One question that a lot of people have about being a surrogate is whether surrogate mothers get paid for their services or if it is a purely benevolent act. The fact of the matter is that they are generally compensated; however this does not and should not take away from the fact that what they are doing is a great sacrifice and a huge gift to the child and the intended parents.
Surrogate mothers experience the same rollercoaster of emotions and physical consequences as other pregnant, but with extra, necessary steps that most other women will never have to go through.
First of all, before the surrogacy procedure can even be initiated, the surrogate must endure many invasive tests that require at least four months of injections (both on a daily and weekly basis) to make sure her body is ready for and able to sustain a pregnancy. Then, if a pregnancy does not occur, she has to do it all over again.
The appointments and procedures that are necessary may mean that she misses out on things that are important to her. She may have to use up vacation time from work, miss family events, and may even have to utilize childcare services for her own children in order to fulfill her surrogate duties.
It is not uncommon for surrogates to end up carrying multiples – twins, triplets, or even more than that. If this occurs, it is possible that she will be required to undergo bed rest for an extended period of time – week, sometimes even months. She may even have to undergo surgery in order to safely deliver the babies.
Surrogate mothers may not be able to accept job promotions during the span of their pregnancy if it will require for her to leave the state. This also means that her husband may not be able to accept a promotion if it will require a move because she is not legally allowed to move until she has delivered the baby.
As you can see, a surrogate often has to put her entire life on hold for about a year in order to help the intended parents grow their family.
So why shouldn’t they be compensated? If you think about it, making these types of huge sacrifices would be very difficult if there were not some sort of compensation
However, people seem to believe that surrogates are paid an obscene amount of money. The media has given the impression that surrogates are routinely paid up to $100,000 to carry someone else’s child.
This is not true.
While this may be the costs of the surrogate journey, most of that money will be handed over to the clinics that are responsible for all of the tests and the embryo transfer, to the surrogacy agencies who are responsible for arranging and maintaining the surrogate relationship , to the lawyers who make sure that all of the rules are followed, to cover the costs of medications and medical expenses to make sure the pregnancy occurs and is sustained. Only a portion of it is actually given to the surrogate to compensate her for her sacrifices.
In all honesty, sales representatives at the mall get paid more than a surrogate. But the great thing about it is that the money truly is not the main appeal of being a surrogate. These women do it all with the goal of bringing a life into this world that will be handed over to a family that has desperately wanted it.