Surrogate costs are one of the larger expenses in commercial surrogacy. These surrogacy issues need to be put into a surrogate pregnancy contract.
Please note: This site is not intended to be legal council. No portion of the ideas and concepts represented on this website should be used as a substitute for your surrogacy attorney’s advice. Make sure you consult your lawyer on all issues regarding surrogacy.
When a surrogate mother and her intended parents are discussing the surrogate fees, it is important that they include the compensation and fees schedule agreed upon in the contract itself. Discussing compensation and coming to an agreement on these fees should take place long before a commercial surrogacy contract has been started.
The first step when discussing cost is for the surrogate mother and intended parents to each discuss what sort of fees are appropriate with their own spouses.
Each couple needs to have a heart to heart talk in advance of approaching the other parties involved.
This is very important.
As either an intended parent or a traditional or gestational surrogate mother, you don’t want to go into this very surrogacy issue without knowing what it is that your spouse is thinking, and without having a good idea of what you can afford or what you feel is appropriate.
After discussions with spouses, both the intended parents and the surrogate mother and her partner need to discuss together what surrogate costs fee schedule will be used. Remember, each surrogate pregnancy is different, and what may work in one situation may not work in another.
Your fee schedule will be unique. You will all need to decide what sort of surrogate costs compensation schedule you will use. The most common are:
In your contract, these surrogacy issues need to be clearly defined. Spell out each portion of your schedule and the accompanying amounts. It needs to read exactly as you all have agreed upon. In addition, you will need to spell out any provisions for miscellaneous expenses as well.
The other important aspects of surrogate costs that need to be included in your contract are clear instructions about what determines the start of pregnancy, how the payments will be structured and when they will be made to the surrogate mother, and the conditions that will cause payments to cease.
Finally, your contract needs to state what escrow agent, if any, will be used, and where the surrogate mother needs to submit her receipts for expenses.
