, commissioning, cryopreservation of embryos during process and transfer of embryo(s) to surrogate. This also includes surrogate visits and monitoring of uterine line and required checkups prior to transfer and after transfer.
Ultrasounds: $ 1086 - Total of 3 ultrasounds plus heart beat bears on last visit.
PGT: $ 0 - We did not perform PGT (also referred to as PGS or PGTS) because we performed extensive genetic testing on ourselves and our donor, our donor carried no genetic malformations, our donor was young, our agency and clinic advised against it, and we did not want to know the sex of our babies. If we pursued it, it would have cost approximately $5k per set of embryos (each of us had a set) so would have been a total of $10k. Each process is different and if you want peace of mind early on, you may want to consider doing the testing. There are risks involved, including damaging embryos so do your research before pursuing it.
Surrogacy Component - Total Spend $ 96,019
Breakdown:
Agency Fees: $ 16,000 (as of 2019 - these fees usually increase per year)
Surrogate Fees: $ 42,000 - Singleton fee of $ 35,000 plus a twin surcharge of $ 7,000
Legal for Surrogacy: $ 8,200 - Surrogate legal - $ 1,200 plus intended parents legal of $ 7,000. Intended parents legal includes preparing of surrogacy contract and all legal involved after twins are born including amendment of birth certificate in courts.
Life Insurance: $ 210 (for surrogate)
Escrow Management: $ 1,250 - Disburse all funds related to surrogacy to our surrogate as per the conditions of legal contract. Surrogate is paid usually upon starting shots and after certain milestones of pregnancy are met, such as confirmation of pregnancy, 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, up until the birth of child. The biggest sums are paid in the end usually beginning at week 20 of pregnancy. They also hold certain funds in escrow until the process is complete and for several months thereafter to cover any medical expenses that may arise (up to 6 months).
Surrogate Travel Expenses/ Per Diems: $ 1,900 - Our surrogate lived a 4-hour drive away from the IVF clinic so there were some travel related fees, hotel stays and per diems for gas and miscellaneous expenses she was entitled to.
Psychological Evaluation: $ 350 - Performed on surrogate and her partner
Intended Parents Travel/ Interest/ Cryo after transfer: $ 1,600 - We had to travel quite a bit for IVF clinic appointments and to the first doctors appointment in surrogates hometown, 5 hours away from us. Covid-19 pandemic started thereafter and we were no longer allowed to attend another visit. During the process we shuffled money around cards to keep liquid cash available for things we could not charge so we had some minor interest expenses. We had all the money available for the entire process beforehand, and recommend everyone does as well, but we did use cards to collect points and keep liquidity just in case something unplanned came along. Once process was completed, all cards were paid off in full.
Housekeeping allowance pre-birth: $ 500 - This is required for process and should be. You want to help your surrogate as much as possible and make sure she's relaxed and not worrying about certain chores.
Post-birth childcare and Housekeeping: $ 400 - Your surrogate needs time to heal and recover from birth. Some need more time than others depending on whether they had a C-section, so this will alleviate some stresses related to care of children and home.
Insurance Copayments: $ 175 - There was an insurance policy in place for surrogate so these were simply copayments we had to pay during visits to OBGYN.
C-Section: $ 2500 - We had budgeted for this, but ended up not requiring to pay it because our surrogate was a bad ass and gave birth to our twins NATURALLY!
Minimum Escrow: $ 10,000 - Must be kept in escrow at all times and up to 6 months after birth to cover any miscellaneous medical expenses surrogate may receive. Don't count on this money as being yours because it may not come back to you!
Hospitalization Deductible: $ 10,000 - Our policy had a large hospitalization deductible we had to cover, no matter what! Considering the great care they received and the amount of time they stayed in the NICU, this was relatively nothing in comparison to the actual hospitalization costs, which were upwards of $150k. It's imperative to have an insurance policy, and if possible, a secondary policy to cover these expenses. It can get quite expensive if they come early and require a NICU stay.
Travel & Food after birth, while in NICU: $ 934 - We stayed in NICU for 14 nights and that required eating tons of cafeteria food. We did not leave the hospital, except minor trips for necessities.
GRAND TOTAL FOR ENTIRE SURROGACY JOURNEY:
$ 149,731
YouTube Video
Check out the YouTube video below where we describe all the fees detailed above. As always, don't forget to like, comment and subscribe to our channel, if you haven't already done so. Thank you for all the continued support!
