How much does surrogacy in the USA cost?
Surrogacy in the US is undoubtedly expensive, mainly because there are so many different professionals involved, providing services, applying safeguards and working together to ensure the surrogacy process is safe and smooth.
What is the overall cost of US surrogacy?
A healthy ‘all-in’ budget for US surrogacy for UK parents is £170,000 to £300,000+ (including both UK and US costs) which allows for a range of variables and contingency, and comprises:
|
Cost Component |
Cost Range |
Description |
|
Agency/professional fees |
$30,000 – $120,000+ (£22,500 – £90,000+) |
Agency fees and expenses for screening and matching with surrogate (and donor), escrow account management. Read about the professionals involved. |
|
Surrogate |
$65,000 – $115,000+ (£49,000 – £87,500+) |
Base pay for the US surrogate who carries the child, plus expenses like maternity clothes, travel, and lost wages. Read about surrogate motivations and compensation in the US |
|
Egg donor |
$7,000 – $52,000+ (£5,250 – £39,500+) |
Compensation and expenses for the donor, legal fees for the egg donor agreement. Read about US egg donation. |
|
Medical/ fertility treatment costs |
$52,000 – $100,000+ (£38,500 – £75,000+) |
IVF cycles to create embryos, medical screening, storage of embryos, movement of sperm samples or embryos from the UK to the US, and embryo transfers. Read about fertility treatment for US surrogacy |
|
US legal fees |
$20,000 – $36,000 (£15,500 – £27,500) |
Drafting contracts and establishing legal parentage in the US. Read about the legal framework for US surrogacy |
|
Insurance |
$15,000 – $60,000 (£12,000 – £45,000) |
Insurance premiums, co-pays and deductibles to cover the surrogate’s medical care. Plus newborn medical insurance for UK and other international parents. |
|
UK/other international legal fees |
£1,000 – £45,000+ |
Parents from the UK need to apply for a parental order after the birth. Parents with other nationalities may need to apply for nationality/ parentage in other countries. Read about bringing your baby home and other UK legal issues |
|
Travel and accommodation |
£5,000 – £40,000+ |
Parents must travel to the US for the birth of their child. Many also travel for the 20 week scan or to meet their surrogate at an earlier stage. |
How to budget for US surrogacy effectively
Anyone planning US surrogacy should budget carefully for their personal circumstances, and take extra care to make sure everything has been included.
Most US agencies offering packaged fees will not include everything that UK parents need to budget for, which can make it appear that a US surrogacy journey will cost less than it actually does: packages do not typically take into account the true ‘all in’ cost for parents from overseas. They may also vary from agency to agency as to what is included and what is not, making it difficult to compare.
The factors that influence cost include the choices intended parents make regarding their professionals, surrogate and egg donor, as well as variables that can’t be predicted (such as fertility success, miscarriage and changes in circumstances). Surrogate expenses and compensation vary according to the surrogate’s personal circumstances, the agency, the State and whether the surrogate has been a surrogate before. Repeat surrogates and those in high-demand States like California often receive higher compensation. Egg donors with particular characteristics (certain ethnicities and very high education standards, for example) are also often paid higher compensation. Some surrogacy clinics and agencies offer fixed price or guarantee programmes, which can cost more or save cost depending on how fertility treatment goes.
When do the costs need to be paid?
The costs of a US surrogacy journey are not all paid upfront, but are paid in advance of each stage, so understanding the timing of when funds will be needed is important as well as planning the overall budget. Generally speaking, parents can expect funding to be expected in three major tranches:
- On engaging the professionals they are working with at the outset,
- Prior to embryo transfer (when the escrow account is funded for the treatment and pregnancy expenses), and
- From the second half of the pregnancy (in relation to legal costs and the birth).
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