Wondering if you can use Medicaid or some other form of government assistance to cover the costs of surrogacy? Read on to find out.
Many potential surrogates are excited by the idea of their surrogate pregnancy costs being offset by Medicaid or another form of government assistance. After all, maternity health insurance is not exactly cheap. Having financial assistance can save a lot of money – thousands, even.
So the question is: can a surrogate mother use government assistance to cover the costs of surrogacy. The answer is, incontrovertibly, no.
It is not the government’s responsibility to aid intended parents with the costs associated with surrogacy, including but not limited to IVF treatments. This should not be a burden that other taxpayers should have to bear.
Although the surrogate mother may qualify for government assistance, the child that she is carrying does not. The child belongs to the intended parents and the intended parents are highly unlikely to qualify for this type of assistance.
Let me put it bluntly – it is fraud and is a punishable crime. The punishment could involve heavy fines as well as jail time for both the surrogate and the intended parents.
In fact, many surrogacy clinics will refuse to work with surrogates who receive government assistance as a precautionary measure against this type of fraud (or even accusations of it). They also avoid working with surrogates who receive government assistance because the surrogate may actually need the compensation, but they realize that the possibility exists that compensation may not be received – which would leave her worse off. Add to this the stigma that surrogacy is a way to exploit the poor and most surrogacy agencies just wish to steer clear of the possible controversy.
If a surrogate is in a financial situation that requires government assistance, she should not consider surrogacy as an option at the time. If, during the course of the surrogacy, her situation changes and she cannot afford proper nutrition, the financial responsibility should fall to the intended parents. However, under no circumstances should government assistance be used to help offset the costs of surrogacy. It might help right now, but you are setting yourself up for big trouble in the future.