by Eva
(Arkansas)
Two separate questions:
– A friend of mine had her child adopted. She gets a photo of the child twice a year and a small update, through her agency (ie her and adoptive parents don’t know eachother’s address etc).Is this possible with surrogacy?
– I keep reading of compensation for surrogates of around $20’000. Is this purely for “time and effort”? Ie, are the surrogate’s expenses (IVF, prenatal care, birth, medications, childcare for older kids during doctor visits etc) covered on top of that?
Reply by Rayven
Surrogacy is different than adoption. Surrogates and intended parents are in contact with one another, and need to get to know each other before starting a surrogacy arrangement. The agency would most likely NOT be the go between with pictures/updates. That would be handled directly between the surrogate and intended parents.
Often, surrogates request that intended parents keep in touch. Some specify in their contracts that they want pictures and updates on a regular basis. Many others prefer to let a more natural friendship take place.
As to compensation, surrogates are not compensated for time and effort. They are either compensated for pain and suffering or for prebirth child support. A surrogate is not responsible for any expense regarding the pregnancy or delivery of the intended parent’s child, including the IVF procedure (usually more pricey that the surrogate’s compensation!) and all her doctors bills. Any out of pocket expenses such as childcare should be reimbursed by the intended parents.
See the section on Compensation for a break down of how compensation in surrogacy works.