Finding Financial Help for Surrogacy
Many people think it's impossible to find financial help for surrogacy, including loans, grants and more, but in reality there are a variety of ways to get your surrogacy funded.
There are many different financial programs for surrogates and intended parents alike. The nuance to seeking this financing is that each one has its qualifications and restrictions, such as the legal jurisdiction of the surrogacy arrangement.
You might not know that certain states run their grant programs to fund the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) portion, one of the more expensive medical services.
Nonetheless, the situation varies from case to case, location to location, and agency to agency. So, to show you what your options are, we put together this post to outline the essentials.
Can surrogates and intended parents receive financial assistance?
We hear this question often at our agency, and the good news is that you can get help if you have limited resources!
Surrogates and intended parents can receive financial aid for surrogacy in the form of:
- Grants
- Loans
- Family support
- Less traditional funding sources
Here’s a breakdown of each funding option to explain the differences, so you can make the right financial decision because surrogacy may be more affordable than you think.
Grants for surrogacy
If you haven’t received any grants, now is the time to apply! You can get as much as $10,000, depending on the specific program.
Examples include the Tinina Q. Cade Foundation’s Family Building Grant and IVF cycle grants from the Chicago Coalition of Family Building. However, the catch with the latter program is that you have to live in the greater Chicago area to qualify.
Those qualifications might include the underlying cause of infertility, your financial situation, and the cap a program places on benefits since most grant programs originate from non-profit organizations specializing in infertility treatments and family planning.
While there are many surrogacy grant programs from which to choose, the grant’s terms shouldn’t restrict you based on biological sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, or marital status. Indeed, the best grant programs promote diversity and inclusion.
Loans for surrogacy
Unless you have the funds already in place, you'll most likely have to take out loans to afford surrogacy.
Usually, options like home equity loans or withdrawing 401(k) funds come into the equation before moving on to fertility-specific loan programs. Still, our surrogates and intended parents often don't realize that they can apply for those types of loans until we inform them.
Here’s a great resource on the currently available loans for fertility treatments posted by the National Infertility Association.
Additionally, you can find loans for egg donations and egg freezing to help pay for IVF treatments and fertility medications. Ideally, you'd want a health insurance policy to cover most of the expenses, but if a policy has limits and restrictions on surrogate pregnancies, loans work well to fill the funding gap.
Family support options to fund your surrogacy
Along those lines, receiving financial support from family and friends is another way to pay for surrogacy. Best of all, this support doesn't have to be monetary and can be something along the lines of free childcare if a surrogate already has several children at home.
Please don't assume that having a family disqualifies you from surrogacy, because it doesn't! In fact, having a family makes you more desirable as a gestational surrogate because it's more likely you have financial support from your spouse or partner, especially health insurance.
If your spouse has a comprehensive health policy, it may cover a substantial portion of the surrogacy but not everything. That’s why family support is crucial because you may be very close to affording a surrogate, but only need to cut back on living expenses.
Any financial assistance your family can provide is beneficial, yet that’s not your last option.
Less traditional surrogacy funding sources
So far, we've covered the main ways to receive financial help for surrogacy, but you can try other things too! While not guaranteed, you can get help through crowdfunding platforms online, and posting your campaign to Facebook's surrogacy groups.
The surrogate community is super supportive of first-timers, so you can receive donations via Kickstarter or GoFundMe if you reach out to people. But those two sources aren't the only options, so you could choose to seek funding on several at once.
Either way, it's wise to make your intentions clear in the description because you don't want to break the app's terms and conditions accidentally when you didn't mean any harm. As long as you're honest and genuinely connect with people, you can raise enough funds to cover services that health insurance won't reimburse.
The catch is that many would-be donors might be cautious about scammers and reluctant to donate, even if they're part of the surrogate community. Thus, crowdfunding online shouldn't be your first choice, but it can pay for more than you assume because people can raise thousands of dollars from the kindness of strangers.
Getting small donations can amount to a large number quickly!
Ultimately, it’s possible to cover a significant portion of the surrogacy from many sources, including those we outlined and the more creative funding sources you may inadvertently overlook.
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About SurrogateFirst
SurrogateFirst is a boutique surrogate agency specializing in quickly matching intended parents around the world with our fully-vetted, exceptional surrogates.
We help individuals and couples, regardless of race or sexual orientation, build their families through the miracle of surrogacy.
Every team member at SurrogateFirst is either a former intended parent or an experienced surrogate herself. We also have first-hand knowledge of what it takes to have an incredible, successful surrogate journey.
Ready to start your surrogacy journey? Contact our team if you have any questions!
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