Tips to Financially Prepare for Surrogacy and Life with Your New Baby

Whether you are looking to start a family or bring another sibling into the world for your kids, having a baby can be stressful and overwhelming. Now take this stress level and turn it up to ten if you are having a baby via surrogacy. Experiencing stress and anxiety when you are adding to your family is normal but stress levels need to be managed so you are able to enjoy the process with your family and your surrogate. While you are in the process of preparing for this new addition, it is essential to sit down with your significant other to discuss what will change and how you will manage those changes. Regardless of your familiarity with conception via surrogacy, one of the most important conversations that will need to take place is how you will manage the financial aspect of surrogacy. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or unsure about how to make everything work, here are some tips any surrogacy candidate can use to better prepare themselves and their bank accounts for an exciting new addition to their family!

Understanding Surrogacy Expenses

Before diving into the process of surrogacy, it is important to do your research on the costs it entails. As you begin your research, you may notice there is a wide range of costs from journey to journey. The variability of costs across journeys is due to the major differences between the decisions made by the Intended Parents as they move through the process, and the agency they choose. There are multiple factors that go into the cost of surrogacy: the cost to pay the surrogate, insurance, agency fee, legal rights, management fees, and medical costs for IVF and the pregnancy. While it depends on the agency you choose and that best fits your wants and needs, you are looking at a cost of anywhere from $145,000-$250,000.

Having this introductory research done will make it that much easier to sit down as a family and discuss the logistics of going through a surrogate for your pregnancy journey.

Creating a Financial Plan for Surrogacy 

After you have gained a better understanding of surrogacy costs and have spoken with different agencies, it’s time to sit down and figure out the best financial plan for you and your family. Most families don’t have an extra $145,000 laying around to pay for this on their own, but there are ways you can help cover the costs. 

The first financial step to take when approaching the option of surrogacy is to learn how to set and manage your budget. Your monthly budget provides you with a snapshot of how financially fit your family is. To effectively calculate your budget, take your households total income and factor in how much is taken out each month for all of your expenses. Expenses such as your bills, credit cards, food, and housing should be deducted from your monthly income and you will be able to see how much money you have left each month. After you have calculated your monthly income and budget, see if there are any areas you can save and put some money away for surrogacy costs. While you likely won’t be able to put enough away to cover the entire expense of surrogacy, even just a little bit helps. Once you have a good amount saved, you can now calculate the remaining costs to see how much you’ll need to make up.

When it comes time to start making initial payments for appointments and consultations, you will have a few options to help you cover the costs. Some families choose to take out a loan to help mitigate any financial stress. A surrogacy loan will be tailor-made to fit your needs and while you will still be paying a large amount of money, the payment terms and schedule is much more flexible for an average family. The biggest advantage of a personal loan is that you are able to receive that money upfront when you have to pay off the expenses being billed to you. If you decide a loan isn’t for you, there are other options available such as taking out a home equity line of credit, or you can even try to fundraise.

Buying the Necessities for a Newborn

After you have a better understanding of surrogacy costs and know that you are eligible to receive a personal loan or some other financial product to help cover the costs, you can focus on everything your baby will need before and after it is born. Surrogacy is expensive, but so is raising a child. Once you know that you are expecting, you can begin to stock up and buy the supplies you need so you don’t have to worry about spending your money all at once. While you are on the journey of preparing for the birth of your baby, stock up on all the essentials, such as diapers, wipes, baby wash, formula, and all other necessities. You can also start preparing the nursery so you are ready before the baby even arrives! 

Maintaining Financial Wellness After the Baby is Born

As you are showering your little bundle of joy with love and taking in all the sweet moments, it is also important to remember to budget time and money for you and your significant other. If possible, set aside some money each month to have a date night. It could be something as simple as going out for dinner or to the movies, but including that in your budget will afford you some peace of mind knowing that you aren’t strapped for cash. To fully guarantee you are spending your money wisely, we recommend creating a monthly budget spreadsheet that details exactly where your money is going. 

Besides maintaining your own financial wellness, now is the perfect time to kickstart your baby’s financial standing, too. As soon as you can, try to open a savings account for your child and start putting away small amounts of money in there. Each time there is a holiday or birthday put some of the money the child receives in this account. Another good idea to handle now, is to increase any health insurance plans to accommodate for your child. Building up these savings accounts now will only help in the long run and is something that your children will appreciate when they are older. 

While planning to have a baby via a surrogate, the last thing that you want to stress about is your finances, this is a time you will want to enjoy as it may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Take the time to prepare and come up with a plan, such as putting money aside each month and using a personal loan to cover the costs of surrogacy. Avoiding financial pitfalls and stress will allow you to adjust to parenthood and help you to feel more at ease. In taking on this process one step at a time, you can set aside your reservations and gain confidence toward getting started on the amazing journey of surrogacy! If you have questions about the surrogacy process, please reach out to us here.