Surrogacy insurance: Our most common FAQs

1. 🩺 What types of surrogacy insurance are available or required?
2. 🤰 Can my surrogate just use her personal insurance plan?
3. ⭐ Newborn insurance
4. 💊 Will surrogacy insurance cover surrogate mother payments?
5. ✔ Bonus offer: Affordable option without complex steps and high costs
6. 📝 A.C.A. (ObamaCare)
7. ⚡ Gap insurance
8. 🧬 Private Insurance

However, in any of these cases, when carrying out a cycle of reproductive technologies in the USA – your surrogate mother will definitely need insurance to both her and the future parents were able to avoid astronomical bills for medical services.

In this article, we will answer the 5 main questions regarding drawing up insurance for surrogacy  in the USA. And as a bonus, we will help you to choose the most accessible option without complicated steps and big expenses.  

What types of surrogacy insurance are available or required?

In this section, you will learn what types of insurance plans are available for use by a surrogate mother, the approximate cost of health insurance, about ACA's “open enrollment”, and who the health policy covers.

The recipient of insurance payments is your surrogate mother. Payments cover exclusively the observation of pregnancy (in some cases, the rehabilitation period). Therefore, insurance issues should be decided by the future parents and the woman who is to carry the pregnancy.

There are no specific requirements for the mandatory availability of insurance. But if you want to avoid huge expenses in the event of a complicated pregnancy, premature birth, or any condition that requires hospitalization of the surrogate mother, you definitely cannot do without an insurance policy for the woman carrying your child.

Traditional options for insurance programs that future parents can resort to for their surrogate mother:

1. ACA (ObamaCare).
2. Gap Insurance (Fill the Gap Insurance).
3. Private insurance.

However, this is not the case when you can simply choose something from the proposed list. Everything is much more complicated. Let us take a closer look at each of them.

A.C.A. (ObamaCare)

ACA insurance policies are often the most affordable option, most of them provide pregnancy coverage for surrogacy.

However, there is a very important point that complicates the process of preparing a reproductive travel: registration for the program is carried out only during the "open registration" period from November to the first half of December. A number of states are extending deadlines into January. The policy received under this program comes into force on January 1.

Thus, this program greatly affects the timing of the IVF cycle: if pregnancy is achieved in July, then you will not have time to get insurance until the 5th month of gestation, the insurance coverage will begin only on the 6th month. This creates high risks of unexpected costs for the treatment or management of preterm birth.

The cost of health insurance is variable: the traditional ACA program will cost about $11-13 thousand dollars.

Based on the above information, it would be ideal to achieve pregnancy in November - in this case, you will manage to be within the "open registration" deadline. The most profitable insurance plans will be available to you. You can read them in detail on the ACA website and choose the right one. If IVF has been successful in other months, you may need the Gap Insurance “intermediate” option.

Gap insurance

This type of coverage is most commonly used when the pregnancy occurs outside of the ACA's "open enrollment" deadline. It can be expensive, but the payments are monthly and you can buy it for those few months until you can get an ACA. You can cancel this plan at any time.

Thus, if the surrogate mother becomes pregnant in September or July, you will be able to buy “interim” Gap Insurance for 3 (about $4,600) or 6 (about $8,200) months, respectively, before the ACA plan is drawn up and comes into force. In the case of a six-month insurance, this may not be very profitable, so it is worth consulting with consulting specialists.

If you get pregnant in March, you should choose private insurance because your baby will be born before the ACA becomes available and takes effect.

Important: Gap Insurance is most advantageous to draw up before pregnancy. In the second and third trimester it will be much more expensive.

Private Insurance

An alternative to the previous two plans is to buy private insurance from an insurance company. It is not cheap: the price can be $1,000 a month, and there may be additional payments of about the same amount.

There are special offers for surrogate motherhood insurance. Such offers have a high cost of 15 to 24 thousand dollars, apply to the entire period from the beginning of the reproductive program to the end of the recovery of the surrogate mother after childbirth (from a year to 14 months). However, the price includes details that may be useful: replacing the surrogate mother, repeated IVF cycles.

