Affording Surrogacy

You’ve been looking into surrogacy as the way to grow your family. You’re excited about the process of building a relationship with a woman who will carry YOUR baby and delivery him or her into the world. But hanging over all the excitement is the cost of the process, from compensating the surrogate to the fertility clinic costs.

Surrogacy remains out of reach financially for many of us. While there are companies out there who are starting to do lending specifically for surrogacy, the majority of people who are able to afford surrogacy don’t have to borrow money (at least not from a financial institution) to do it. That being said, there are some options out there for folks who aren’t quite able to afford surrogacy out-of-pocket.  Here are some ideas for how to start planning for the costs of surrogacy:

Come Up with a Plan and Know the Costs

Make your inner planner proud and come up with a budget. In order to come up with a budget, you’ll have to know what costs to expect. If you’re using an agency, they will likely have a cost estimator. If you’ve started with a fertility clinic, they will also likely have a sheet on what to expect for the costs of IVF and surrogacy.

Health Insurance and Employer’s Benefits

The other things you’ll need to know for your plan are your own health insurance benefits and your employer’s benefits. While the intended parent’s health insurance typically won’t cover any costs associated with the surrogacy itself, your insurance or your employer may offer benefits to those using IVF in order to create a family. Contact your HR department or your insurer directly.

Financing

There are a few lending companies that specialize in financing surrogacy. If you’re working with an agency, they likely have a lending company that they recommend.

Ask Around

There are multiple resources online and in surrogacy groups for figuring out how to finance your surrogacy. It’s a lot to comb through, but if you make a connection with other intended parents, chances are they’ll be willing to share with you how they financed their surrogacy, and be able to tell you some pitfalls to avoid. The Internet can be overwhelming when it comes to asking questions about third party reproduction and parenting (or anything else), but there is good support out there. Check out local groups on Facebook, or see if your agency or fertility clinic has a message board.

Affording surrogacy is a tall order, and there aren’t easy answers about how to do it if you don’t have the capital already available. But there are some resources beginning to be available to you. If you have more questions, please contact us by email at info@coloradosurro.com or by phone at 720-709-4677.