How much does surrogacy cost?

The costs of surrogacy vary considerably depending on where you undergo your surrogacy journey, as well as your personal circumstances. It is always important to budget for your individual circumstances carefully, and to plan for some contingency. 

How much does surrogacy in the UK cost?

A healthy overall budget for UK surrogacy can vary from £20,000 to £80,000+, comprising:

• Surrogate expenses
• Fertility treatment costs
• Agency or organisation fees
• Legal fees
• A contingency

This is of course a big range and it is important to budget carefully and according to your own circumstances and preferences.  Surrogacy in the UK is less expensive than most international surrogacy options, but there is very little state funding available so funds need to be raised privately. Some of the factors which may affect your budget include: 

• whether you can find a surrogate independently (for example a friend, family member or someone you meet online) or are looking to be matched via a non-profit UK surrogacy organisation like Brilliant Beginnings (find out more about our UK Surrogacy Pathway);

• whether you want your surrogacy journey to be professionally-supported (find out more about our UK Agreement Pathway);

• the personal circumstances and needs of your surrogate (find out more about how much UK surrogates are paid);

• how and where you conceive – some parents conceive through artificial insemination with a traditional surrogate (who is the biological mother) but most conceive through gestational surrogacy by transferring an embryo created with an egg from the intended parents or a separate donor. For the latter you will need to budget for fertility treatment costs, and the budget will depend on the clinic you choose, whether you already have embryos in storage or need to create them, whether you need the help of an egg donor, and how smoothly your treatment journey goes (find out more about the fertility treatment process for UK surrogacy); and

• whether you want to have legal representation to manage your parental order application, as well as for advice and putting wills in place (find out more about surrogacy law for UK surrogacy).

How much does surrogacy in the USA cost?

US surrogacy for UK parents currently costs £250,000 to £320,000+, comprising:

• Agency fees (in the UK and the USA, and covering both your surrogate and any donors, if applicable)
• Surrogate (and donor) expenses and compensation
• Fertility treatment costs(potentially both in the UK and the USA)
• US health insurance (both for surrogate and newborn)
• US legal fees
• UK /other international legal fees
• Other professional fees – for example escrow management, help from a passport agent, nanny support in the USA
• Personal travel and accommodation
• A contingency

Find out more about US surrogacy costs.

Costs in the other main international surrogacy destinations

Surrogacy programmes offered in the other countries where matching and treatment services are offered is typically less expensive than surrogacy in the US (although often more expensive than surrogacy in the UK) which is why many intended parents look elsewhere. 

It is important to be very careful in understanding the risks, ethical challenges and potential legal difficulties which might arise in such contexts, and how they can impact on your budget. For example, the process for obtaining the legal and travel documents needed to bring a child home from most surrogacy destinations after the birth can be very lengthy (3-6 months or more for British parents).  If a long stay is not planned for, costs can escalate beyond budget very quickly.

Find out more about where in the world surrogacy is allowed.