The medical costs of surrogacy are often the lion’s share of the overall costs of a surrogacy arrangement. Expense categories include:
Fertility Clinic Costs
Fertility treatments for a surrogacy arrangement can run up to $25,000 per cycle/transfer and sometimes more. Some of the various cost factors of fertility treatments include:
- Fertility clinic costs for surrogacy
- Medical Screening of Intended Parent(s);
- Medical screening of surrogate candidates;
- Medical screening of egg donors (if needed);
- Medical testing of Intended Parents;
- In vitro fertilization (IVF);
- Frozen embryo transfer (FET).
Health Insurance
Medical insurance for the surrogate is critical. If a proxy has medical insurance, an experienced insurance broker with a specialization in surrogacy must assess the surrogate’s policy to determine whether there are surrogacy exclusions or other potential pitfalls such as self-funded employer programs.
If a surrogate’s health insurance plan is not going to cover her prenatal and delivery; or if she does not have health insurance at all, then there are two options:
Coverage through the open exchange under the Affordable Care Act. Open season enrollment is between November 15 and January 31, with effective dates of January 1 and March 1, respectively.
If insurance coverage is not available through the Affordable Care Act, there are complications policies available. This is a more costly option than securing insurance through the Affordable Care Act.
Pre Natal Care and Delivery
Insurance will cover most of these expenses, but there will still be some expenses that are not included, such as insurance deductibles and copays. If you have a complications policy in place, then you need to negotiate self-pay costs with the medical providers and hospital.
Psychological Assessment
Related to medical costs are the costs of psychological counseling of the Intended Parents and counseling and assessment of surrogate. Fertility clinics will require this be done before proceeding with the medical process
Intended Parents’ Insurance Might offset some Costs
Many Intended Parents do not realize that their insurance may cover some of the medical costs of the IVF process. Some states have mandated that insurance cover some costs of infertility. Other countries do not have a mandate, but some carriers offer coverage for some parts of the medical process. The American Society of Reproductive Medicine publishes an information sheet on state infertility insurance laws.
Having professional help, you navigate these areas can save many thousands of dollars and many headaches.
