Programs & Costs
How Much Does Surrogacy Cost?
Cost is an important consideration when deciding whether to pursue your dream of parenthood through surrogacy. Actual costs vary with your personal circumstances, such as using an agency or needing donor eggs, and those circumstances may increase or decrease the cost. We offer a fixed-cost Journey Protection™ Program to ease stress and provide reassurance throughout your surrogacy journey – no matter what happens.
How Much Does a Surrogacy Journey Cost?
People often ask, "How expensive is a surrogate?" While most important, surrogate compensation is only one of the costs to consider. Choosing to grow your family through surrogacy requires the expertise of many professionals, including fertility specialists, lawyers, psychologists, and social workers. Having a solid team of professionals to help you navigate this complex process—and an experienced agency to coordinate the journey—all contribute to the success and cost of becoming a parent through surrogacy.
Fees for a surrogacy agency range from $20,000 to $40,000, depending on the services included. We advise intended parents to ask agencies what their fees specifically cover.
Working with an experienced surrogacy agency such as Circle provides peace of mind. It gives you the security and confidence of knowing that skilled professionals are managing your journey and navigating situations or challenges that may arise. Learn more about surrogacy agency fees.
Potential surrogates should be screened to ensure they are physically and emotionally healthy, have realistic expectations, and have proper support. Circle includes the costs of screening a surrogate—which, if paid separately, can be up to $4,000—in its agency fee. Read more about our 3-step surrogate screening process.
The cost for a surrogate ranges from $60,000 to $75,000+, which includes her base pay and additional benefits and expenses related to her pregnancy, such as:
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Monthly payments for surrogate spending
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Childcare
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Travel expenses and lost wages for the surrogate and a companion
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Fourth trimester (post-birth) care (flex spending, lost wages or childcare, reimbursement for milk pumping)
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Legal fees for surrogacy can range from $3,000 to $15,000. The legal process for surrogacy is complex. It requires lawyers with the expertise to accurately interpret an evolving area of law that varies from state to state—or even county to county or judge to judge. Lawyers help intended parents navigate their state's or country's laws and the surrogate's state laws.
Intended parents are responsible for their surrogate's medical insurance for her pregnancy, which varies depending on the policy. Intended parents also purchase life insurance for their surrogate, generally for coverage of $250,000.
Once your baby is born, you are responsible for their medical coverage. Intended parents in the United States usually add their baby to their health insurance policy. If you live outside the U.S., the Circle team can guide you on how to insure your baby.
Read more about the types of insurance needed for your surrogacy journey.
Each surrogacy journey is unique. Some involve additional services and costs, including:
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Egg donor costs can range from $32,000 to $52,000 (exclusive of IVF fees), depending on whether you choose fresh or frozen eggs. Circle's intended parents can pay their egg donor program costs to Circle and have the support of their journey coordination team every step of the way.
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IVF costs must be paid directly to your fertility clinic; your surrogacy agency does not pay them. IVF costs will vary by clinic, and we recommend speaking directly with your clinic about their specific fees.
Refer to our breakdown of surrogacy costs to learn more.
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Cost for Circle's Surrogacy Programs
Circle created the Journey Protection™ Program, with a fixed price of $189,500, to give intended parents the freedom to focus on building their families without financial stress and uncertainty. This all-inclusive program ensures a predictable and secure surrogacy journey. Highlights include:
Fixed Costs: Includes agency fees, medical and legal costs, and surrogate compensation. There are no unexpected fees or cost increases during the process.
Unlimited Transfers: Covers multiple embryo transfers until a successful pregnancy is achieved.
Comprehensive Support: Includes expert guidance from our team throughout the surrogacy journey.
Exceptional Surrogate Quality: Matching with exceptional surrogates from the top 4% of applicants—thoroughly vetted and medically cleared.
No Questions Asked Refund: Provides financial protection in the case of unforeseen circumstances. Available if you do not bring home a baby.
There are no surprise costs or invoices, even in scenarios that require a rematch with a new surrogate.
Journey Protection™ Program Costs & Payments
Our payment plan divides the cost of a surrogacy-only journey into the following two predictable, fixed-price payments:
First payment (at sign-on)
Surrogacy program agency fee*:
$41,500
Initial surrogate matching:
$5,000
Journey Protection™ Guarantee:
$10,000
Amount due:
$56,500
Second payment (at surrogate match)
Remaining expenses for surrogate matching:
$8,000
Surrogate legal, screening, and support:
$10,000
Surrogate base compensation (entry-level fee for 1st time surrogates in many states):
$48,000
Surrogate expenses at match:
$32,000
IP legal support (including GS representation):
$10,000
Insurance Expenses:
$25,000
Amount due:
$133,000
TOTAL COST FOR SURROGACY-ONLY JOURNEY $189,500
Our Parenthood Programs
At Circle, we understand that every family is different—and grown differently, too. We offer the following parenthood programs to help as many individuals and couples as possible become parents:
Review this helpful flowchart if you're not sure which program you need.
