CONTROLLING COSTS
The cost of a U.S. surrogacy program is highly controllable if you have an agency who is committed to helping you navigate the process in a way that makes cost decisions fully transparent and is committed to keeping costs reasonable. IARC is fully committed to both of these goals to keep this process affordable to as many parents as possible.
The following are the main cost variables and how IARC helps you to make decisions in each category based on your budget needs:
Surrogate Costs
Each Surrogate Profile will outline all of the following surrogate cost variables. When we send the Profile for review, we point out whether her costs are on the low, middle, or high end of the original cost estimate so you can determine if it’s a potential match. For parents needing a “low cost” match, this is absolutely possible and may just require some patience to find a surrogate whose cost variables are all on the lower end of the cost range.
Surrogate Fee: Each IARC surrogate chooses her own fee after being educated about the standard fee ranges and what professional guidelines recommend. IARC Surrogates are genuinely motivated to help families through surrogacy and are not primarily financially motivated. Some surrogates choose fees at or below the low end of the typical fee ranges.
Surrogate Wages & Child Care Costs: For working surrogates, intended parents must pay lost wage reimbursement for any time the surrogate is obligated to miss work due to the surrogacy program (doctor’s appointments, travel, bed rest, etc.). Medically necessary extended bed rest would cause this cost to potentially be quite high depending on the surrogate’s wage amount. Some surrogates will have a short term disability insurance policy to help cover this potential cost, and if so, this is pointed out in the Profile.
For non-working surrogates, intended parents may pay child care reimbursement for any time the surrogate must hire someone to care for her child(ren) due to the surrogacy program. The maximum rate is $50/day/child. The potential cost of child care for a non-working surrogate depends on how many children she has, whether any of her children are in school, etc., all of which will be listed in the Profile.
Surrogate Medical Insurance: Our cost estimate is based on working with a surrogate who has either:
- A pre-existing insurance policy that is presumably suitable to cover the pregnancy and delivery; OR
- Access to this type of insurance policy at a reasonable monthly cost.
Over 90% of our surrogates will fall into one of those two categories. Option 1 will be lower-cost than Option 2 since parents are not responsible for the monthly premiums for Option 1. Every insurance policy will also vary in terms of the out-of-pocket costs that must be paid for pregnancy and delivery care. This information is provided on the Surrogate Profile.
At the parents’ request, IARC will provide a tailored IARC Cost Estimate with a potential surrogate match’s cost variables prior to the parent deciding if that surrogate meets their financial needs.
Fertility Clinic Costs
Fertility clinic costs will vary significantly clinic to clinic. IARC’s recommended fertility clinic list has already been vetted to determine the costs are within normal range based on the quality of service provided by each.
In addition, IARC seeks out fertility clinic options that offer a variety of program costs, including unlimited programs for those clients wanting a safety net in the event they are not successful on their first attempt as well as frozen egg and shared egg donor programs that are lower-cost for those parents seeking to keep costs as low as possible.