Programs & Costs
How Much Does a Surrogate Cost?
A typical surrogacy journey can have costs that range from $100,000 to upwards of $200,000. Below you’ll find details on what is included in surrogacy costs.
Discover the Average Cost of Surrogacy - Planning for Your Journey
Choosing to grow your family through surrogacy involves 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 cost of surrogacy.
How Much Will Your Surrogacy Journey Cost?
A typical surrogacy journey can have costs that range from $100,000 to upwards of $200,000. The actual cost of your journey will depend on your personal circumstances, whether or not you choose to work with a surrogacy agency, and whether or not you need to create embryos.
Surrogacy costs fall under 5 categories:
Agency Fees
Surrogate Screening & Support Costs
Cost of Surrogate
Legal Fees
Insurance
How Much Is a Surrogacy Agency Fee?
Fees for a surrogate 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 you peace of mind, and gives you the security and confidence of knowing that experienced professionals are managing your journey and navigating situations or challenges that may arise during the process.
At Circle, your surrogacy agency fee covers:
Take a closer look at what’s covered by a surrogacy agency fee in this blog post.
As well a screening services that ensures intended parents and surrogates are serious, committed, and able.
to ensure all parties are in a healthy state of mind, are emotionally stable, and meet the physical requirements for surrogacy.
Services that allow intended parents and surrogates to match with each other for the ideal surrogacy experience.
Coordination of information and communication between clinics, attorneys, accountants, social workers, and others who may be involved in the various steps of your surrogacy process.
Support and counseling services to help you handle the emotional journey of becoming a parent.
And guidance to ensure babies and surrogate mothers are healthy and doing well after delivery and returning home.
Post-birth return-to-home travel prep for parents. This involves supporting intended parents as they prepare to travel home and obtain their baby's passport (for international parents).
Surrogate Screening Costs
Every surrogate that is ready to match has been fully vetted in our 3-step screening process to help ensure intended parents are matched with healthy and committed surrogates who can successfully carry a baby to term.
Circle includes the costs of screening a surrogate – which if paid separately can be up to $4,000 – in their agency fee. We encourage you to ask potential agencies you’re interviewing if this is included, or something you will have to pay out of pocket.
Our experience supporting parents and surrogates enabled us to establish our thorough screening process that benefits both parties. Our goal is for parents and surrogates to have a healthy and successful partnership on their journey. Read more about our 3-step surrogate screening process.
How Much Does a Surrogate Cost?
The total cost of a surrogate ranges from $55,000 to $65,000, which includes her base compensation, plus additional benefits and expenses. The surrogate cost is a significant portion of intended parents’ surrogacy expenses.
You are expected to pay for all expenses related to your surrogate for her pregnancy. These expenses include:
Surrogate base compensation
Monthly payments for surrogate spending
Childcare, travel and lost wages (as well as lost wages and travel expenses for a companion)
Fourth trimester (post-birth) care (flex spending, lost wages or childcare, reimbursement for milk pumping)
Fourth trimester (post-birth) care (flex spending, lost wages or childcare, reimbursement for milk pumping)
Legal Fees for Surrogacy
The legal process for surrogacy is complex and 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. A lawyer helps you navigate your state laws (or country laws) as well as the surrogate’s state laws.
Circle Surrogacy includes your legal fees in their agency fee. If paid separately, legal fees can range from $3,000 to $15,000. Not all agencies include legal fees in their agency fee, so we encourage you to closely review what is covered for each individual agency.
Your legal fees will cover the following:
This is the legal document between you and your surrogate that outlines the rights and responsibilities of each party.
Depending on the state’s surrogacy laws, your lawyers obtain pre-birth or post-birth court orders that ensure you are the sole parents of the child. Other considerations that may require legal representation include ensuring that birth certificates reflect proper parentage and that you enjoy all parental rights under state law.
If you require an egg donor, you will also need to put an Egg Donor Agreement in place. This contract provides intended parents with the control of all eggs retrieved from a donor (if a fresh donation) and from the lot of eggs (if a frozen donation), as well as any resulting embryos. If you match with an egg donor from our partner egg program, Everie, Circle will be party to the donor agreement.
Surrogacy Insurance Costs
You are responsible to ensure that your surrogate has proper medical insurance in place for your journey. Once your baby is born, you are responsible for securing medical coverage for your newborn. For intended parents who live in the United States, this usually means adding your baby to your existing health insurance policy. For intended parents living outside of the U.S., the Circle team can provide guidance on how to insure your baby.
The cost of health insurance for the surrogate varies depending on the policy. Intended parents also purchase life insurance for their surrogate, generally for coverage of $250,000. Read more about the types of insurance needed for your surrogacy journey.
How Much Does Surrogacy Cost in My State or Country?
A variety of factors affect surrogacy cost whether you live in California, New York, Massachusetts, Texas, Florida, or another area. We’ve compiled a helpful guide that provides surrogacy cost information and more for people in the USA. While there are other considerations if you live in another country, the cost for surrogacy is similar.
How Much Does an Egg Donor Cost?
If you require an egg donor, you can browse bright, young donors from our sister agency, Everie. Everie offers both fresh and frozen egg donation options, and four types of egg donation types, from fully disclosed to de-identified.
Egg donor costs will depend on the type of egg donation you choose – fresh or frozen – and can range from $32,000 to $52,000 (exclusive of IVF fees). If you are working with Circle as your agency for your surrogacy journey, you will be able to pay for your egg donor program costs to Circle, and your journey coordination team at Circle will support you every step of the way.
You may choose to pursue surrogacy without an agency’s assistance, 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; hiring a lawyer or lawyers to handle all the legal matters involved in the surrogacy process.
Yes. Financing is available for surrogacy; Circle Surrogacy partners with two organizations that specialize in financial support for family building. Learn more about financing options.
If you know someone who is interested in being a surrogate for a friend or you have a friend who is willing to be your surrogate, there may be a reduction in surrogacy costs through an agency. How much you pay your friend could also have an impact on your total costs. Your surrogate will still need to be screened to ensure she's a good candidate for surrogacy. Learn more in this blog post.
Surrogacy Cost FAQs
Below are some common questions about surrogacy costs from intended parents. You can read our full list of FAQs about the general surrogacy process from intended parents here.
