Financial Planning for a Gestational Surrogacy Process: Possible Ways to Save Money and Risks

• Author: Dean Hutchison, Natalie Kanellis
• Pages: 38-40

38 FAMILY ADVOCATE www.shopaba.org

art: law & practice

By Dean Hutchison and Natalie Kanellis

There are many considerati ons when intended

parents embark on a ssisted reproduction and

gestational sur rogacy. One of the biggest

considerations is th e nancial impact. Each

step of the complex sur rogacy process will

bring in choices that ca n save and/or add costs to their

overall budget. Som etimes, the choice that appears to s ave

the intended parent s money in the short term may add

greater costs in the f uture. This article will attempt to give a n

overview on the dif ferent cost categories of a ges tational

surrogacy and th e potential for cost-saving measure s.

Full-Service Age ncy vs. Matching Age ncy vs. No Agenc y

The rst choice int ended parents will make is how they will

nd a gestational c arrier. The choice is usually between us ing

a surrogacy age ncy/program versus nding a ge stational

carrier indepen dently. For those who choose the agenc y

route, they will also have to lte r through the type of

agency/prog ram they want to work with. Some agencies /

programs will provide full s ervices including nding and

Financial Planning for a

Gestational Surrogacy

Process: Possible Ways to

Save Money and Risks

screening carrier c andidates coupled with full coordinatio n

of the surrogacy p rocess, while others will just as sist in

nding and matching the int ended parent[s] with a gesta-

tional carrier. Thus, inten ded parents must be careful wh en

comparing the fees cha rged by the agencies/program s as

each program will provide a dif ferent level of service, and

some programs will re quire the intended parents to hire

various third partie s to assist in the screening and other

processes throughout the surrogacy journey. The costs

associated with th e different programs/agenci es will vary

greatly, with some fees a s low as $10,00 0 to as high as

$40,00 0 depending on the services prov ided and the xed

nature of the program. Inte nded parents should ask the

surrogacy program/agency about the nancial implications

in different scena rios such as a match break or a miscarriage

as these insta nces can substantially add to the overall

budget. It is be st to have a full understanding of the co st

ramications of the variou s scenarios that can play out in a

gestational sur rogacy process.

If, instead, the intend ed parents choose to try and save

Published in Family Advocate, Volume 43, Number 1, Summer 2020. © 2020 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This information or any portion thereof

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