When you decide to pursue a surrogacy journey, we know the decision wasn’t taken lightly. Most parents turn to surrogacy because it’s their only option to have a child of their own. So, after you’ve already come to terms with that hurdle, it’s completely understandable how the financial aspect of surrogacy can feel like a deep gut punch.
Surrogacy is a huge financial investment, and it can cause a lot of couples to halt their efforts of moving forward with their dream until they can make sustainable financial plans. Luckily, there are many ways you can make funding your surrogacy journey a little easier. There are grants and clever budgeting tips that fellow intended parents have used to make navigating the financial portion of surrogacy more attainable. In this blog, we’ll go over all the different ways you can make surrogacy more affordable for your family.
Understanding the Costs of Surrogacy
Before we discuss the different ways to help with the cost of surrogacy, it’s important to understand what surrogacy consists of and what portions require funding. A surrogacy journey is like a puzzle, and many pieces are needed for everything to fit together.
Below are the main parts of a surrogacy journey:
- Medical Expenses: This includes everything needed to create your embryos and the medical screening, IVF procedures, and fertility medications your surrogate will need to become pregnant with your baby.
- Surrogate Compensation: This is the payment your surrogate will receive for her time, effort, and pregnancy needs while carrying your child.
- Legal Fees: Includes legal representation for you and your surrogate to develop the surrogacy agreement and birth orders to establish parentage.
- Agency Fees: If you’re working with a surrogacy agency, this cost will include finding you a qualified surrogate, managing your journey (making medical screening appointments, assisting in legal preparations, etc), and offering you support throughout the process.
- Additional Insurance for Your Surrogate: There’s a chance your surrogate’s insurance will not cover surrogacy pregnancies, so an additional plan may be needed to cover her prenatal care expenses.
- Miscellaneous Costs: Every journey has some additional costs that you’ll want to plan for. Some examples include travel expenses (for your surrogate to come to your fertility clinic and you to go to your surrogate)and worse-case medical procedures you hope never happen but need to be prepared for, just in case.
Once you understand what each part of a surrogacy journey entails, you can understand why trying to cut costs from one area can affect your overall surrogacy journey. For example, some intended parents might think they want to save the expense of working with an agency. For some people, this works out fine. For others, it means adding management tasks to your plate, which honestly is equivalent to a full-time job and can mean more stress for you…or worse, something gets missed or not taken care of because it wasn’t on your radar. That’s why it’s super important to understand exactly what an agency offers and whether or not their fees match the support they’re promising.
Depending on various factors, such as the state where the surrogate lives, the total cost for a surrogacy journey can range from $135,000 to $195,000. So, let’s dive into the specifics of how that amount can feel more realistic with the top six strategies that can help with funding your surrogacy journey.
1. Grants and Financial Assistance
There are amazing organizations in the surrogacy community that can help intended parents make surrogacy more affordable. Many of these organizations offer grants and financial assistance that may help cover a portion of the cost of a surrogacy journey. These grants are typically need-based but can make a substantial difference for hopeful intended parents.
Some of the organizations we recommend (in no particular order) are:
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- Baby Quest Foundation: Offers grants to those struggling with infertility and can be used for any expense related to assisted reproduction.
- The Tinina Q. Cade Foundation: Provides financial assistance for various fertility treatments, including surrogacy.
- Journey to Parenthood: Offers an annual grant to help cover expenses associated with IUI, IVF, egg donation, and surrogacy.
- Baby Quest Foundation: Offers grants to those struggling with infertility and can be used for any expense related to assisted reproduction.
- AGC Hope Scholarship: Uses donations from events and anonymous donors to help individuals with fertility treatments.
- The Surrogacy Foundation: Provides support, education, and financial assistance for surrogacy.
One thing to note is that some of these organizations will require you to pay a non-refundable application fee.
2. Personal Loans or Surrogacy Specific Loans
Many intended parents finance their surrogacy journey through loans—either personal or surrogacy/fertility-specific. Many parents favor this route because it allows them to get the money they need to start the process and pay back that amount over time.
If you are looking for a surrogacy or fertility-specific loan, here are a couple of options to look into:
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- Egg Fund: Works with vetted financial partners who offer more affordable loans for IVF and surrogacy.
- Sunfish: A fertility financing company that offers financial support for surrogacy and other fertility services.
Another option would be to work with your bank or other financial institution for a personal loan or to establish a personal line of credit. For a personal loan, you would borrow a lump sum of money and pay a monthly payment over time until you’ve paid back that amount. A personal line of credit is a loan that allows you to access funds repeatedly up to a certain credit limit. Personal loans can be secured or unsecured. A secured loan is when you’re required to provide collateral, like a car or home, to secure the loan, and unsecured doesn’t require any collateral assets but may have a higher interest rate. So, you’ll have to weigh which loan option makes the most sense for you and your family.
You could also take out a loan against your 401k. This route is risky and should only be considered if you know, without a doubt, that you’ll be at your employer for many years. If you decide to borrow against your 401k and then leave your job, the amount you owe would need to be paid back immediately, which can put families into stressful situations.
No matter what loan option you decide is the best route for you, remember to do the following research:
- Compare Interest Rates: Shop around to find the best interest rates and loan terms.
- Check Eligibility Requirements: Ensure you meet the criteria for the loan, including credit score and income.
- Understand the Repayment Terms: Be clear about monthly payments, loan duration, and any potential penalties for late or early repayment.
Refinancing or Home Equity Loans
If you’re a homeowner, another way to fund your surrogacy journey is to tap into your home’s equity. Before doing this, you’ll want to assess your home’s value and make sure you have enough equity built up.
If you do have equity in your home, you can consider one of the following options:
- Home Equity Loan: By refinancing your home or taking out a second mortgage, you can get a fixed rate and a long repayment term. You may also be eligible for a tax reduction.
- Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC): This is similar to a second mortgage but has lower closing costs. This option has higher interest rates and shorter repayment periods.
When it comes to home equity loans, it’s super important that you completely understand the risks. With these loans, you can potentially lose your home if you are unable to pay back the debt that you’ve accumulated. We highly recommend consulting a trusted CPA or financial advisor to help you understand your options better and to give you specific recommendations based on your personal circumstances.
3. Crowdfunding or Donations
Crowdfunding has become a popular way to raise funds for surrogacy. Platforms like GoFundMe or Kickstarter allow you to share your story with a broader audience and invite friends, family, and even strangers to contribute to your cause. If you decide to start a crowdfunding campaign, here are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind:
- Be Transparent: Explain what led you to surrogacy and how much a surrogacy journey can cost for couples. For those who haven’t been through it, they may have no idea all the hard work it takes, and painting that picture may help them relate.
- Set a Realistic Goal: Determine a funding goal that aligns with your needs without appearing too ambitious.
- Engage Your Network: Share your campaign on social media and encourage others to spread the word.
Some intended parents have said that they would also ask their loved ones to contribute to their surrogacy fund instead of receiving presents for birthdays or holidays. This might feel a little uncomfortable to do at first, but it shouldn’t. It takes a village to raise a child and sometimes it takes a village to help the dream of a child come true. Don’t forget a child is the ultimate gift for your friends and family too. It’s their future grandchild, niece or nephew, and sweet babe to love on, too!
4. Employer Benefits and Flexible Spending Accounts
Because surrogacy is becoming a more common way to build a family, some companies have started to offer surrogacy benefits as part of their health plans. If you or your partner works at a company that offers these kinds of benefits, it can really make financing for a surrogacy journey more affordable. Outside of surrogacy benefits, some companies will have IVF benefits, which are also valuable when creating embryos at the beginning stages of surrogacy.
Some of the companies that offer the best surrogacy benefits are:
- American Express: Offers full reimbursement for surrogacy up to $35,000.
- Disney: Offers up to $75,000 in surrogacy support.
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- Intuit: Offers $60,000 in surrogacy benefits.
- Morgan Stanly: Offers $75,000 in surrogacy support.
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- Netflix: Offers $75,000 in surrogacy support.
- Unilever: Pays for IVF and surrogacy expenses.
- Viacom: Pays of in vitro fertilization and surrogacy expenses.
- Wells Fargo: Offers up to $35,00 in combined lifetime reimbursement for surrogacy expenses.
While these are the big hitters that offer surrogacy support, you’ll want to check your company’s detailed benefits plan to determine the assistance they might provide for surrogacy or fertility expenses. Or you might want to routinely check the job openings at the companies that offer surrogacy benefits, just in case it could benefit your journey!
Additionally, if your employer offers a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HSA), you can use pre-tax dollars to pay for eligible medical expenses related to surrogacy. To use these types of accounts make sure you contribute the maximum allowed to your FSA or HSA account to reduce taxable income while saving for surrogacy expenses.
Before starting your surrogacy journey, you might consider meeting with a benefits specialist at your work so you can fully understand what your company offers and how it can help you with your plans.
5. Credit Cards
While using a credit card may not be the most ideal option to fund your surrogacy journey, some intended parents do decide to utilize a credit card(s) to help fund a portion of their journey, like the IVF expenses.
If you choose this route:
- Look for Low-Interest Offers: Some credit cards offer 0% interest on purchases for an introductory period, which could be helpful for short-term financing.
- Use Credit Responsibly: Only charge what you’re confident you can pay off within a reasonable timeframe to avoid accumulating high-interest debt.
6. Personal Budgeting
Sometimes, making everyday adjustments to your current lifestyle can help build your surrogacy fund. While this isn’t always the fastest option, getting a little creative with your budgeting can help.
Some intended parents have shared that they:
- Downsized their home for a lower payment
- Committed to only having one family car
- Cut back on monthly bills by eliminating cable, lawn services, and anything else the family could manage without until reaching their goal
By doing just one of these, you could lower or eliminate some of your existing monthly payments and redirect that money toward surrogacy.
Other intended parents have opted to earn additional income that could be geared toward a journey. This could look like…
- A part-time job like waitressing or ridesharing/delivery services where you set your own hours
- Selling homemade goods like screen-printed shirts, cupcakes, you name it!
- Finding freelance opportunities that relate to your normal 9-5 job
- Signing up for overtime at your job (if available) whenever you can
Little things here and there can add up and have such an impact on growing your account.
If surrogacy is something you know you want to pursue in the future but know you’re still many years off, starting to set aside money over time can really ease the burden when you are ready. To make it easier you can open a separate savings account and make plans to contribute a certain amount from every paycheck. Finding a high-yield savings account would be even better for you in the long run!
Journey Planning and Support
At Surrogacy Is, we sympathize with how much hard work, planning, and dedication it takes to make a surrogacy journey work with your personal financial and family-building goals. We hope these industry tips can help you feel more confident in funding your surrogacy plans. Each surrogacy journey is unique, and it will probably take a special combination of financial arrangements to navigate your particular path to parenthood.
As an agency, we’re always considering what it must be like to be in your shoes. That’s why it’s so important to us to find ways to support intended parents with their priceless dream of having a child of their own. We’re proud to offer benefits like a 90-day match guarantee, no money down to work with our agency, and extensive journey support for intended parents, including mental health.
If you want to learn more about working with our agency, please fill out an intended parent interest form here. Afterward, our IP Relations Manager will be in touch to chat. She’ll let you know the ins and outs of our agency and offer her advice on what to consider when planning for your surrogacy journey.
