How much does surrogacy cost in the USA?

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 £250,000 to £320,000+, comprising:

• Agency fees (in the UK and the USA, and covering both your surrogate and any donors) – find out more about the professionals involved in US surrogacy

• Surrogate (and donor) expenses and compensation – find out more about surrogate motivations and compensation in the US

• Fertility treatment costs (potentially both in the UK and the USA) – find out more about fertility treatment for US surrogacy

• US health insurance (both for the surrogate and your newborn)

• US legal fees – find out more about the legal security of US surrogacy

• UK /other international legal fees – find out more about bringing your baby home and other UK legal issues 

• Other professional fees  – for example escrow management, help from a passport agent, nanny support in the USA  – find out more about the professionals involved in US surrogacy

• Personal travel and accommodation

• A contingency

How do I 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 which needs to be budgeted for and this can make it appear that a US surrogacy journey will cost less than it actually does: advertised packages rarely represent a true ‘all in’ cost for parents from overseas, and they may also vary from agency to agency as to what is included and what is not.

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:

1. On engaging the professionals they are working with at the outset,
2. Prior to embryo transfer (when the escrow account is funded for the treatment and pregnancy expenses), and
3. From the second half of the pregnancy (in relation to legal costs and the birth).