The Ins and Outs of Surrogacy Insurance

Bringing a child into the world is one of the most important milestones for any family. Unfortunately, many couples face issues with infertility. There are many Alternate Family Planning options for people in this position, one of which is surrogacy.

Surrogacy is, at its core, a medical process to assist reproduction of biological families. Between IVF, IUI, the pregnancy, and the birth, there are a lot of medical expenses to keep in mind when planning to have a child through surrogacy. Insurance coverage for these options will vary from Insurer to Insurer for Intended Parent(s) medical plans, and also supplemental policies can be purchased to assist with the surrogate side of Insurance costs.

However, many insurance companies do not include surrogacy in their insurance baselines, creating an absence of coverage for families and their surrogates as they get started. Every insurance company is different in this regard, so reach out to your representative to determine what steps you need to take to get covered, if reproductive coverage is available.

Insurance for the Intended Parent(s) and the Surrogate are the two sides of coverage during a surrogacy. The Surrogate’s Health Insurance will be checked by Simple Surrogacy during her intake, so you will know if her Health Insurance coverage will cover the pregnancy, or if insurance would need to be purchased.

In addition to Health Insurance, plans can be obtained to help mitigate risks during the Surrogacy, such as IVF Transfer Insurance, Loss of organs Insurance, Life and Accidental Death Insurance, and coverage for loss of wages during bedrest.

Why Don’t Some Insurance Providers Cover Surrogate Pregnancies?

When surrogacy was a new process, insurance providers covered any pregnancy that applied to the policyholder, regardless of who was carrying the child. This meant that, essentially, surrogacy medical expenses were covered. However, as surrogacy has gained popularity and insurance giants have tightened their belts, this practice has lost coverage.

Nowadays, some insurance companies will cover surrogacy through additional coverage options, and some companies put surrogacy into their corporate insurance policies for the health and happiness of their employees. 

However, insurance companies have argued to reduce coverage for surrogacy since they believe the process falls under elective medical procedures and have thus restricted coverage for it. This is no surprise to the majority of the American population, as insurance giants have made the same argument for mental health care, cosmetic surgery, and other procedures that could be construed as “non-essential” despite the benefit they provide.

Who Needs Insurance For What?

In the US, getting covered by an insurance provider requires you to have or be a dependent of someone with a policy. So, the Intended Parents and the Surrogate will each need to have surrogacy-friendly insurance to cover their medical costs, oif they have reproductive coverage. 

In most states, domestic intended parents can get coverage over their child prenatally through pre-birth orders or post-birth orders so that the cost of the baby’s health expenses goes directly to them. In those cases, the child would be directly covered by the Intended Psrent’s health insurance at delivery.

Why Do I Need Surrogacy-Friendly Insurance?

To be blunt, having a baby is extremely expensive. Having a baby through surrogacy is more so, as it requires additional processes for egg retrieval and implantation and offers some risks that are not present in traditional pregnancies. Out-of-pocket costs for unexpected conditions can be impossibly high. That is why you want to find maximum coverage through your plan and any additional insurance available to mitigate potential out of pocket risks. 

Medical care can become a sticking point for many families when considering surrogacy between prenatal, postnatal, and birth. Insurance companies used to cover any pregnancy involving the policyholder. Still, as surrogacy became more popular as an Alternate Family Planning option, the coverage from major companies has become more stringent, and it is no longer considered an essential element of an insurance plan.

What Does Partial Coverage Mean?

Some insurance companies will offer “partial” coverage of surrogacy and infertility expenses. This can mean that a certain amount of your costs will be covered, but not the entire process. While more forgiving than no coverage, there could be repercussions to this type of coverage.

For example, some insurance companies will cover a certain monetary level. While you may not reach that coverage limit, a complication or extra procedure could lead to higher out-of-pocket expenses in the long run. Another example is a Surrogate’s health insurance covering the pregnancy, but having a lien, where Intended Parents must repay the expenses the Insurance Company initially covers, up to a certain amount.

Partial can also mean that your insurance will cover infertility treatments, but not tanything having to do with a surrogacy journey. IVF and IUI are protected in many states by laws that mandate that infertility treatments be covered, but that does not always extend to the surrogate’s pregnancy.

Surrogacy Friendly Insurance Options

Many insurance providers have policies that specifically exclude surrogacy from their coverage. If you find that you are in this situation, you have the option to explore additional insurance options.

In this case, the clear option seems to be pursuing additional insurance coverage through an insurance company specific to this process. It is worth keeping in mind that the premiums for these particular insurance policies can be expensive, though probably cheaper than paying out of pocket. All these costs are adjusted by your and the surrogate’s existing coverage, so go over your policy with your agency representative to see what the best course of action is.

Takeaways

Surrogacy-friendly insurance is absolutely essential to your surrogacy journey. Anything can happen during a pregnancy, and to ensure the safety of your future child and your surrogate, reducing out-of-pocket costs for medical care can help ease a lot of stress. When you have a child with Simple Surrogacy, we will make sure you are connected to experts in Insurance who can examine your existing policy in writing and let you know what kind of care you need, in addition to creating a comprehensive policy. Your surrogate’s policy will also be vetted for exclusions and liens, so you can be sure of her coverage.

Ultimately, all the medical care that goes into having a child through surrogacy can be expensive, so good insurance is critical.

If you have any questions regarding the surrogacy process or insurance, please reach out here.