Starting The Surrogacy Process
Congratulations! You’ve thought for a long time about forming a family. Now you’ve decided to explore surrogacy. The emotional investment is important to consider.
So, of course, are the finances.
At Gay Parents to Be in partnership with Reproductive Medicine Associates of Connecticut, we know you’ll thoroughly research the costs associated with surrogacy. As you do, keep in mind:
- Not every fertility practice or surrogacy agency lists every fee. When you see a charge for surrogacy listed on a website or in printed material, ask what it includes. Be as specific as possible, to avoid surprises.
- If you see a price that is much lower than elsewhere, ask what other expenses you can expect to incur. Add those to the base price that’s advertised. Beware of untruthful or inaccurate figures.
- Beyond the costs listed below, intended parents may have to pay the donor’s and gestational carrier’s agency for their compensation, monitoring, medical insurance, travel, and pregnancy-related treatment.
Cost of Surrogacy for Gay Men
Here are the basic fee categories at RMACT, for an agency egg donor and gestational carrier:
Donor fees. These include physician consultation and initial ultrasound, blood work, urine drug screening, genetic testing, consultation with genetic counselor, cycle medications, and cycle monitoring for the last two ultrasound and blood tests prior to egg retrieval.
Gestational carrier fees. These include physician consultation, uterine evaluation, blood work for both carrier and partner (if applicable), cycle medications, cycle monitoring for the last ultrasound and blood work prior to embryo transfer.
Surrogacy plan. This includes intended parents’ initial consultation, semen analysis with sperm cryopreservation if needed, infectious disease testing for the intended parent(s), egg retrieval, anesthesia for the egg donor’s retrieval, embryology laboratory charges, embryo transfer and embryo cryopreservation with one year of storage. If the fresh embryo transfer is unsuccessful, up to two additional frozen embryo transfers are included. These additional frozen embryo transfers will not be offered following a successful pregnancy resulting in a live birth.
Total cost. This includes charges for the egg (oocyte) donor, gestational carrier and the fees associated with the surrogacy plan. If egg donors or gestational carriers do not meet medical criteria, you will be charged for treatment already provided to the egg donor and/or gestational carrier. Typical range: $90,000-140,000.
Some services are not covered. These include egg donor and/or gestational carrier compensation or legal fees, medical treatment associated with an unsuccessful cycle (treatment for miscarriage, ectopic or biochemical pregnancy), pregnancy-related treatment and pregnancy medications), medical services for the donor or gestational carrier, cycle monitoring or outside monitoring for the egg donor and/or gestational carrier other than specified above, psychological evaluation and testing, mock cycle for the gestational carrier, oocyte cryopreservation, storage of embryos and sperm.
Here are the basic fee categories at RMACT for an in-house egg donor and gestational carrier:
Donor fees. These include psychological testing and evaluation, all physician and nursing visits, blood work and culture, urine drug screening, genetic testing, consultation with genetic counselor, cycle medications, medical insurance to cover the donor’s cycle, cycle monitoring and donor compensation.
Gestational carrier fees. These include physician consultation, uterine evaluation, blood work for both carrier and partner (if needed), blood screening, cycle medications, cycle monitoring for the last ultrasound, blood tests prior to embryo transfer. If gestational carriers do not meet medical criteria, you will be charged for treatment already provided to the gestational carrier.
Surrogacy plan. This includes intended parents’ initial consultation, semen analysis with sperm cryopreservation if needed, infectious disease testing for the intended parent(s), anesthesia for the egg donor’s retrieval, egg retrieval, embryology lab charges, embryo cryopreservation, embryo transfer with one year of storage. If the fresh embryo transfer is unsuccessful, up to two additional frozen embryo transfers are included. These additional frozen embryo transfers will not be offered following a successful pregnancy resulting in a live birth.
Total cost. This includes charges for the egg (oocyte) donor, gestational carrier and fees associated with the surrogacy plan.
Some services are not covered. These include gestational carrier compensation or legal fees, medical treatment associated with an unsuccessful cycle (treatment for miscarriage, ectopic or biochemical pregnancy, pregnancy-related treatment and pregnancy medications, medical services for the donor or gestational carrier, cycle monitoring or outside monitoring for the egg donor and/or gestational carrier other than specified above, psychological evaluation and testing, mock cycle for the gestational carrier, oocyte cryopreservation, storage of embryos and sperm.
Those are some of the fees to consider. Planning a family is an emotional, as well as a financial, decision. Of course, RMACT is always happy to help.
Do you want to learn more about surrogacy? Check out our previous blog: Understanding the Cost of Surrogacy to Build Your Family