Key Points:

• Learn what surrogacy costs with a friend as your surrogate looks like.
• Understand what altruistic surrogacy means and if this is something your surrogate would pursue.
• Understand how a surrogacy agency can help you on your journey and contact a professional to learn more.

Having a friend be a surrogate can be a wonderful idea if you are looking for different routes through surrogacy. A friend can be someone you trust completely, and if they are a qualified surrogate, it may even make you feel more secure in your decision to have someone you are close with carry your baby.

Another reason many parents may choose to this route is due to the surrogacy cost with a friend as a surrogate can be more affordable. Learn the break down of costs you can expect from the surrogacy process.

What You Pay For

While there are things you won’t have to pay for when you’ve already found your surrogate, there are many fees that will still be required of you. The surrogacy cost with a friend can still be relatively lower than if you were to go through an agency’s matching process, but be aware of costs still associated with surrogacy.

Background Assessment

Ensuring your friend is a quality surrogate candidate is integral to the process. Whether you’re choosing to pursue surrogacy through an agency or not, they will need to go through background assessments and screenings. This ensures that they are ready for the surrogacy process emotionally and physically.

Medical Fees

A large part of the surrogacy cost with a friend is the medical fees. You may have IVF fees, medications for fertility, co-pays for doctor visits, embryo transfers, hospital stays and more. This will also include the medical screening that determines when your surrogate will be most likely to become pregnant and carry your baby.

Legal Fees

Everyone involved will need to have an attorney to represent them when creating the surrogacy contract. This contract outlines the risks and responsibilities of everyone involved in the process and can help prevent any sort of animosity between the parties involved. You will need to pay for both your legal fees and your surrogate’s legal fees.

Altruistic Surrogacy

Altruistic surrogates do not require compensation. This means that your surrogate would not be paid a base compensation, but you will still pay for the costs and fees associated with the pregnancy. Sometimes this is the cost of using a friend as a surrogate, which makes surrogacy a more obtainable path to parenthood.

However, not all situations where intended parents know the surrogate result in altruistic surrogacy. Some intended parents may choose this path due to the likelihood of finding an altruistic surrogate, but it can also be helpful to offer a small amount of compensation to help keep tension from rising and any animosity from building.

Why You Need a Surrogacy Agency

When you choose to work with an agency, you’re choosing peace of mind. While you certainly have the option to go through with an independent surrogacy, working with an agency takes the bulk of work and research off your shoulders. Our partners at American Surrogacy have what it takes to help you get started. They have created an effective pricing package, which can lower the cost of surrogacy with a friend.

Ready to get started? Contact a surrogacy agency now to get free information.