There is a surrogate mother's liability insurance option - it only applies to singleton pregnancies or twins. If you are pregnant with triplets or more fetuses, you will need a different type of insurance. The cost for a singleton pregnancy varies between $25.5-28.4 thousand dollars. Acquisition of a plan for multiple pregnancy will cost $42.5-43.4 thousand dollars. This is not really health insurance: it is the obligation of future parents to pay for the medical expenses of the surrogate mother. Liability insurance is issued at Lloyd's of London.

Can my surrogate just use her personal insurance plan?

Yes it is possible. However, you will need to consult with an insurance specialist in the field of reproductive technologies. A thorough analysis of the type of policy, the conditions for covering expenses, the timing of payments and other nuances are necessary.

Newborn insurance

Important: the health insurance of a surrogate mother does not apply to a newborn!

After the birth of a baby, all the costs of protecting his health are borne by the parents. In case of complications requiring hospitalization, a day in the intensive care unit will cost $ 5,000. Therefore, it is worth thinking about health insurance for a newborn in advance.

US citizens with health insurance will need to expand it to include the child. This will protect your family in case of unforeseen situations. You should add the child to your insurance program in the third trimester of pregnancy, long before the expected date of birth, then the costs associated with possible premature birth or complications during childbirth will be compensated. If such a measure is not available, then you should draw up additional insurance for the period from delivery until the entry into force of your insurance plan.

For foreign nationals carrying out an IVF program in the United States, only personal insurance is available. It will cost about $25,000 and is difficult to draw up.

Important: in the case of multiple pregnancy (twins, triplets, etc.), no American insurance policy will cover the costs. Therefore, for foreigners, the management of such a pregnancy and the observation of a newborn in US hospitals will cost $100,000 or more.

Will surrogacy insurance cover surrogate mother payments?

Only a dozen states have laws requiring insurance companies to cover fertility treatments. Most do not provide coverage for IVF cycles, and none of the states provide surrogacy payments. Only a few companies offer such coverage.

The following procedures are not covered by insurance in most cases: embryo transfer, hormonal stimulation, infertility treatment.

A number of health plans may offer an egg donor benefit. Some plans cover one cycle of IVF as part of the infertility benefit, but the number of treatments is very limited.

The approach of many insurance companies is to exclude surrogacy coverage. Unless this clause is expressly stated, the surrogate mother's pregnancy is covered by law as a traditional pregnancy.

Most plans cover costs associated with gestation but not fertility treatments.

Some health insurance companies offer a temporary policy in addition to your plan so that you can cover the cost of a surrogate mother, fertility treatment, and childbirth.

Bonus offer: Affordable option without complex steps and high costs

If you are tired of the intricacies described in this article and just want to guaranteedly become parents of a healthy child without going broke, pay attention to the guaranteed international programs of Feskov Human Reproduction Group.

We offer turnkey programs on the principle of “buying a package of services - the birth of a healthy child”. We offer services of a VIP-surrogate mother  protected by our insurance and the laws of our country. The offer is also valid under the "Birth in the USA" program if you want your baby to be born in your country. If you choose any other country to reduce costs, there will be no problems with the legalization of a newborn in the United States for our lawyers in the field of reproductive law. Moreover, you can become parents without visiting our clinic, using the transportation service of frozen eggs and sperm.

Whichever option you choose, you are completely protected. The cost of the package of services includes the fee of a surrogate mother, donors (if required), pregnancy management (including multiple pregnancy), accommodation and 3 meals a day (during your stay), full legal support until your child receives citizenship.

We guarantee 100% birth of a healthy child: in case of unsuccessful IVF or aborted pregnancy, we start a new cycle of procedures at our own expense. Their number is not limited: as much as needed to give birth to a baby.

We cooperate with many insurance companies and will help you get compensation for our services. No additional effort to arrange insurance for your surrogate mother! Order a consultation from our specialists on Feskov Human Reproducton Group website, tell us about your wishes and we will draw up an individual plan for you!

It is possible to become parents without tedious insurance red tape. Evidence of this is the reviews of happy parents (including US citizens) on our YouTube channel.

Authors, contributors:

Anna Salnikova
Lawyer on Reproductive Rights and Policies in the Reproductive Area

published: 30 May 2023
updated   : 31 May 2023

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