Gestational Surrogacy Only
This program is for intended parents who will create embryos with their own eggs and sperm or have already created embryos but require the assistance of a gestational surrogate. It is for those who cannot carry a baby to term due to infertility or a prior medical diagnosis, such as cancer, and same-sex couples with embryos already created that need our help finding a gestational surrogate.
Our Surrogacy Only program will mentor and guide you through the entire surrogacy journey. We will work with your IVF clinic, match you with the perfect gestational surrogate, and manage all aspects of your journey from start to finish.
Gestational Surrogacy Plus Egg Donation
This program is for intended parents who require egg donation to create embryos and need a gestational surrogate to carry the baby to term. For Surrogacy Plus Egg Donation, intended parents will match with an egg donor and, in some cases, a sperm donor. Intended parents can select frozen eggs or do a fresh egg donation cycle; once the eggs are retrieved or thawed, embryos will be created in a lab at the parents' IVF clinic. The best embryos will be frozen, and one or two can be transferred into a gestational surrogate's uterus.
Surrogacy With Your Own Surrogate (BYOS)
In some instances, you may have a family member or friend—or have found a match through surrogacy communities—who is willing to be your gestational surrogate.
In the case that you have found a surrogate outside of an agency, you have two paths available:
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First, you may choose to pursue surrogacy without the support of an agency.
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Second, even if you have found a surrogate on your own, you may still desire to have an agency manage all the logistics of your surrogacy journey.
This program offers several different levels of support; speak with us to learn more about options and costs.
Dual Journey
Intended parents can choose Surrogacy Only or Surrogacy with Egg Donation for a Dual Journey. In this type of journey, intended parents will have two gestational surrogates carrying babies in staggered pregnancies.
Intended parents wishing to have more than one child through surrogacy may choose this option, which can be more medically advisable than a gestational surrogate carrying twins. Parents can choose Gestational Surrogacy Only if they are creating/have their own embryos or Gestational Surrogacy plus Egg Donation if they need donor eggs to create their family.
Our parenthood programs are created to help as many families as possible. Our experienced Parent Intake Team can assist you in determining the best path forward to parenthood. Please fill out our parent form to connect with our team.
No matter what surrogacy journey you need, the expert team at Circle is here to support you. Learn more about our different surrogacy program types.
Surrogacy Cost FAQs
Below are some common questions about surrogacy costs from intended parents. You can also read our full list of frequently asked questions about the general surrogacy process from intended parents.
Various factors affect surrogacy costs, whether you live in California, New York, Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, or another area. We've compiled a helpful state surrogacy guide that provides surrogacy cost information and more for people in the USA. While you’ll have other considerations if you live in another country, surrogacy costs are similar.
The cost of surrogacy for individuals or couples with insurance depends on their insurance provider, state, and other factors. Our team will help you navigate insurance options to ensure adequate coverage.
You may choose to pursue surrogacy without an agency's assistance, called an independent surrogacy, saving between $20,000 and $40,000. All other costs associated with a surrogacy journey remain. Without an agency managing the process, however, surrogacy would involve an extensive time commitment for you. Your responsibilities would include coordinating and communicating with IVF clinics, local monitoring clinics, and hospitals—details otherwise managed by an agency. You would also be responsible for hiring lawyers to handle all the legal matters involved in the surrogacy process.
Yes. Financing is available for surrogacy; Circle Surrogacy partners with a reputable organization specializing in financial support for family building. Learn more about financing options.
If you know someone interested in being a surrogate for a friend or if you have a friend willing to be your surrogate, an agency may reduce surrogacy costs. How much you pay your friend could also impact your total costs. Your surrogate will still need to be screened to ensure she's a good candidate for surrogacy. Learn more about surrogacy costs with a friend.
Yes. Each time your surrogate has an embryo transfer, intended parents will be expected to pay for her travel, hotel, and lost wages; her travel companion's lost wages; the surrogate's embryo transfer payment; and local/outside monitoring expenses.
Surrogates who carry twins or multiples receive a "multiples fee" paid over the last five months of their pregnancy.
At Circle Surrogacy, we prioritize transparency, security, and success for intended parents. With over 30 years of experience in surrogacy services, our team ensures that every aspect of your journey is handled with care.