It’s one of the first questions intended parents ask, and one of the most understandable: “What exactly will this surrogacy journey cost?”
You deserve a thoughtful answer, because surrogacy is one of the most significant financial commitments a family can make — and at ABC Surrogacy, we respect that completely.
Let’s start with what we can say with confidence: the total cost of a surrogacy journey varies, and we want to be honest about why. No two journeys follow the same path, and several of the most significant expenses simply cannot be known until your journey is underway. What we can tell you is that we are committed to providing clear, transparent guidance every step of the way — so you always know where you stand and what to expect next.
When you’re ready to talk numbers, our team will walk you through a detailed cost breakdown tailored to your specific situation, so you can plan with clarity and confidence.
That uncertainty can feel unsettling at first, and that’s completely understandable. Our hope with this article is to replace that feeling with clarity, because once you understand what actually shapes the total cost of a surrogacy journey, you can plan for it with more confidence.
As you research and speak with different agencies, you may encounter a variety of approaches to presenting costs. Every agency operates differently, and there is no single right way to have this conversation. What we believe at ABC Surrogacy is that a truly accurate estimate can only be built around your specific circumstances — your situation, your surrogate, your medical journey. Those details take time to understand, and we are committed to taking that time with you.
Here is what moves the number, and why.
Insurance is one of the biggest variables, and it’s reviewed case by case
If one factor explains the variation in surrogacy journey costs, it’s insurance.
Every gestational surrogate brings her own health insurance situation to the match. Some policies cover a surrogate pregnancy just as they would any other pregnancy. Others contain explicit surrogacy exclusions, meaning the insurer won’t pay for prenatal care, labor, or delivery when the carrier is pregnant with a surrogate baby. Still others use ambiguous language that must be reviewed carefully before anyone can say with confidence what’s covered. And some surrogates may have no health insurance coverage at all — which is also an important factor in planning.
When a surrogate’s policy excludes surrogacy or she has no existing coverage, a supplemental maternity policy or an ACA policy that may be available during open enrollment can be purchased. The cost varies depending on the plan and circumstances, and we work closely with an experienced insurance broker who specializes in surrogacy pregnancy coverage to find the best available options for your situation.
There’s another aspect of insurance is important to understand: your baby’s coverage is entirely separate. A gestational surrogate’s insurance, even when it fully covers the pregnancy, does not extend to your child after birth. From the moment of delivery, newborn care is billed to you and your insurance. For a healthy full-term baby, this is routine. If your little one needs time in the NICU, having newborn coverage arranged well before the due date protects your family from unexpected costs.
This is why insurance reviews typically happens during surrogate screening, before you ever agree to a match. With an emphasis on transparency, it is important to have this information as soon as possible to help predict costs.
The medical path can’t be scripted in advance
IVF is remarkable, and it’s also unpredictable. Some families bring healthy embryos to the journey and see a successful pregnancy on the first transfer. Others need a second or third transfer, an additional egg retrieval or another round of embryo creation. Each attempt carries clinic fees, medication costs and monitoring expenses, and there’s no way to know in advance how many attempts your journey will ask of you.
Choices along the way matter, as well. Many intended parents add genetic testing in IVF and surrogacy to improve the chances of success on the first transfer. For many families, it’s a worthwhile investment. The genetic testing of embryos is done through your fertility clinic and you would be billed accordingly. We encourage parents to meet with the billing manager at the fertility clinic to discuss the various options offered by the IVF clinic.
Pregnancy has a way of writing its own, unpredictable story. Twins change everything from compensation to delivery costs. A complication requiring bed rest may mean covering lost wages and childcare for your gestational surrogate while she rests and recovers. A C-section, an extended hospital stay or specialist care all carry real expenses. Most journeys proceed without serious complications, and we plan carefully to support healthy pregnancies. Still, an honest budget leaves room for the unexpected, because that’s what allows you to face it calmly if it comes.
Geography quietly shapes your budget
Where your gestational surrogate lives, and where you live, affects the total in ways that aren’t obvious at first.
State law comes first, because some states have clear, well-established surrogacy statutes with streamlined pre-birth parentage orders while others require additional court filings, second-parent adoptions or post-birth proceedings that add legal fees and time. Our surrogacy by state resource breaks down how requirements differ across the country. When you and your gestational surrogate live in different states, your attorneys coordinate across two legal frameworks to protect everyone involved.
Travel follows close behind, since embryo transfers happen at your fertility clinic, which may be far from your gestational surrogate’s home. Flights, hotels and meals for medical evaluation and embryo transfer, along with your own travel for the delivery, add to the journey. If a surrogate is not located near your IVF clinic, she will also need outside monitoring to help her in preparation for the embryo transfer. She will not need to fly to your clinic every time an ultrasound is needed, so something to keep in mind.
Compensation depends on who carries for you
A first-time gestational surrogate at ABC Surrogacy earns base compensation of $55,000 to $65,000+, with total packages reaching $85,000+ once allowances, insurance, incentives and other fees and compensation are included. An experienced gestational surrogate, a woman who has already completed a journey and knows exactly what she’s committing to, earns $10,000 to $15,000 above base.
As you compare agencies, we encourage you to ask: what is the complete compensation package, including every allowance and milestone payment? At Abundant Beginnings, our surrogates sign an agreed upon Benefit Package, and we are always happy to share this with our Intended Parents. The surrogate has already agreed to her compensation package, and this document with the terms would then be shared with your attorney, who drafts the agreement with these figures.
A word about asking AI
Many intended parents now begin their research by asking ChatGPT or Google’s AI summaries what surrogacy costs, and that’s a perfectly reasonable place to get oriented. These tools are helpful for understanding the broad landscape.
It’s worth knowing what they can and can’t do, though. An AI answer averages publicly available figures into a national estimate. It can’t read your gestational surrogate’s insurance policy, and it doesn’t know your state’s parentage laws, how many embryo transfers you’ll need or how far your clinic is from your carrier’s hometown. Researchers have also found that these tools give different answers depending on how a question is worded. Use AI for the big picture and treat any specific figure it offers as a starting point for conversation rather than a number to build your plans around.
Planning with confidence when the number can move
Uncertainty doesn’t mean helplessness. We believe intended parents deserve as much clarity as possible about costs, insurance considerations, and expectations from the very beginning — because that’s what makes confident planning possible. Families budget for surrogacy successfully every day, and the ones who feel most prepared share a few common habits.
They plan for the realistic middle of the cost range rather than the hopeful bottom. They have open, thorough conversations about fees early on including what happens financially if a transfer doesn’t succeed or a complication arises but knowing that some costs can only be estimated. They confirm that insurance has been reviewed before matching, and if the surrogate doesn’t have coverage, they make sure options have been explored and discussed. And they choose an agency that raises the important questions early, so that if surprises do arise, they are navigated together with support and transparency.
At ABC Surrogacy, we do our best to provide honest, thorough guidance at every stage — and while we can’t predict every twist a journey may take, we are committed to walking alongside you through all of it. Our co-founders have lived this process personally. We’ve helped welcome more than 220 babies, and no two of those journeys cost the same. What every family had was a clear understanding of what could change, why and what it would mean for them.
If you’re trying to understand what your own journey might cost, we’d be honored to walk through it with you. Reach out at info@abcsurrogacy.com or call (323) 207-5762. We’ll talk through your situation, your state and your options, with no pressure and no fees to view surrogate profiles. You’ll leave the conversation with something better than a tidy estimate: an honest discussion and exploration of surrogacy.