quick clicks

preconception articles

preconception q&a

message boards

research baby names

prepare a birth plan

content channels

ip channel rss feeds

read birth stories

read parenting stories

recommended books

e-newsletters

safety recalls

ip diaries

ip store

mom of the month

dad of the month

editor's letter

letters to the editor

The Surrogacy Search

Starting Out

Part One

By Michele St. Martin

Brooks says that surrogacy agencies offer services such as medical exams, legal representation and matching couples and surrogates. "Each surrogate is screened psychologically and financially before any insemination or IVF transfers take place," he says. Although his agency does place advertisements geared toward both potential surrogates and intended parents, he says that "word of mouth" is the way most surrogates and intended parents choose his agency.

Brooks estimates that clients of his agency, who use a traditional surrogate, pay between $22,500 and $33,000. Those who use a gestational surrogate pay $30,800 to $50,000, and those who utilize both a gestational surrogate and egg donor pay $38,300 to $53,000. Expenses vary according to travel expenses, additional medical procedure fees and the surrogate's lost wages if she is not covered by a disability policy.

Lucy, 27, of Riverside, Calif., was a surrogate for a Russian couple. She met the couple through a surrogacy agency and chose to become their surrogate after studying their profile which was prepared by the agency. Lucy, who endured painful shots, had to stay on bed rest and missed out on family activities for the sake of her surrogate pregnancy, says, "I was paid $15,000 in a year-and-a-half period. I could make $30,000 a year working in an office with a lot less to lose."

While Lucy and the intended parents she worked with were very comfortable with the idea of working with a surrogacy agency, not everyone chooses this route. Money was the reason that Kim, 36, of Alisa Viejo, Calif., and her husband didn't work with a surrogacy agency. "Simply, they charge too much for what we could do," she says. "I did all the work. I already had the embryos and a doctor."

Want to see more?

• Gift-giver: Profile of a Surrogate Mother
• Dollars and Sense of Infertility Treatment
• Choosing Assisted Reproduction: Social, Emotional and Ethical Considerations
• Talk about it!