What does a surrogacy journey actually cost?
A benchmark built from real cost sheets agencies sent to IPs like you, broken down into the six buckets. Got a quote? Upload it and see how it stacks up.
Six buckets. Six conversations to have before you sign.
Each card has the cohort median, the tips worth knowing for that bucket, and a link to the deep-dive when you want more.
Surrogate compensation
Base comp, allowances, per-event fees, lost wages. Inside a $73K base — line by line →
Matching & coordination
Recruitment, screening, case management. Agency vs independent — what each really costs →
Medical & clinic
IVF clinic, in-person screening day, GC medical records review, psychological evaluation, background check.
Insurance
ART Risk policy validation, a surrogacy-specific medical policy if hers is unfriendly, life insurance on the GC, and a lien reserve for post-delivery negotiation.
Legal
Three line items: your reproductive attorney (~$3,500), her independent attorney ($1,500–$2,000), and court filing fees for the Pre-Birth Order ($1,200–$1,800).
Escrow
Third-party trust company (SeedTrust et al.) holds and disburses funds, or a self-managed alternative. Small dollar, but operationally critical.
Build your own estimate from a sheet that's already filled in.
Every line is pre-populated with the cohort median for that item. Open in Google Sheets to edit (use File → Make a copy), or download the .xlsx to work offline. Same line items as the buckets above — totals auto-sum.
Read-only by default. Make a copy in your own Drive to edit, or download the .xlsx to use offline.
What every cost sheet quietly leaves out.
These don't fit a benchmark — they fire conditionally. Worth earmarking even when the sheet you got doesn't mention them.
Kaiser, BCBS-CA, certain HMOs may file a lien against your delivery. Set aside a contingency to negotiate post-birth.
If the contract's match window expires without a match, the retainer is forfeited. The single most common sunk cost.
Hotel + flights for the 2–3 weeks around delivery. Often missed if you live near the surrogate, multiplies when you don't.
Insurance coverage gap between birth and your own policy. Worth confirming with your carrier well before transfer.
Apostilles, parentage orders translated, embassy filings — variable by country pair. Skip if both parents are U.S.
Four habits that move five figures.
These tips appear inline on the line items they affect; here they sit together because they pay back the most reading time.
Submissions
22 anonymized cost sheets. Filter to your cohort; click a row for the full comparison.
Got your own cost sheet? Make the benchmark stronger.
Every sheet you contribute makes the medians more honest for the next IP. It takes ~2 minutes, and we strip identifying data before anything lands in the public dashboard.