The surrogacy journey involves medications, doctor’s appointments, tests, and — hopefully at the end of the road — the birth of a baby. All of these medical necessities cost money. The question many people have is: Does insurance cover surrogacy costs?
In the ideal situation, health insurance plans would pay for the medical costs of surrogacy. While many insurance policies have maternity coverage, most don’t cover pregnancy for a woman who is carrying a baby for someone else.
Of course, insurance plans vary depending on the provider and the details of the plan. Some expenses might be covered by the surrogate mother’s insurance, while others will need to be covered by the intended parent(s). It’s all in the details.
How Do I Know If My Insurance Covers a Surrogacy Pregnancy?
Some health insurance policies explicitly state that any component of a surrogacy arrangement isn’t covered. For example, it might say: “We do not cover services or supplies for Members who are a Surrogate during the course of their Surrogacy Arrangement.”
If your insurance doesn’t say this clearly, call the insurance policy administrator and ask for the EOC (Evidence of Coverage) booklet. This should include all exclusions in your policy.
For our surrogates, we review their EOC to determine not only if they have maternity coverage, but to see if it will also cover a surrogacy pregnancy. Coverage varies from company-to-company.
If a surrogate has their own insurance in place, any medical bills that are not covered by the surrogate’s insurance are paid in full by the intended parent(s). If needed, we will put insurance in place, and premiums, co-pays, and all pregnancy-related expenses will be paid for by the intended parent(s).
It’s also important for the intended parent(s) to check their insurance policies. We recommend that intended parent(s) who have health insurance work with their surrogacy attorney to carefully review their policies to determine what’s covered (and what’s not).
What About Supplemental Insurance Policies for Surrogacy?
While add-on insurance policies to help cover the costs of surrogacy exist, they can get expensive. Also known as Surrogate Maternity Contractual Liability Insurance plans, the premiums and deductibles are often high. The specific price of these types of policies depend on the policy holder’s zip code and age. In most cases, either the surrogate or the intended parent(s) are eligible to get a supplemental surrogacy insurance policy to cover the surrogate’s medical costs.
The smartest thing you can do to learn what costs (if any) your health insurance covers is to have your insurance reviewed by a surrogacy insurance broker. You should also work with a surrogacy attorney who will create the legal documents that spell out payments and the responsibilities of both the intended parent/s and gestational surrogate. To identify those payments and responsibilities, the attorney must carefully examine any insurance policies to see what’s covered.
It’s an important part of the surrogacy journey that can’t be overlooked.
Surrogacy and Egg Donor Services
Since 2004, The Fertility Agency has helped bring over 1100+ babies into the world. We work with all intended parents, surrogates, and egg donors no matter their sexual preference, relationship status, ethnicity, location, etc. Our personal experiences and years of expertise provide us with the perfect balance of business and passion. Contact us for more information.
