Does insurance cover surrogacy? In most cases, not directly. A surrogate is not the intended parents’ dependent, so her pregnancy care is rarely covered under their policy, and a growing number of health plans now specifically exclude surrogacy. The reassuring part: with the right planning, insurance is manageable, and if you are a surrogate, you are never responsible for these costs.
Here is what both intended parents and surrogates need to know, and how we help you sort through it.
Intended parents’ insurance usually will not cover the surrogate’s pregnancy, because she is not your dependent. Some plans cover part of IVF or embryo creation, but only if strict criteria are met.
The surrogate’s own insurance may cover her pregnancy, unless her plan has a surrogacy exclusion, which some now do.
Either way, the intended parents are responsible for 100% of the surrogate’s medical costs. If coverage is missing, a suitable policy is arranged and paid for by the intended parents.
The details vary by state and by carrier, so an insurance review early in your journey is one of the most valuable steps you can take. Every surrogate in our program has undergone an insurance review prior to matching.
Typically not. Your surrogate is not your dependent, so any care she receives, at the fertility clinic or with her OB while carrying your child, is not covered under your policy.
If your policy does offer some coverage, it is usually focused on embryo creation. Some plans now cover in vitro fertilization (IVF), but often only when specific criteria are met, such as a documented medical diagnosis, prior unsuccessful treatments, or a defined period of infertility. Read your plan summary closely for what is covered and what is listed under exclusions.
No. This is one of the most common worries we hear, so let us be clear: as a surrogate in our program, you never pay for the medical costs of the pregnancy. The intended parents are contractually obligated to cover all of it, and your compensation package already includes full medical coverage. See what that includes on our surrogate compensation page.
If your own insurance excludes surrogacy, or you do not have coverage, a policy is obtained and paid for on your behalf. You are protected from the first appointment through delivery and recovery.
Full medical coverage for the surrogate is required, and it is the intended parents’ obligation to make sure it is in place, whether through an existing policy or a plan arranged for the journey.
For context, the average cost of maternity care and delivery in the United States is around $19,000, and higher with complications or a C-section ($25,000 or more). Sometimes a surrogate already has a policy through her spouse or employer that covers her maternity care. When that happens, the intended parents remain responsible for any copayments or cost sharing after insurance pays.
Often times it can, but with caveats. Even when a surrogate’s plan covers the pregnancy, intended parents pick up any copayments, cost sharing, or deductibles. Plans also change year to year, so coverage should be re-checked at each open enrollment. And if the surrogate is on an employer plan and her job changes, intended parents should be ready to enroll in an equivalent plan through an Affordable Care Act (ACA) Special Enrollment Period (SEP) or cover COBRA.
The surrogate herself is the primary person covered. The unborn child is also covered while in utero. Once the baby is born, the child is covered under the intended parents’ plan as their legal dependent.
Insurance for the newborn: intended parents are responsible for the baby’s medical bills from birth. Contact your insurance company so they can process the qualifying life event and add your child the moment they are born.
Sometimes covered: part of infertility diagnostic work, and in some cases embryo creation through IVF, when plan criteria are met.
Generally not covered:
When a plan does not explicitly exclude surrogate pregnancies, insurers are generally required to cover them as they would any pregnancy. When a plan does exclude them, the intended parents arrange a private policy for the surrogate.
No state, including Pennsylvania, requires insurers to cover surrogacy procedures, and plans vary widely across PA, New Jersey, and Delaware. That makes a careful policy review especially important here. We help both intended parents and surrogates read the fine print, spot exclusions, and put the right coverage in place before the medical process begins.
Surrogacy is a significant investment. See our full surrogacy cost breakdown for the complete picture. With planning, there are real ways to reduce the insurance portion and your overall out-of-pocket cost:
Insurance is one of the more complicated parts of any surrogacy journey, and one of the easiest to get wrong without guidance. Our team helps intended parents and surrogates evaluate coverage, arrange policies where needed, and understand exactly who pays for what before anything is signed.
If you are an intended parent, schedule a consultation. If you are considering becoming a surrogate, we are glad to answer your questions and walk you through how your coverage is handled.
