Surrogacy and Insurance

The initial decision to have a child can be daunting for any hopeful parent. Deciding to get a surrogate involved is a big decision. In reality, people go through surrogate agencies every day to have happy and healthy children of their very own. No matter what sort of options you were looking for, there are insurance plans right for you and your growing family.
With any medical situation, though, one of the first worries is usually money-related. Thankfully, there’s hope with this situation as well. With popularity of surrogacy growing and safety concerns being constantly met, it’s now more affordable than ever to seek out surrogacy pregnancy with insurance. More and more insurance companies are becoming involved, creating plans just for this sort of situation and allowing families to have stronger options to choose from.
Parents are going to worry enough about having a child. Why should finances be at the top of that list?

Insurance Through Employers

Sometimes, insurance coverage options offered by employers will not cover the costs of a surrogate pregnancy. Many of these insurance companies specifically carve out coverage for these pregnancies. In other words, surrogacy pregnancy needs to be explicitly written into the policy contract.  However, some policies will include coverage if the fertilized egg being implanted into the surrogate is biologically hers, but this option is generally not explored too often as most surrogacy pregnancies are gestational; meaning the egg is not the surrogates.  Thankfully, there are other options to take advantage of.

More Practical Insurance Options

Even though some policies carve out surrogacy as a coverable medical expense, this doesn’t mean that there are no other options available to help cover surrogacy costs. Particularly, there are two options many people find extremely helpful. These options can seem complex, so it’s important that prospective parents discuss them with either an experienced reproductive lawyer or an insurance broker that specializes in surrogacy issues and understands the ins and outs of potential red tape in insurance coverage.

The First Option – Qualified Policies

The first approach is to ensure the surrogate has purchased a qualifying policy on the ACA Marketplace. This qualifying policy should cover all costs of pregnancy care, but it’s important that the selected policy be reviewed to ensure that there are not surrogacy carve-outs. These policies will generally cost $300 to $700 per month. The prospective parents would also have to cover the out-of-pocket maximums for the policy, which generally are less than $7,500 for the year. Taking this approach requires planning ahead since policies can only be purchased during open enrollment periods.
With appropriate planning and careful review, however, this approach can be a cost effective way to cover surrogacy pregnancy costs.

The Second Option – Surrogacy Insurance

The second option may be more expensive. In this option, parents will specifically purchase surrogacy insurance. Surrogacy insurance offers coverage for pregnancy and related care but this comes with a high cost. These policies often have premiums of $10,000 or more and deductibles that can be more than $15,000. Given these high costs, some parents gamble and decide to pay pregnancy costs out-of-pocket and negotiate with providers. But that is a very risky option, because if there are pregnancy complications costs can spiral out of control, leaving parents with hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills.

Safety Net and Societal Changes

No matter what approach parents select, many lawyers and surrogacy agencies recommend having a back-up insurance plan in place just in case. This back-up plan would kick in if the primary insurance decided not to cover certain costs in the surrogacy pregnancy. It is simply another safety net that parents should consider.
It is also worth noting that societal values and expectations around surrogacy are changing. Pursuing surrogacy both for heterosexual and same sex couples is increasingly seen as an outstanding way for people to pursue their dreams of parenthood. As these values change and more people pursue this treatment course, insurance companies may change their hardline position on excluding coverage. This change is already being seen in terms of in vitro fertilization treatment coverage as more and more progressive companies offer this attractive benefit to their employees.

In Conclusion

An increasing number of Americans are pursuing surrogacy to make their parenthood dreams come true. It’s important for prospective parents to meet with a surrogacy lawyer or insurance expert to discuss their options. Options at various price points do exist and can reduce the financial risk to parents. No one wants to be caught by surprise with a ridiculous bill, so insurance is the way to go.